To ask the Scottish Government how many weapon surrender bins (a) it and (b) Police Scotland has funded in each year since 2021, broken down by local authority area.
The provision of weapon surrender bins is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Information on how many weapon surrender bins have been funded by Police Scotland is not held centrally. The member may wish to contact the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to ask for information in relation to Police Scotland.
In 2022, the Scottish Government operated with Police Scotland a specific surrender and compensation scheme. This related to criminalisation of certain weapons in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 which previously were legal to own. A surrender and compensation scheme was operated to allow legal owners of relevant weapons to hand them in and, if wanted, claim compensation prior to the new law taking effect. Weapon surrender bins were used for this scheme with the Scottish Government providing £2,600 to Police Scotland for bins to be purchased. It was an operational matter for Police Scotland where these bins were located with this information not being held centrally.