Law & Order

Despite emergency services in England having tax relief from VAT, the UK government failed to deliver the same relief for Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which has cost Scottish taxpayers more than £140 million since 2013. After 140 SNP calls over five years for an end to VAT charges for our…

The Scottish Government will continue to cooperate closely with partner agencies, both in the UK and further afield, to combat the threat of global terrorism and extremism. We will continue to strengthen the already robust measures that are in place to help safeguard people who may be vulnerable to radicalisation or at risk from any…

The SNP voted against the UK government’s Investigatory Powers Bill. The Bill received royal assent while many of the SNP concerns were left unaddressed by the UK Government. The SNP welcomed the Bill’s attempt to codify law enforcement’s existing powers and to provide an enhanced oversight regime. However, we feel it has fallen far short…

The SNP will continue to support Police Scotland and ensure that they have the resources they need to protect the people of Scotland. We will protect the police revenue budget in real terms for the entirety of the next parliament – delivering an additional £100 million of investment over the next five years. In Scotland,…

Use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), also known as legal highs, has been on the increase in Scotland in recent years. Steps have already been taken by the SNP Scottish Government and Police Scotland to tackle the issue, including the purchase of specialist forensic equipment to better identify new substances, local councils have been sent a request to ban NPS in their Public Entertainment Licenses, and guidance have been given to Trading Standards staff.

In the last session of the Parliament, we passed the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm Act to tackle the way modern technology can be used to perpetrate abuse, creating a new offence of sharing private intimate images without consent, or so-called ‘revenge porn’. A new statutory domestic abuse aggravator will also be introduced to ensure…

The SNP Scottish Government have taken many steps to ensure Scotland is a safe place to live, and Scotland is now safer with recorded crime at a 43 year low. Since we took office, non-sexual violent crime is down by 49 per cent, robberies are down 60 per cent and handling offensive weapons – including…

The SNP Scottish Government understands the importance of education in eradicating hate crime and speech, including sectarianism, from modern Scottish society. We have invested £13.5 million investment to a range of programmes over the last six years  – more than any other government. Much of the funding for tackling sectarianism has been invested in nationwide…