Chamber and committees

The deployment of officers and staff are a matter for the Chief Constable.

I have regular meetings with the Chief Constable where we discuss relevant issues. Minutes of these meetings can be found at: Police Scotland and Scottish Government meeting: June 2025 - gov.scot

The deployment and management of police officers are matters for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26, an increase of almost £90 million of additional funding from the 2024-25 budget. Our investment in policing has enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception in the last financial year. Around 1,370 new officers have joined since the start of 2024 including a further 100 new recruits on 7 July.

Police Scotland’s three-year Business Plan 2024-2027 sets out an ambitious programme of workforce modernisation which aims to bring frontline policing to its strongest possible position.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as this is a matter for the Chief Constable.

I am pleased that Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, direct access to occupational health services and a greater focus on mental health. This highlights the priority that Police Scotland places on supporting the health and wellbeing of the workforce, supported by a Health and Wellbeing Action Plan to underpin delivery.

While deployment of resources and any subsequent impact are operational matters for Police Scotland, I regularly meet with the Scottish Police Federation and previously met them on 11 June 2025, where we discussed the health and wellbeing of the workforce and related operational impacts.

A working group, convened by the Permanent Secretary, has been working at pace since April to review relevant policies, guidance and legislation impacted by the Supreme Court judgment. This Working Group is an internal group, comprising senior civil servants from across the Scottish Government. We have engaged at both Ministerial and official level with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as they have consulted on updates to their Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations and submitted a response to their public consultation. The EHRC code of practice will provide important guidance to organisations considering the implications of the judgment. However, work is already underway across the Scottish Government to actively consider the implications of the judgment, considering the legal framework in each area.

An interim update on the practical implications of the judgment was published by the EHRC on April 25, 2025. The EHRC is expected to submit it revised code of practice to the UK Government in the Autumn and we will engage further with the UK Government at that stage.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39506 on 8 August 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Section 298 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 establishes a legal obligation which applies at both at an organisational level to Police Scotland, and to the individual officer carrying out a place of safety removal. The constable who took the person to the place of safety is to, as soon as is practicable, inform the local authority in whose area the place of safety is situated and inform the nearest relative of the person who has been removed. They should also inform the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland within 14 days. Police Scotland, as a corporate body, has a duty to ensure policies, procedures and training enables officers to comply with the duties in Section 298.

The Mental Welfare Commission, as the body who monitor the use of the 2003 Act, are best placed to explore why this data may be missing and to work with Police Scotland to improve compliance. My officials meet regularly with the Commission and will work with them to resolve this issue.

In the event of Scotland becoming an independent country, decisions about membership of international organisations or groupings of countries would be a matter for the government of the time, elected by the people of Scotland.

The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification will be updated following the release of the next Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland publication by National Records of Scotland. This is currently planned to be released in 2028, based on the 2026 mid-year population estimates. A revised version of the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification will then be produced using the new settlement population figures.

The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2022, based on the 2022 Census settlement population figures, was published in December 2024:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-urban-rural-classification-2022/

Heating oil and liquified petroleum gas supply chains and energy price regulation are reserved matters. The Scottish Government continues to engage constructively with the UK Government on a regular basis, including on the need to ensure that all energy consumers are suitably considered and protected in matters of regulation and use of reserved policy powers.

High energy prices remain the single greatest driver of fuel poverty. The Social Tariff Working Group recommended that all fuel types should be covered by a social tariff mechanism. This should include support for those using alternative fuels with off-grid consumers treated equitably to those on-grid. This support may be more appropriately delivered via a separate scheme.

We have consistently offered to work with the UK Government to ensure that adequate support is provided to those that need it the most.