Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is clear that we must not allow recent attacks to stoke fear or division. We recognise the distress these events have caused, and that everyone in Scotland should be able to go about their daily lives without fear.

Ministers and senior officials have met with Police Scotland following the reported attacks in Edinburgh on 19 June 2026. The Scottish Government engages regularly with Police Scotland on issues of community safety and the policing of public events, and recognises the importance of communication that supports safety and provides reassurance across communities.

The European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) articles apply to marches, parades and static demonstrations and organisers of static demonstrations or protests do not need to notify a local authority or Police Scotland of their intentions to hold an event. Police Scotland regularly communicates information about events and potential disruption through public communications, local engagement, and partnership working, including outreach to affected communities where appropriate but they will often not have advanced information to communicate ahead of a static demonstration taking place.

The Scottish Government condemns all forms of racially and religiously motivated violence. We recognise that incidents of this nature can cause fear well beyond those directly affected, and are committed to working alongside communities and partners to provide reassurance.

Following the reported incidents on 19 June, the First Minister met with faith leaders at Broomhouse and Annandale mosques on 22 June to hear directly from those affected and to understand how best to support communities.

Our work on ensuring inclusive, safe and cohesive societies is continually informed by faith communities and other stakeholders, including through established groups such as the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership and the Faith and Belief Representatives Group, and the wide range of partners we work with.

Strong industry led clusters are a proven means of delivering economic growth. The Scottish Government commissioned a report in 2025 to take views from industry and other stakeholders and inform the design of a cluster development function to augment and support existing engagement. (a) We will shortly be procuring the cluster development organisation. (b) Given that Life Sciences in Scotland is a mature landscape, with a number of existing sub-cluster entities, the structures and scale of the cluster development organisation can be expected to evolve over time. Its initial role and remit will be to provide a focal point to support sectoral growth and integration across the Life Sciences cluster; deliver the actions assigned to it within the first year delivery plan; and work with all stakeholders to develop a year 2/3 delivery plan. (c) We are working with the Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group to develop appropriate governance and oversight.

The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of the impact of a ferry service between Rosyth and Dunkirk. The decision to introduce an international ferry service is a commercial consideration for the ferry operator and relevant port authorities.

The Scottish Government and its agencies continue to support the wider development of our ports and the potential for new direct freight and passenger ferry services linking Scotland to Europe. We are happy to work with any ferry operator to explore opportunities to promote a new service.

For any major public events in the city, Glasgow City Council will chair a Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This is a non-statutory body, comprising of council departments and safety and security multi-agency partners, that advises the Council on public safety and licensing for sports grounds and events. The SAG reviews event management plans and provides specialist advice regarding crowd safety, traffic management, and emergency procedures. This is a recognised practice across all Local Authorities and ensures compliance with statutory requirements across a range of safety and security-related legislation. Scottish Government are not a core member of such groups.

For major events, such as the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, the event organiser is also expected to chair a safety and security group with all relevant partners, including Scottish Government, to ensure safety and security risks are planned for, assessed and proportionately mitigated in a collaborative manner.

I deplore any instances of disorder and vandalism and would urge any business affected by such behaviour to report it to Police Scotland.

We are aware of collaborative approaches being adopted by partners including a number of local authorities and Police Scotland to address issues in town centres and other communities.

The Scottish Government supports these efforts through record funding for local government and Police Scotland, helping to ensure that local agencies have the resources they need to respond to community concerns and support businesses affected by crime and antisocial behaviour.

The Scottish Government continues to have discussions with Police Scotland about the illegal use of off-road vehicles. These discussions respect the principle that operational policing including deployment of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable acting independently.

In particular, the Scottish Government has been working collaboratively with Police Scotland to explore legislative change, in line with our manifesto. This builds on work underway to review the secondary legislation governing the retention, disposal and recovery fees for vehicles seized under devolved powers.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. The number of vehicles of any type seized due to antisocial use is not held. The data we receive from Police Scotland is a simple count of the number and type of crimes and offences recorded. We do not hold further details as to whether any of these involved quad bikes or off-road motorcycles.

Police Scotland may be able to provide this data upon request.

Where reported to police, a knife-related assault within a school would typically involve two crimes being recorded – one for possessing a bladed/pointed article within a school and a second for the assault. Information is not held centrally on the volume of such incidents, as the data provided by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government for the Recorded Crime Official Statistics is a simple count of the number of recorded crimes and offences, for each local authority. Therefore, whilst both crimes in the above scenario would be counted within the statistics, they cannot be linked within the data we receive.

However, the Scottish Government collects information on staff experiences of use of weapons in schools, towards staff and pupils, through the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR).

The Scottish Government has had ongoing discussions with Police Scotland regarding the antisocial and illegal use of quad bikes, off-road motorcycles and scrambler bikes, while respecting the principle that operational policing, including the deployment of resources, is a matter for the Chief Constable acting independently.

In particular, officials are actively reviewing the existing powers available to Police Scotland. In this work officials have been working collaboratively with Police Scotland to explore where changes may be required. A significant part of the relevant legal framework, including road traffic law, vehicle registration, and the regulation of the import and sale of e-bikes and e-scooters, is reserved to the UK Government. We continue to engage with the UK Government and press the case for action.