Question reference: S6W-17935
- Date lodged: 12 May 2023
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Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 May 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many outstanding cases of human trafficking have yet to lead to a prosecution due to court backlogs.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.
Any form of human trafficking is completely unacceptable. Through the Victim Centred Approach Fund, we are providing record funding of more than £9 million over the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025 to organisations supporting victims of human trafficking.
We have a strong track record on court investment, and continue to prioritise supporting justice partners to address the backlog.
The 2023-24 budget allocates £42.2 million for justice recovery, which includes over £26 million for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to maintain enhanced court capacity. We have also increased SCTS’s resource funding by £5 million, and provided record resource funding for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.