Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s recently published Programme for Government includes a commitment to begin roll out of Emergency Department opt-out testing for blood borne viruses in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with further expansion considered if emerging evidence supports this. Work is ongoing to evaluate and collate the findings from the pilots in Scotland with the currently available evidence supporting roll-out in areas of higher diagnosed prevalence.

Statistics on the employment of primary school teachers who completed the Teacher Induction Scheme in the 2018-19 to 2023-24 cohorts are available from the teacher census supplementary statistics tables, here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

These statistics show the employment status of teachers as at the annual September teacher census.

The Scottish Government is unaware of any particular concerns regarding uptake of abdominal aortic aneurysm screening in NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The social media posts reported in the press were routine reminders posted by NHS Ayrshire and Arran as part of a targeted campaign to raise awareness of all national screening programmes.

The latest Public Health Scotland report shows that 83.5% of men in Ayrshire and Arran attended abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening by the age of 66 years and 3 months for 2023/24. This exceeds the acceptable standard of 75%, and the national average of 77.3%. In addition, uptake was above the acceptable standard for men in all of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves the perpetrator making demands for money or other valuables, it will be recorded and investigated under Threats and Extortion. Where it involves a motive other than financial gain (for example a demand of a physical sexual nature or some other attempt to exert control over the victim), Police Scotland will record it under Threatening to disclose an intimate image.

Whilst statistics are available on the number of people prosecuted and convicted for both Threats and Extortion and Threatening to disclose an intimate image, these do not specifically identify cases that happened online and may include non-sextortion type incidents.

SEXTORTION CRIMESTOPPERS’ FEARLESS CAMPAIGN

The campaign was prompted by discussions between the SG and Police Scotland to explore what more can be done to address growing concerns about the complexity and level of incidence of sextortion activity, and the avenues open for younger people and parents to report these incidents safely and in the knowledge that their concerns will be handled sensitively.

The Fearless campaign targets young people of all genders aged 13 – 21 living in Scotland, but a large proportion of cases have involved male victims aged between 14-18. Ninety-one per cent of victims in UK sextortion cases dealt with by the Internet Watch Foundation in 2023 were male.

Phase 1 – launched 18 November 2024

In partnership with Fearless and Police Scotland, the Scottish Government funded a 4-week campaign, focused on raising awareness of the topic of sextortion amongst young people aged 13 - 21 years old and adults who work with and look after young people Scotland wide.

The campaign is trauma-informed and reassuring and puts victim impact and empathy at the heart of the campaign and link with UNCRC.

Co-designed by teenagers, the campaign targeted young people through various social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram and emphasises that absolutely any young person can be affected. They’re encouraged to know that if this happens to them, it’s not their fault, they are not alone, and that help is there for them.

An awareness video has been filmed with Fearless, Police Scotland and NSPCC specifically for adults who work with and look after young people. This short film aims to increase their own awareness of sextortion whilst reassuring them that help is available should this happen to their young person.

Regular meetings have taken place over the last few months to ensure that the campaign is focused, that it can be evaluated and to ensure there is a longer-term strategy going forward.

Phase 2 – launched 7 February 2025

Phase 2, developed to build on the significant achievements of Phase 1, sees an increased focus on outreach activity and will provide more vital information to parents and carers. Young people will also continue to be encouraged to learn more about sextortion through social media ads designed by their peers.

Phase 2 is only the next step in raising awareness and reducing the considerable harm sextortion causes. It forms part of a range of future activity to ensure awareness and support remains clear and accessible. This includes the development of educational tools and the establishment of a national strategic group to ensure that Scotland’s approach to sextortion is coordinated and informed by the most up to date information and trends in criminality.

Campaign Evaluation

Since its initial launch on 18th November 2024, Fearless has seen very positive engagement with the campaign, including:

?Over 8.9 million social media impressions of the youth ads targeted at young people with 61,387 swipes to the sextortion youth landing page at Fearless.org to learn more

?Over 1.3 million social media impressions of the adult ads, with 6,399 clicks to the adult focused landing page at Fearless.org to learn more

In addition to the significant social media reach, webinars were delivered to 399 youth professionals from Health, Education and Youth Work across Scotland. More than 95% of the attendees felt the campaign increased their knowledge of sextortion, with the majority going on to share their learning with colleagues and making plans to highlight to young people.

A full evaluation of the campaign is expected by summer 2025 in which Fearless will be able to share the level of engagement from the campaign including reach, impressions and swipes to their website Fearless.org.

They will also continue to monitor, engage and respond to partner and young people feedback.

We will work with partners to publish this information when it is available.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS and Scottish Government worked directly with Victim Support Organisations including, Victim Support Scotland ahead of automatic early release under the Prisoners (early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, to raise awareness and encourage those who were eligible to sign up to the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS).

All registered victims, where the offender’s release date changed as a result of the above legislation, were notified of the new release date ahead of the offender’s release from SPS custody. In total SPS’ VNS team notified 33 registered victims.