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The Minister for Housing and I wrote to the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March outlining some of the challenges that remained around the implementation of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 and our planned next steps - Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and the Minister for Housing, 11 March 2025.

By way of an update I can advise that the workshop referenced within my letter and in connection with Domestic Abuse Protection Orders which is Part 1 of the Act, has now taken place, and involved members of the Implementation Advisory Board originally established to help make progress on the work in this area.

I am currently awaiting advice from officials and will look to reflect on the outcomes and discussions at the workshop, with the aim to provide clarity on how we will move forward in the coming months.

In addition, I can also advise that in relation to Part 2 of the Act, draft statutory guidance and information about the secondary legislation required for implementation is currently being shared with key stakeholders with a view to laying this legislation in summer and publishing the guidance as soon as possible thereafter. We are aiming to bring Part 2 of the Act into force in December 2025. Court rules will however also need to be updated and this may affect the timetable.

There are no plans to review our nuclear policy or to revise the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4). The Scottish Government’s position on traditional fission nuclear energy is clear: we do not support the building of any new nuclear power stations in Scotland under current technologies.

I am aware of concerns about gaps in the law relating to illegal content that is distributed online, including where this amounts to harassment or abuse of an individual. The power to legislate on matters pertaining to the regulation of internet services is reserved to the UK Parliament. With regard to the substantive criminal law relating to harassment and bullying, there are a range of general criminal offences that can be used to prosecute harassment and bullying which protect everyone, including teachers, where this occurs in any place including online. These include stalking and threatening or abusive behaviour offences. There is also a more specific offence of misuse of a public electronic communications network.

The Scottish Ministers keep the criminal law that sits within the powers of the Scottish Parliament under continual review to ensure it is fit for purpose. Any new laws focused on regulating the internet would be for the UK Parliament to consider.

Although not formally adopted under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 nor the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012, the finfish sector’s Code of Good Practice supports producers to deliver on their welfare obligations.

The Scottish Government, in its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (13 March 2025), has committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for production going forward and will update the Committee in September 2025 on progress and next steps.

We are currently developing guidance for the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter taking into account the recommendations made in the UK Animal Welfare Committee report of 2014 and its updated opinion of 2023. We will engage with the industry and other stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, for their views at the appropriate stage.

The Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture is independent of Scottish Government which is not responsible for any review or updates made to the Code.

The Scottish Government, in its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (13 March 2025), has committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for production going forward and will update the Committee in September 2025 on progress and next steps.

Police Scotland currently deploys Body Worn Video (BWV) to officers in Tayside, Armed Policing and as part of a legacy Grampian Police solution in A division.

In total, Police Scotland currently owns the following devices:

A Division (legacy solution) – 228 (to be replaced with national solution devices)

Armed Policing – 473

National BWV Project – 5072 to be rolled out as part of national rollout, this number will increase further as the rollout progresses and further cameras are purchased.

Following commencement of a national BWV solution in Spring 2025 to Tayside Division, Police Scotland have advised that the target schedule to complete rollout is Summer 2026 for circa 10,695 front-line officers and staff and then into Spring 2027 for rollout to the remaining officers and staff.

Police Scotland have advised that their Body Worn Video (BWV) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been developed in collaboration with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and other partners to ensure officers capture end to end footage, including the events leading up to an incident, to provide best evidence in any prosecution case.

Guidance on when officers should press record on their Body Worn Camera is set by Police Scotland to encompass all policing responsibilities whether criminal or not. This is set out in section 5 of the Police Scotland BWV SOP which says:

In the following circumstances, all BWV users present/attending must activate recording on their BWV cameras;

• Prior to arriving at the incident.
• Prior to utilising blue lights.
• Prior to stopping persons or vehicles.
• When an armed Police Officer or a specially trained officer (STO) is authorised to deploy, or self deploys to a firearms/TASER incident they will immediately commence recording.
• When there is an armed policing operation and following an instruction by the relevant Armed Policing Command.
• At the first available opportunity for spontaneous incidents.

All Police Scotland Standard Operating Procedures recognise that policing is a dynamic profession, and the standard response may not be appropriate in every circumstance. In every situation, the decisions and actions should be supported by the National Decision Model and based on the values and ethics of Police Scotland. BWV users may be expected to provide a clear and reasonable rationale for any decision or action which they take.

The BWV Standard Operating Procedure can be accessed publicly:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/oqtjeuqf/body-worn-video-sop-police-scotland-publication-scheme.docx.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided a grant of £200,000 to FareShare Scotland to deliver the Surplus With Purpose programme. This supported the redistribution of 1,001 tonnes of fresh surplus produce from Scottish farms, equivalent to 2.3 million meals, and benefited an estimated 53,700 people via 448 community organisations. The food redistributed was primarily potatoes and carrots which would otherwise have gone to waste.

In September 2022, Surplus With Purpose activity resumed as part of a wider £313,000 allocation from the Fair Food Fund 2022-23. The overall funding contributed to the redistribution of 3,203 tonnes of surplus food, representing 86% of all food distributed by FareShare Scotland – this included a proportion of redistributed surplus food from farms. This supported 585 community organisations and helped provide 8.9 million meals to an estimated 66,000 people.

In addition to these two years, the Scottish Government has, and continues to, fund FareShare to support the redistribution of surplus food to people; this support does not specifically target surplus from farms, but targets a range of surplus from farms and other sources.

As highlighted in the launch of Police Scotland's Body Worn Video (BWV) rollout, around 750 Tayside (D) Division officers, including road policing officers, operational support and custody staff, will be equipped with the new devices over the coming weeks. As the roll out progresses, Police Scotland will issue more than 10,500 Home Office-approved Motorola VB400 cameras to frontline officers from constable to inspector ranks, and to police custody staff, across the country.

Previously to this national rollout, approximately 440-Armed Policing Officers have access to BWV. BWV has been used in A Division since 2010 as part of a legacy Grampian Police deployment and currently have 228 operational devices in use on a pool basis. The national BWV solution will replace this legacy system in line with other divisions.

In total approximately 1440 BWV devices are currently operational with a mixed estate of both pool and personal issue. Training across Tayside is currently ongoing, which will increase officer use of this technology daily.