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The Scottish Government’s 2024-25 budget includes record police funding of £1.55 billion, which is an increase of £92.7 million on the 2023-24 Scottish Police Authority budget.

Official statistics show there were 16,427 FTE police officers at 30 September 2024. On 30 October the Chief Constable told the Criminal Justice Committee that she expected to reach the target of 16,600 officers soon - and this happened on 4 November.

Deployment of these resources to meet policing priorities is an operational matter for Police Scotland, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

Data on collisions which cause injury and take place on the road network, including adjacent pavements and cycle lanes, is collected by Police Scotland as part of the GB-wide dataset known as STATS19.

Within STATS19, vehicles involved in injury road collisions can be recorded as ‘bicycle’ or ‘electric motorcycle’. However, there is currently no systematic way of determining which of these vehicles would be described as illegal e-bikes.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. When local authority trading standards services find products that are non-compliant with the relevant product safety legislation this should be input into the Product Safety Database. This is operated by the UK Government’s Office of Product Safety and Standards.

Data on collisions which cause injury and take place on the road network, including adjacent pavements and cycle lanes, is collected by Police Scotland as part of the GB-wide dataset known as STATS19.

Within STATS19, vehicles involved in injury road collisions can be recorded as ‘bicycle’ or ‘electric motorcycle’. However, there is currently no systematic way of determining which of these vehicles would be described as illegal e-bikes.

This is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I have asked Police Scotland to write to you on this matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32026 on 13 December 2024. 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

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. I have asked Police Scotland to write to you on this matter.

Data on collisions which cause injury and take place on the road network, including adjacent pavements and cycle lanes, is collected by Police Scotland as part of the GB-wide dataset known as STATS19.

Within STATS19, vehicles involved in injury road collisions can be recorded as ‘bicycle’ or ‘electric motorcycle’. However, there is currently no systematic way of determining which of these vehicles would be described as illegal e-bikes.

Pedestrians injured in accidents involving illegal e-bikes are strongly encouraged to inform Police Scotland who can undertake a criminal investigation. Those who suffer injuries and believe that another party is at fault are able to bring a civil action before the courts. Legal aid support may be available or specialist firms that bring actions on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis may be able to assist.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. I have asked Police Scotland to write to you on this matter.