Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-04546

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support young people to access the creative industries.

Question reference: S6W-36680

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that retail crime, including shoplifting and vandalism, cost businesses £420 million in 2024-25.

The Scottish Government understands the impact of retail crime on businesses. Our Budget will make an additional £3 million available in 2025-26 to tackle retail crime. This is in addition to an investment next year of a record
£1.62 billion for policing.

This funding will support the formation of a Retail Crime Taskforce which will provide a visible and measurable impact on retail crime and will deliver on the following objectives:

Prevent: Stop people from becoming perpetrators of Retail crime by developing and implementing intervention and diversion mechanisms with partners.
Pursue: Target retail crime by bringing perpetrators to justice, with a focus on repeat offenders and organised criminals.
Protect: Strengthen the collective protections against Retail Crime by engaging directly with retailers on crime prevention and training.
Prepare: Mitigate against the impact of Retail Crime by exploring innovate opportunities for direct reporting systems.

New technologies will also be utilised to explore ways to make it easier for retail staff to directly report crimes to police, as well as capitalising on Police Scotland’s existing Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC), to secure early criminal justice outcomes.

The Scottish Government continue to urge all retailers and their staff to keep reporting crimes. While it might feel like some minor incidents aren’t worth it, or individual retailers may feel like the police won’t be able to do anything, each crime report aids our collective understanding of who is doing this and why. Local officers may also well have intelligence they can use to catch the perpetrators.

Question reference: S6W-36681

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the creation of a specific criminal offence of assaulting a retail worker, and what steps it has taken to explore this.

There are no plans to update the current legislation regarding the protection of retail workers. Section 1 of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 already makes it a specific offence to assault, threaten or abuse a retail worker. Such behaviour can also be prosecuted using other, more general, offences including, for example, common law assault and the offence of threatening or abusive behaviour.

It is essential that those who perpetrate violence are held to account for their actions. Legislation and prosecution form part of our overall response to tackling violence, and sits alongside our preventative approach as set out in the Violence Prevention Framework for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36682

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported call by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation for stronger legislative and enforcement action to tackle shoplifting.

The Scottish Government understands the impact of retail crime on businesses and the concerns of retailers including the Scottish Grocers’ Federation.

Sufficient legislation already exists in order to prosecute those who are guilty of shoplifting.

Our Budget will make an additional £3 million available in 2025-26 to tackle retail crime. This is in addition to an investment next year of a record £1.62 billion for policing.

This funding will support the formation of a Retail Crime Taskforce which will provide a visible and measurable impact on retail crime and will deliver on the following objectives:

Prevent: Stop people from becoming perpetrators of Retail crime by developing and implementing intervention and diversion mechanisms with partners.
Pursue: Target retail crime by bringing perpetrators to justice, with a focus on repeat offenders and organised criminals.
Protect: Strengthen the collective protections against Retail Crime by engaging directly with retailers on crime prevention and training.
Prepare: Mitigate against the impact of Retail Crime by exploring innovate opportunities for direct reporting systems.

The Scottish Government continue to urge all retailers and their staff to keep reporting crimes. While it might feel like some minor incidents aren’t worth it, or individual retailers may feel like the police won’t be able to do anything, each crime report aids our collective understanding of who is doing this and why. Local officers may also well have intelligence they can use to catch the perpetrators.

Question reference: S6W-36697

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what representation it had at the responsible dog ownership summit on 20 September 2024.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36695 on 16 April 2025.

The Summit Report is available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/report-scottish-government-responsible-dog-ownership-summit-discussions-key-stakeholders-approaches-dog-control-dog-welfare-20-september-2024/

The Summit Report contains key outputs and recommendations from the Summit, as well as the list of attendees.

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

Question reference: S6W-36167

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update its 2021 guidance for public bodies on data collection and publication of sex, gender identity and trans status.

The Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance for public bodies in Scotland on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. This guidance recommends that statistics producers should collect data that best serves the needs of users in their specific context, an approach with aligns with the guidance published by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2024.

The Sullivan Review specifically recommends that the Scottish Government reviews its guidance in light of its recommendations. The Scottish Government has previously committed to reviewing its guidance on collecting data on sex and gender by the end of 2026 as part of the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.

Ahead of this review, the Office of the Chief Statistician is engaged with wider-UK work on this topic. The Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team is currently developing harmonised standards for collecting data on sex and gender identity. The Office of the Chief Statistician is contributing to this work, and will consider its outputs as part of its review of the Chief Statistician’s guidance.

Question reference: S6W-36369

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35432 by Kaukab Stewart on 19 March 2025, whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs associated with the "New Scots Community Engagement".

Question reference: S6W-36365

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35432 by Kaukab Stewart on 19 March 2025, whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs associated with the "New Scots refugee integration strategy intermediary/strategic funding through Equality, Connected Communities and Mainstreaming and Inclusion Budgets between July 2019 and March 2024".

Question reference: S6W-36389

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35432 by Kaukab Stewart on 19 March 2025, whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs associated with the "Lived Experience on New Scots Core Group".

Question reference: S6W-36696

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the short life working group on the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 last met.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36005 on 1 April 2025.

The Short Life Working Group was set up by the Scottish Government to review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”).

The last meeting of the Short Life Working Group to review the 1991 Act was held on 1 June 2023.

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

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