Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government routinely works with partners to support the manufacturing sector in Scotland. In addition, our investment strategies are designed with the goal of maximising the impact of our interventions, allowing us to maintain our position as the top performing region or nation of the UK for inward investment projects outside of London for the ninth year running as per the 2024 EY Attractiveness Survey.

Under section 2 of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, the Lord President as head of the Scottish judiciary is responsible for "making and maintaining appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of judicial office holders". Training is delivered through the Judicial Institute, under the direction of the Lord President.

It is for a court to reach a view about the appropriate terms of an order in a particular case based on the existing law and the facts and evidence before them.

There are protection measures available to a person at risk of future abuse by application to a civil court. These include an exclusion order to suspend the legal right of a spouse or civil partner and in some cases, a cohabitant, to live in the family home, for the duration the order is in place. Other conditions can be requested, including preventing a spouse or civil partner from coming within a certain distance of the home, or preventing the removal of any items from the home.

An exclusion order is temporary. It will end, for example, when a married couple divorce or when a civil partnership ends. An exclusion order does not affect who owns or tenants the home, nor prohibits future transactions with the property. Before applying to the court for an exclusion order, the person at risk must have the legal right to live in the family home, either as an owner or tenant or because they have occupancy rights as the spouse or civil partner of person who is so entitled. A non-entitled cohabitant can apply to the civil court for occupancy rights and seek an exclusion order.

The Scottish Law Commission are working on a project at the moment on civil remedies against domestic abuse: Scottish Law Commission :: Aspects of family law

The Scottish Government along with Scottish Development International and Enterprise Agencies are actively engaged with business and international firms operating in Scotland to expand the domestic supply chains. For instance, Scottish Enterprise works with more than 350 foreign owned businesses to support their growth which includes encouraging the benefits of engaging with local supply chain companies.

This is achieved by building on the strength of Scotland’s innovation ecosystem, which supports technology development and skills across a wide range of manufacturing sectors, leveraging the knowledge and expertise of industry bodies, partners and Scotland’s academic institutions. This approach will enable our manufacturing sector to take advantage of emerging market opportunities, such as offshore wind, hydrogen and future industries in which Scotland has the potential to excel.

A non-harassment order is an order requiring the person against whom it is made requiring them to refrain from such conduct in relation to another person as may be specified in the order. A civil court can make a non-harassment order under section 8 or section 8A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. A criminal court can make a non-harassment order under section 234A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and, in domestic abuse cases, section 234A as modified by section 234AZA of that Act.

Breach of a non-harassment order is a criminal offence and alleged breaches can be reported to Police Scotland.

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.

In general, the Scottish Government has no role in day to day operations at airports in Scotland as these are regulated by the UK Government and its associated agencies. For power loss specifically, this would be a matter for the electricity distribution networks, who in turn are governed and regulated by the UK Government and OFGEM respectively.

However, the Scottish Government works closely with Highland and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) and we remain assured that robust measures are in place to ensure all 11 airports operated by HIAL have sufficient power. Contingency plans are also in place for these airports should the primary powers sources be affected.

No One Left Behind is the Scottish Government’s shared approach with Local Government and wider partners to delivering an all-age, place-based, person-centred model of employability support in Scotland. Services are delivered locally, ensuring individuals, including young people, receive tailored support to help them progress into sustainable employment.

As highlighted in the Programme for Government, growing the economy is a key strategic priority for the Scottish Government and this includes continuing to focus on attracting both foreign direct and large scale capital investment and why the Deputy First Minister is leading a programme of impactful investor engagement.

Our approach to growing the economy ensures Scotland provides the optimal business environment attractive to investors, maximising the benefits from any nearshoring and other investment opportunities.

Scotland has a strong track record of attracting inward investment, with the EY UK Annual Attractiveness Survey in July 2024 showing Scotland maintaining its position as the top performing part of the UK outside of London for the ninth year.

Information is not held centrally on the total number of violent incidents within schools that involve the use of a weapon. Some information is available where any such use of a weapon resulted in either the exclusion of a pupil or the recording of a weapon possession (used) crime by the police.

Table One shows those exclusions from school in 2020-21 and 2022-23 which included the reasons of Physical assault using improvised weapon, physical assault using weapon and threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon. This data is published biennially, with the next update covering the 2024-25 academic year. It should be noted that each exclusion can include more than one reason and figures for 2020-21 will have been impacted by the closure of the school estate as part of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Table Two shows the number of weapon possession crimes in school recorded by the police, where the weapon has been used against another person (for example to threaten or assault). This only covers cases that have been reported to the police, and again the relatively lower figures for the year ending December 2020 will likely reflect the pandemic related school closures.

Table One: Reasons for exclusion from school, 2020-21 and 2022-23

Under the Single Scottish Estate Programme, all leases that are in the name of Scottish Ministers are reviewed as they approach a break clause or lease end to ascertain whether renewal is necessary.