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Since 12 July 2016, the Scottish Government has received one representation from a member of the Scottish Parliament only. Senior officials from the Scottish Government meet regularly with senior officers to discuss a range of issues including armed policing. I also meet regularly with the Chief Constable to discuss a range of issues, most recently on 7 September 2016.

As I said in my statement to Parliament on 16 June 2016 Police Scotland keeps its policy on the deployment of armed police officers under constant review. The Chief Constable is advised on armed policing by its armed policing monitoring group. The Scottish Government’s position continues to be that any future consideration by Police Scotland of any proposed change to the model of deployment should be subject to wide consultation by Police Scotland and take into account the views of the public, stakeholders and Parliament. The vast majority of Scotland’s police officers are not routinely armed and we have made an unequivocal commitment that that position will not change.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02233 on 28 September 2016 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02233 on 28 September 2016 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

We anticipate that the Scottish Consumer Taskforce will commence its work early in 2017. Further detail will be included in the consumer and competition principles and policy statement, due to be published in November 2016.

A final date has not yet been set for the publication of the consumer and competition principles and policy statement. However, work is progressing towards publication in November, as set out in the Programme for Government.

The Scottish Government held a Family Justice Modernisation Strategy summit on 17 March 2016. The outcomes of that summit will be published shortly. The Scottish Government is still considering how best to take the Strategy forward, and an announcement will be made in due course. A key part of the Strategy is about the voice of the child being heard in family cases. The Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council, which advises on court rules and procedures, is already taking forward work on the voice of the child in family actions, following a policy paper prepared by the Scottish Government. The Committee is also in the process of commissioning research on case management to inform its work. More details of the work of the Committee can be found on the Scottish Civil Justice Council's website.

This government have committed to include guidance on the use of restraint (for all children, including children with complex additional support needs), in the context of de-escalation as part of early intervention approaches in our refreshed guidance ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part two: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions’.

This refreshed guidance will be published 2016-17.

In addition, ‘Holding Safely’ (updated 2013) Scottish Government guidance on the use of restraint in residential settings (which is applicable in schools and other establishments) is available.

We have committed to incorporating guidance on restraint in school settings in our refreshed guidance ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part two: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions’. It will be clear that any incident where a decision is made to physically restrain a child or young person must be recorded and monitored. Details on how this should be undertaken should be included in a local authority’s policy on de-escalation, physical intervention and restraint.

The recording and monitoring of such incidents will help local authorities to monitor the effectiveness of their policy and practice and enable them to review and improve, where appropriate, their policy and also help identify professional learning needs.

This refreshed guidance will be published 2016-17. It will be clear that the use of physical intervention and physical restraint should be seen within the context of early intervention, positive relationships and behaviour and used only as a last resort, in line with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommendations.

In other non-school settings further work has been done and is being undertaken in relation to restraint:

Scottish Government Guidance ‘Holding Safely’ on the use of restraint in residential settings (which is applicable in schools and other establishments) was updated in 2013.

Scottish Government has asked the Care Inspectorate to gather information regarding restraint practice in secure care during 2016-17 to inform improvement.

Scottish Government also published additional guidance for child protection for disabled children (2014). This applies to all settings, and states that inappropriate restraint, sanctions, humiliation, intimidation, verbal abuse, and having needs ignored; depending on the circumstances, may also be criminal offences, acts of gross misconduct and reportable to Police Scotland and relevant professional regulatory bodies.