Chamber and committees

Police Scotland have advised that their Body Worn Video (BWV) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been developed in collaboration with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and other partners to ensure officers capture end to end footage, including the events leading up to an incident, to provide best evidence in any prosecution case.

Guidance on when officers should press record on their Body Worn Camera is set by Police Scotland to encompass all policing responsibilities whether criminal or not. This is set out in section 5 of the Police Scotland BWV SOP which says:

In the following circumstances, all BWV users present/attending must activate recording on their BWV cameras;

• Prior to arriving at the incident.
• Prior to utilising blue lights.
• Prior to stopping persons or vehicles.
• When an armed Police Officer or a specially trained officer (STO) is authorised to deploy, or self deploys to a firearms/TASER incident they will immediately commence recording.
• When there is an armed policing operation and following an instruction by the relevant Armed Policing Command.
• At the first available opportunity for spontaneous incidents.

All Police Scotland Standard Operating Procedures recognise that policing is a dynamic profession, and the standard response may not be appropriate in every circumstance. In every situation, the decisions and actions should be supported by the National Decision Model and based on the values and ethics of Police Scotland. BWV users may be expected to provide a clear and reasonable rationale for any decision or action which they take.

The BWV Standard Operating Procedure can be accessed publicly:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/oqtjeuqf/body-worn-video-sop-police-scotland-publication-scheme.docx.

I am aware of concerns about gaps in the law relating to illegal content that is distributed online, including where this amounts to harassment or abuse of an individual. The power to legislate on matters pertaining to the regulation of internet services is reserved to the UK Parliament. With regard to the substantive criminal law relating to harassment and bullying, there are a range of general criminal offences that can be used to prosecute harassment and bullying which protect everyone, including teachers, where this occurs in any place including online. These include stalking and threatening or abusive behaviour offences. There is also a more specific offence of misuse of a public electronic communications network.

The Scottish Ministers keep the criminal law that sits within the powers of the Scottish Parliament under continual review to ensure it is fit for purpose. Any new laws focused on regulating the internet would be for the UK Parliament to consider.

Glasgow City HSCP is refining its reporting systems and cannot yet provide a precise percentage of users referred solely to rehabilitation services. Given the early stage of the facility’s operation, data validation is ongoing.

The service has now recorded over 30 formal referrals to health, care and recovery support. This likely underrepresents engagement with recovery services and is above expectations for so soon after implementation. The Thistle’s primary focus is harm reduction, ensuring vulnerable individuals access a safe environment where recovery support begins. Staff respond to service users’ needs in a person centred manner, supporting them to meet needs they identify.

An independent evaluation is underway, and further data will be shared once reporting systems are improved.

As highlighted in the launch of Police Scotland's Body Worn Video (BWV) rollout, around 750 Tayside (D) Division officers, including road policing officers, operational support and custody staff, will be equipped with the new devices over the coming weeks. As the roll out progresses, Police Scotland will issue more than 10,500 Home Office-approved Motorola VB400 cameras to frontline officers from constable to inspector ranks, and to police custody staff, across the country.

Previously to this national rollout, approximately 440-Armed Policing Officers have access to BWV. BWV has been used in A Division since 2010 as part of a legacy Grampian Police deployment and currently have 228 operational devices in use on a pool basis. The national BWV solution will replace this legacy system in line with other divisions.

In total approximately 1440 BWV devices are currently operational with a mixed estate of both pool and personal issue. Training across Tayside is currently ongoing, which will increase officer use of this technology daily.

Police Scotland currently deploys Body Worn Video (BWV) to officers in Tayside, Armed Policing and as part of a legacy Grampian Police solution in A division.

In total, Police Scotland currently owns the following devices:

A Division (legacy solution) – 228 (to be replaced with national solution devices)

Armed Policing – 473

National BWV Project – 5072 to be rolled out as part of national rollout, this number will increase further as the rollout progresses and further cameras are purchased.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided a grant of £200,000 to FareShare Scotland to deliver the Surplus With Purpose programme. This supported the redistribution of 1,001 tonnes of fresh surplus produce from Scottish farms, equivalent to 2.3 million meals, and benefited an estimated 53,700 people via 448 community organisations. The food redistributed was primarily potatoes and carrots which would otherwise have gone to waste.

In September 2022, Surplus With Purpose activity resumed as part of a wider £313,000 allocation from the Fair Food Fund 2022-23. The overall funding contributed to the redistribution of 3,203 tonnes of surplus food, representing 86% of all food distributed by FareShare Scotland – this included a proportion of redistributed surplus food from farms. This supported 585 community organisations and helped provide 8.9 million meals to an estimated 66,000 people.

In addition to these two years, the Scottish Government has, and continues to, fund FareShare to support the redistribution of surplus food to people; this support does not specifically target surplus from farms, but targets a range of surplus from farms and other sources.

FAIs cover a wide range of policy areas and recommendations are equally wide-ranging. The Scottish Government expects that the relevant individual policy area or public body would take action in light of any recommendations.

This information is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34946 on 20 February 2025, budget allocation for Atlantic Rainforest restoration at the project/programme level is still to be finalised. Further details will be released in due course. 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.