Chamber and committees

The Welfare and Wellbeing of Police Officers, and the allocation of resources, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.

Officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. This includes the introduction of Wellbeing Champions, and has resulted in raised awareness of the services available such as occupational health and employee assistance, which offer counselling, and specific interactions through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM). We continue to support policing in Scotland and despite constraints on Scotland’s public services, through a decade of UK austerity, policing services have been maintained and improved and we will protect the police resource budget in real terms for the entirety of this Parliamentary term, as we did for the last. We have invested over £10 billion in policing since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013 and have increased the policing budget by £75.5 million in 2021-22.

We have made a commitment to increase the direct investment into mental health services by at least 25% and ensure that, by the end of the parliament, 10% of our frontline NHS budget will be invested in mental health services.

We have also set our plan to prevent, mitigate and respond to the mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic through our ‘Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan’, published in October 2020, which sets out our response to the mental health effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, containing over 100 actions. The Plan is supported by a £120 million Recovery and Renewal fund, announced in February 2021. The Fund will transform services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention. We expect total spend, including by NHS Scotland, on mental health in 2021-22, to be in excess of £1.2 billion.

The offences related to 'Finn’s law' would be reported under Section 19 (1) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

No such charges relating to attacks on service animals have been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service since the introduction of the Act, which received Royal Assent on 21st July 2020. Therefore there have been no convictions to date.

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary restrictions have been introduced within the Scottish Prison Service, where necessary, in line with Scottish Government guidelines and public health advice. This included the temporary suspension of Home Leave between March 2020 and May 2021.

There has been one change in the Prison Rules, in relation to Temporary Release, since 5 December 2019. The Prisoners and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2020, which came into force on 7 April 2020, provided Scottish Ministers with the ability to extend the period a prisoner is on home leave for up to 14 days from the normal 7 days. It is anticipated that it could be used where prisoners advise that they or someone in their home has developed symptoms of the Coronavirus and in compliance with government advice they are required to self-isolate.

There have been some minor changes to the Directions made under the Rule 138 (Direction with respect to Temporary Release) since 5 December 2019.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data. However, information is published annually in the Standards of Service for Victims and Witnesses Annual Report. For the past three years where information is available the number of in-person representations that were made is as follows:

2020-2021* 16

2019-2020* 27

2018-2019 18

*Due to Covid restrictions some meetings have been held remotely.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The allocation of resources, and the Health and Wellbeing of Police Officers and Police Staff, are matters for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority. Despite constraints on Scotland’s public services through a decade of UK austerity, policing services have been maintained and improved and we will protect the police resource budget in real terms for the entirety of this Parliamentary term, as we did for the last. We have invested over £10 billion in policing since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013 and have increased the policing budget by £75.5 million in 2021-22.

Police officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. This includes the introduction of Wellbeing Champions, and has resulted in raised awareness of the services available such as occupational health and employee assistance, which offer counselling, and specific interactions through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM).

We have made a commitment to increase the direct investment into mental health services by at least 25% and ensure that, by the end of the parliament, 10% of our frontline NHS budget will be invested in mental health services.

We have also set our plan to prevent, mitigate and respond to the mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic through our ‘Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan’, published in October 2020, which sets out our response to the mental health effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, containing over 100 actions. The Plan is supported by a £120 million Recovery and Renewal fund, announced in February 2021. The Fund will transform services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention. We expect total spend, including by NHS Scotland, on mental health in 2021-22, to be in excess of £1.2 billion.

The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is responsible for issuing Victim Notification Scheme packs. They have advised that the number of packs issued over the last 3 years is:

2018-19 1,880

2019-20 1,788

2020-21 1,158

Eligible victims can register for the scheme at any time. The Scottish Prison Service have advised that the numbers of victims who have opted to register for the scheme in the last 3 years, are as follows:

2018-19 443

2019-20 472

2020-21 306

The Victims Taskforce was established in December 2018 to co-ordinate and drive action to improve the experience of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system - it is not in the Taskforce’s remit to recommend legislative change.

A number of legislative changes have been progressed by the Scottish Government since the inception of the Taskforce that advance or facilitate actions in the Taskforce’s work plan and provide a legislative framework within which further improvements can be made. Examples of primary legislation include the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019, the Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Act 2021 and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Furthermore, various pieces of secondary legislation have seen the implementation of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, the establishment of the Victim Surcharge Fund, the creation of a statutory Appropriate Adult service, more flexible powers to pilot improvements to the victim statement scheme and changes to Parole Board Rules to ensure victims are better informed, more involved and receive greater support ahead of prison release decisions.

Data is not available at this time on the number of times body worn cameras have been used by Police Scotland as evidence to secure a conviction.

Should the decision be made to rollout the use of body worn cameras to other roles across Police Scotland, a range of data will be gathered to assess the impacts of the rollout including quantative data relating to criminal justice processes.

When an unpaid work or other activity requirement is imposed by the court as part of a Community Payback Order, the management and delivery of that requirement – including determining what work is to be carried out - is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. There are a number of factors for local authority social work staff and unpaid work managers to consider when arranging unpaid work. Planning and assessment is informed by national Community Payback Order Practice Guidance and, while there is no prescribed list of activities, the guidance makes clear that activities should be appropriate to unpaid work taking account of a number of considerations.

Unpaid work schemes should make placements available across a wide range of work settings and types of activity and have regard to the circumstances and circumstances of the individual (such as employment, education, caring responsibilities, health, equality and diversity issues). For example, work which does not involve significant physical exertion may be the only appropriate option for some individuals (including for health-related reasons).

Unpaid work has a strong focus on reparation and providing opportunities to make amends and prevent reoffending though strengthening relationships with the community, and through developing useful skills. Justice social work staff and unpaid work managers in local areas are best placed to determine what unpaid work is suitable, taking into account each individual’s particular circumstances, to help ensure that individuals complete their unpaid work hours in a way which benefits the community.

The forensic analysis of digital items and the management of any backlog are matters for the Chief Constable and Police Scotland.

Police Scotland are committed to providing the best possible service to the victims of crime and witnesses and will only examine a digital device where there is a legal basis and where it is necessary, justified and proportionate to the incident or crime under investigation. The number of digital items in Police Scotland’s possession currently awaiting forensic analysis demonstrates the importance of examination of digital devices for modern criminal investigations. Police Scotland recognises the demand in this complex area and consideration is being given to investment in additional staffing, technology and partnerships in order to enhance their existing capabilities in this area.

Police Scotland’s recently published Cyber Strategy and ongoing strategic Cyber Capabilities Project is evidence of their prioritisation of cyber related demand.

Police Scotland are using their internal management information, detailing how many Cyber Kiosk examinations have been progressed in the previous month, to assist in identifying areas for improvement and to enable them to move forward in this complex area.