Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government remains committed to providing legal aid for a wide scope of actions. The draft Scottish Budget includes a proposed further investment of £14.2 million for the Legal Fund in 2025-26 which is an increase of 10% on this year’s budget (to £155.5 million).

Despite financial constraints, the Scottish Government continues to focus on building a more inclusive Scotland for all, investing in services and support that will help our communities during these difficult times.

Our budget, if passed by Parliament, will ensure that this government can continue to prioritise action to eradicate child poverty, protect our public services including improving access to legal aid and grow Scotland’s economy, while addressing the inequalities that many in our communities still face.

I recognise that change is needed to ensure we have a legal aid system that meets the needs of people. We are publishing our legal aid action plan for reform shortly, and I intend to take forward work in this area in the coming months and I will meet with the legal profession and stakeholders to hear views from across the justice system on areas for reform.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31040 on 13 November 2024 in respect of solicitor numbers. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

A table containing the number of recorded police warnings for drugs possession by month, year and drug type has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 65596)

The accredited official statistics on recorded crime categorically do not show a doubling in serious violent crime over the past decade. Police recorded non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 9% between 2014-15 and 2023-24, with most of that rise due to the introduction of new crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and an increase in cyber-enabled threats and extortion (most often ‘sextortion’ type cases on which the Scottish Government launched a social media campaign across Scotland in November 2024, and will refresh in February 2025). As a subset of non-sexual crimes of violence, recorded serious assault and attempted murder also increased by 9% since 2014-15. However, levels have fallen over the past six years, down 21% from 4,361 in 2018-19 to 3,457 by 2023-24. This is replicated in other sources, with hospital admissions related to assault down by a third between 2014-15 and 2023-24. Information on rates of non-sexual violence by local authority area are available in the accredited official statistics. Despite this encouraging progress the Scottish Government are determined to do more. For further information on the actions being taken to reduce violence in Scotland, I refer the member to the answer for question S6W-32880 on 15 January 2025.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Security of supply for gas and electricity is reserved to the UK government and delivered by the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) across the whole of GB, under regulation from Ofgem.

The UK has a reliable gas system that can meet demand and is well-positioned to continue to do so. The UK has a diverse supply of gas, including gas from the North Sea, Norway, and other countries, as well as a large capacity for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition, the gas industry has well established arrangements to deal with emergency situations concerning gas supply.

As we transition to a net zero energy system and reduce our dependence on fossil fuel generation, long-duration energy storage technologies, including pumped hydro storage, will play a larger role in ensuring a secure and resilient electricity system.

Security of supply for gas and electricity is a matter reserved to the UK Government and is delivered by the National Electricity System Operator (NESO) across the whole of GB, under regulation from Ofgem. The National Grid has also confirmed that Great Britain’s eight main gas storage sites remain healthy. However, we remain engaged to plan for any challenging scenarios that might emerge this winter.

The current system of personal injury litigation was arrived at after careful parliamentary consideration that led to the passing of the 2018 Act. Whilst the Scottish Government has noted the approach taken in England and Wales there are no immediate plans to make further changes.

The Scottish Government is considering the scope of the review in light of the delayed implementation of some aspects of the Act.

Section 8 of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 makes provision for a qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) regime in Scotland and sets out when QOCS may be disapplied.

As set out in section 23(2) of the Act, the report on the 5 year review of Parts 1 to 3 must, in particular, contain information about the effect of the operation of section 8 on access to justice and the administration of Scottish courts.

The Scottish Government considers that proposals for a case management portal is worth exploring and has been in discussion with stakeholders.

Work on the five-year review of Parts 1 to 3 of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 is in progress and the Scottish Government will publish the review as soon as possible.