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The Scottish Government is committed to preventing all types of harmful sexual behaviour involving children and young people. We recognise that children and young people displaying harmful sexual behaviour are a complex group with diverse needs which cannot be addressed by a ‘one size fits all’ model of service provision.

To inform our response, Scottish Government set up a Harmful Sexual Behaviour Delivery Group which carried out work to deliver on the recommendations made by the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual offending Involving Children and Young People in 2020.

As part of this work the group developed a detailed guidance document, published in 2024: Working with children and young people who have displayed Harmful Sexual Behaviour: Evidence based guidance for professionals working with children and young people, which focuses on contextual safeguarding, assessment and intervention. The guidance provides professionals with the information and tools to identify what sexual behaviour in children and young people is harmful, steps they should take if they identify harmful behaviour, and what approaches can help to support prevention of this behaviour. The guidance also includes practical case studies with examples of behaviours and steps taken to mitigate harm when a child has presented behaviour which could be harmful to another child.

The Scottish Government also fund the Lucy Faithfull Foundation Scotland and the Children and Young People's Centre for Justice to run a regular forum for practitioners working with children and young people, to support them to identify and intervene when children and young people display harmful sexual behaviour.

Scottish legislation relating to sexual offences is used to prosecute both online and offline harm, including grooming, sexual communication, making or sharing indecent imagery or sexual exploitation. It is an operational police matter to investigate alleged offences and for independent prosecutors to decide what action to take upon receiving reports of crimes being committed. In cases that are prosecuted, it is for the independent court to sentence upon conviction within the legal framework.

The Scottish Government does not propose introducing additional legal duties specifically requiring parents and carers to take reasonable steps to prevent and address harmful behaviour by their children online. Instead, our approach focuses on supporting families through education, guidance, and early intervention.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of preventing children and young people from being involved in harmful behaviour, including online. We are committed to promoting the wellbeing and safety of all children through a rights-based approach, as set out in our national child protection policies and the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) framework.

Prevention is key to tackling harmful behaviour, including online and we are taking a range of actions to raise awareness about online safety with parents and carers, including providing advice and support through the Scottish Government’s Parent Club website: Online Behaviour & Safety | Parent Club and Online Behaviour & Safety | Parent Club and through Education Scotland’s Digital learning, digital life and digital work | My child | Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland.

The We’re here for you | Parent Club website provides advice and information for parents and carers on online safety, including signposting to support when things go wrong. This includes advice on what to do if there are concerns about children being involved in harmful behaviour. There is also advice on what to do if there are concerns about a child being involved in bullying others.

Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland provides information and advice primarily for parents and carers about education in Scotland from early years to beyond school. The site includes practical ideas to support learning at home in a variety of curriculum areas such as literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and science, as well as information on additional support needs; and also tips on how parents can get involved in their child’s school and education. It includes information, guidance and signposting for parents including on harmful online behaviour. The website also has information on how parents and carers can help protect their child and understand online dangers.

We continue to work with partners across education, health, social work, and law enforcement to strengthen child protection responses, including addressing inappropriate or harmful online behaviour. This includes:

• The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland, which outlines responsibilities for professionals and agencies.
• Supporting the implementation of the Online Safety Act, which places new duties on tech companies to protect children from harmful content online.
• Promoting digital literacy and responsible online behaviour through schools

We will continue to monitor developments in this area and engage with stakeholders to ensure our policies remain responsive to emerging challenges.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of youth perpetrated sexual offences as the data we receive from Police Scotland for the Recorded Crime statistics is a simple count of the number of recorded crimes by crime type.

Police Scotland have provided the following management information on the number of people under the age of 18 who were accused of any sexual crime between 1st January 2025 to 30th September 2025.

It should be noted that the totals presented in the following table for crime types (and overall) are not necessarily all unique individuals as it is possible an accused may have committed more than one sexual crime during the period. Furthermore, the table below is not a total of sexual crimes as some crimes may have had multiple perpetrators.

Number of Accused aged under 18 at time of Offence

The current sharing of intimate images offence already carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in custody. It is an operational police matter to investigate all alleged offences and for independent prosecutors to decide what action to take upon receiving reports of crimes being committed. In cases that are prosecuted, it is for the independent court to sentence upon conviction within the legal framework.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to raise awareness of online risks and harm. The Scottish Government’s We’re here for you | Parent Club website provides advice and information for parents and carers on online safety, including signposting to support when things go wrong. As the Scottish Government's key portal for parents and carers, it offers policy-led, empathetic advice and support on a wide range of topics to help families navigate the complexities of family life, this includes a comprehensive online safety section, with information for children aged 3-18: Online Behaviour & Safety | Parent Club.

The Scottish Government last engaged with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the 9 October to update them on the specific actions we have taken following the Supreme Court judgment.

The Scottish Government welcomes continued engagement with the EHRC relating to the Supreme Court judgment, given their role as regulator of the Equality Act 2010.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is investigating abuse experienced by children in care, in Scotland, between 1930 and 2014. The Inquiry has reviewed a wide range of care settings and, to date, has completed nine phases of public hearings, held over 558 days of hearings, heard from over 1,350 witnesses and published 15 volumes of case study interim findings.

The Inquiry has to date examined evidence regarding: (a) the legislative and regulatory frameworks for children in care; (b) the historical practice of child migration; (c) residential establishments run by religious orders; (d) residential establishments operated by non-religious or voluntary organisations; (e) independent boarding schools; (f) foster and kinship care settings; (g) secure care and young offenders institutions; and (h) specialist schools and healthcare establishments.

In December this year, the Inquiry will begin its public hearings in relation to Phase 10 of its investigations, focusing on children's residential care provided by local authorities.

The Scottish Government continues to participate fully in the Inquiry process, providing government records and making submissions as required by the Inquiry.

The Inquiry has cost £98.7 million to date. Whilst the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is funded by the Scottish Government it operates, like any other public inquiry, independently of government. The Chair of the Inquiry, Lady Smith, has an ongoing duty to avoid unnecessary costs. The Inquiry routinely publishes its expenditure on its website.

When the Inquiry concludes, it will publish a final report that may make recommendations to improve practice, policy and legislation. The Scottish Government is committed to carefully considering the Inquiry’s findings and recommendations.

Local authorities delivering the Caledonian System act as Data Controllers and manage Caledonian clients’ information according to their own data policies. They share limited data within the national database, and any data shared does not include addresses and phone numbers, which remain stored locally. Participants must update contact details with their supervising officer and shared location data is restricted to the local authority level to protect identities. The court order or licence will require the person to engage with a justice social worker for the purposes of delivery of the programme and such engagement is likely to include remaining contactable, with a breach of the order or licence being a potential consequence of a lack of engagement.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Any fines issued for criminal offences involving the sale of illegal vapes and cigarettes is a matter for the courts. HMRC have the power to charge civil penalties for failing to comply with the Tobacco Track and Trace system rules.

The Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) Third Sector Fund has provided core funding to 115 organisations since 2016 to deliver support that tackles inequalities, child and family poverty, improve learning and build skills. Funding to the 115 organisations was awarded following a competitive exercise that was open to all third sector organisations who met the fund’s qualifying criteria. CYPFEI & ALEC funded organisations contribute to our policy priorities to Keep the Promise, tackle child poverty, provide family support, implement Children’s Rights, and promote positive mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Saheylia were awarded £14.7k through CYPFEI & ALEC and they had received their first quarter fund payment for 2025-26 prior to their unfortunate closure. The remaining funding allocated to Saheylia will not be transferred to another organisation, as the reallocation of the remaining funds would require the completion of a competitive exercise, open to all third sector organisations who meet the qualifying criteria for CYPFEI & ALEC funding.