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We will shortly publish the analysis report of the responses to the consultation paper " Protecting Children: Review of section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 and section 42 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009" . The consultation sought views on potential changes to the criminal offence of cruelty to children to ensure it reflects modern understandings of what constitutes child abuse and neglect, including making it explicit that the offence covers emotional harm.

The response to our consultation shows there is a deep interest in this area and the overwhelmingly positive response to our proposals confirms there is interest in further reforms. Respondents also raised a number of potential issues and complexities with such a reform and we consider that further engagement on the detail of legislative reform is required.

This is a complex and sensitive area of the law and we are currently carefully considering responses to help shape our next steps before consulting on draft provisions.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting Police Scotland’s revenue budget during this Parliament to deliver a £100 million boost by 2021. The Scottish Budget 2019-20 shows that the total Scottish Government funding for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in 2019-20 is increasing by £42.3 million, this includes continuing reform funding into 2019-20, meaning the annual policing budget is now over £1.2 billion.

In recognition of the range of challenges Police Scotland are currently facing, particularly in relation to a no-deal EU Exit, the Scottish Government has also assured the Scottish Police Authority that up to £17 million is available in 2019-20 to cover EU exit-related policing costs. In addition to this Police Scotland’s capital budget has been increased by £12 million – a 52% increase to support further improvements to ICT infrastructure which includes the introduction of improved mobile technology for officers which is currently rolling out across the country.

The Scottish Government also ensured that policing is benefitting from being able to reclaim VAT of around £25 million a year, money that was previously paid to the UK Government. The Scottish Government continues to press the UK Government for a refund of the £125 million paid by Police Scotland in VAT between 2013 and 2018.

The Scottish Government continues to engage closely with the SPA and Police Scotland to support them in keeping people safe.

This is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

A person is on life licence until their death. It is not an automatic right to terminate the supervision element of the licence conditions. Supervising officers may submit requests to do so after a period of 10 years or more has elapsed. Termination of supervision will not occur without a full Risk Assessment being carried out. The Parole Board will make these decisions on a case by case basis. However two licence conditions will always remain -

• that they are of good behaviour and keep the peace; and
• they inform the local authority if they are arrested or questioned by the police.

The Parole Board can reinstate the full licence or recall the person back to prison if they do not adhere to the conditions.

Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. Since the first edition of the quarterly series (Published December 2008), POQS has held the status of “Official Statistics”, emphasising that figures are:

• Produced independently by professional statisticians and published by a recognised producer of “Official Statistics” as set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
• Are prepared in compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics and are subject to scrutiny by the UK Statistics Authority.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) determine what to prioritise for assessment within the context of their developing vision and mission. OSR consult the Chief Statistician on their Regulatory Work Programme, which is published online:

https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/osr/our-regulatory-work-programme

Currently this includes a programme of work seeking to improve the ‘Use of Policing Statistics in Public Discourse’;

https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/publication/use-of-policing-statistics-in-public-discourse/

The Chief Statistician considers the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics in determining priorities and whether to formally request an assessment.

The statistics in the POQS release are based upon quarterly returns made by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government, and are a by-product of live administrative processes, generated directly from the HR systems. The published police officer figures are sourced from Police Scotland’s personnel records and as such the quality and reliability is good. Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication. A link to the latest officer numbers publication is given below:

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2

As detailed in the Restorative Justice Action Plan https://www.gov.scot/publications/restorative-justice-action-plan/ , published in June 2019, we aim to have stakeholder groups in place by Autumn 2019. We are in the process of establishing these groups.

The day to day delivery of policing, and operational decisions about the allocation of policing resources across Scotland, are a matter for the Chief Constable, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). However, the Scottish Government is assured that Police Scotland and the SPA are committed to delivering a high level of service to Scotland's rural communities. Police Scotland and the SPA's ten year strategy, 'Serving a Changing Scotland' recognises the distinct needs of rural and remote communities. This is reflected in the current Annual Police Plan (2019-20) which commits Police Scotland to 'implement local policing approaches, aligned to demand, reflecting the differing needs of rural, remote, island and urban communities'.

Police Scotland has a dedicated Rural Crime team, and chairs the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime - a multi-agency group committed to tackling crime in Scotland's rural communities.

As required by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the SPA carries out an Annual Review to assess all aspects of Police Scotland's performance. The SPA Review of Policing for 2018-19 will be laid before Parliament in the coming months. As part of the Review process the SPA will seek feedback from all local authorities in Scotland.

Information on the number officers (a) on long-term leave and (b) paid wholly or in part by ports, airports or local authorities is not held centrally.

First published as Official Statistics in December 2008, Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) was designed to measure the implementation of the manifesto commitment to increase officer numbers by 1,000. As such, figures include all police officers appointed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and senior police officers appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, excluding those on career breaks.

The latest edition of POQS was published on 6 August 2019, and reports that there were 17,259 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2019, up 87 police officers (+0.5%) in the last year, from 30 June 2018 and up 1,025 police officers (+6.3%) from the position at 31 March 2007.

Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication, available online at the following link:

https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2 .

The Equally Safe Multi-Agency Centre (ESMAC) in Edinburgh will bring together experts from child and adult protection, health, police and social work, to provide age-appropriate, wrap-around care for children, young people and adults who have been a victim of rape, sexual assault, child sexual abuse or other forms of gender based violence. This ambitious project is backed by £2.6m of Scottish Government funding.

The ESMAC Steering Group is chaired by NHS Lothian, who are responsible for overseeing the project and keeping the timescales under review. A phased approach to the development of the service will likely see the service commence in Spring 2020.

There is no direct relevance of the independent Miners’ Strike Review to the work of the Victims Taskforce, to improve support, advice and information for the victims of crime.

The Catalogue of Initiatives, which makes reference to the Miners’ Strike Review, was developed to provide information about the wider justice policy environment. Entries are intended to provide context and are reviewed and updated on a regular basis.