Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to require Police Scotland to collect data on nationality, religion, ethnicity, gang based abuse (abuse involving two or more perpetrators) and asylum status. This data is not currently reliably collected or communicated. I believe that collecting and communicating such data reliably would enable cases involving grooming gangs of predominantly Pakistani heritage to be more effectively investigated and prosecuted. I also believe that it is relevant with regards to other group based child sexual abuse networks involved in trafficking.
Petitioner: Joanna Kerr
Status: Closed
Date published: 25 August 2026
Click here to read and sign the full petition
SPICe Briefing (167KB, pdf) posted 01 October 2026
5 November 2026: The Committee agreed to close the petition under Rule 15.7 of Standing Orders, on the basis that the Scottish Government has outlined a number of groups and reviews that have been established to address the issues raised by the petition. The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government to ask to be kept informed of the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group's short-life working group looking at data, and to update the petitioner when this is published.
Meeting of the Public Petitions Committee, 5 November 2026
PE2247/A: Scottish Government written submission, 29 September 2026 (98KB, pdf) posted 01 October 2026
PE2247/B: Petitioner written submission, 19 October 2026 (87KB, pdf) posted 02 November 2026
PE2247/C: Petitioner written submission, 2 November 2026 (77KB, pdf) posted 04 November 2026