Chamber and committees

The principal responsibility for fence maintenance and for protecting native woodlands lies with the landowner.

Where the only practicable solution to protecting native woodlands is significant new or replacement fencing, applications for funding can be made to the SRDP Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS).

FGS also supports the costs of deer management through culling to encourage landowners to protect their woodlands without the use of fencing.

Fences on the National Forest Estate, for which Scottish Ministers are responsible, are funded by Forestry and Land Scotland, or jointly with neighbouring landowners if there is shared responsibility for the fence.

Since 2012 the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland baseline report, and the long running Scottish Natural Heritage’s Site Condition Monitoring on Protected Areas, have provided data to identify native woodlands in unsatisfactory condition and requiring management. Scottish Forestry and SNH are now working with counterparts in other parts of the UK to ensure high quality monitoring data is available for the future.

The Scottish Government’s Forestry Strategy includes a commitment to increase the amount of native woodland condition in good condition, and activities to improve native forests and woodlands. The implementation and monitoring plan will include actions to take forward the Strategy’s commitments and priorities.

The decision to change the name of the group from the ‘Expert Ferry Group’ to the ‘Ferry Industry Advisory Group’ was taken in order to better reflect the remit and role of the group.

There is no change to the remit or function of the Group, as such, and after consideration it has been decided, for the time being, to continue with the current membership. However, it is Ministers intention to proactively engage the Group in providing advice on a number of key ferries issues of importance to Scottish Ministers and stakeholders.

The Transport Scotland website will be updated in due course and the membership, terms of reference and minutes of meetings will be published.

The Highlands and Islands Enterprise report ‘Economic and Social Benefits of Proposed Air Services at Skye Airport’ which was published in March 2016 is a comprehensive piece of work. We are confident that the information it contains was accurate at the time of publication.

Transport Scotland officials are responsible for the day-to-day performance management of the Operating Company contracts. They ensure that the trunk road network maintenance contract obligations and standards are achieved with the support of the Performance Audit Group.

The Performance Audit Group’s role is to audit, monitor and report on the financial, technical and performance aspects of the Operating Companies to ensure required standards of quality are being met.

Statistical and social research publications typically provide a summary of the information available, and as outlined in the report ‘Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland’, further information may be available on request.

We are able to provide a local authority disaggregation of the information made available in the report on police recorded hate crime by (a) aggravator and (b) type of crime, for 2014-15 to 2017-18. As this information requires 64 tables to produce, a copy has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 60542).

The report also outlined that further information on the nature of each hate crime the police deal with is recorded in Police Scotland's Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IVPD). This includes the characteristics of those involved and information on hate incidents that were reported to the police but did not constitute a criminal offence.

Prior to any dissemination of a wider range of data collected within the IVPD (e.g. characteristics of those involved), Police Scotland have been reviewing the process used by officers to enter this information into the database. This is with the aim of ensuring that should more detailed analysis on the nature of hate crime be regularly drawn from the IVPD, users can be assured of its quality.

Scottish Government statisticians will continue to engage with Police Scotland as they take this work forward, and will inform users through the SCOTSTAT network [1] of any new developments regarding the availability of hate crime information.

I have raised this issue directly with the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable.

[1] Network for users and providers of Scottish Official Statistics ( https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/scotstat )

The information requested has been provided in the following table.

Table: Hate crimes recorded by the police with a race aggravator, 2014-15 to 2017-18

As outlined in the report ‘Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland’, further information on the nature of each hate crime the police deal with is recorded in Police Scotland's Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IVPD). For example, this includes the age, gender and ethnicity of those involved, and the perceived motivations of the perpetrator.

It should be noted that a person does not need to be a member of a particular social group to be the victim of a hate crime. The law states that the identity of the victim is irrelevant as to whether something is a hate crime or not; the motivation of the perpetrator is the key factor in defining a hate crime. As such, Police Scotland do not generally collect information on whether or not a victim is a member of a particular social group in relation to the protected characteristics (with the exception of their ethnicity). Furthermore, the functionality of the IVPD does not currently allow victims to be distinguished from those reporting a hate crime to the police (where these are two different people). This is similar to the previous Racist Incidents Recorded by the Police in Scotland statistics.

Following publication of the Recorded Crime in Scotland 2017-2018 National Statistics, and while collaborating on the report ‘Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland’, Police Scotland fed back that further work was required on the more detailed information recorded in the IVPD on hate crime, prior to its dissemination. Police Scotland have been reviewing the process used by officers to enter this information into the database, with the aim of ensuring that should more detailed analysis on the nature of hate crime be regularly drawn from the IVPD, users can be assured of its quality.

Scottish Government statisticians will continue to engage with Police Scotland as they take this work forward, and will inform users through the SCOTSTAT network [1] of any new developments regarding the availability of hate crime information.

I have raised this issue directly with the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable.

[1] Network for users and providers of Scottish Official Statistics ( https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/scotstat )

Table 3 (Hate crimes recorded by the police, by type of crime, 2014-15 to 2017-18) in the report ‘Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland’ shows the number of hate crimes recorded in the Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IVPD) under Section 50A of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (Racially aggravated conduct and Racially aggravated harassment). This is not the same as the number of charges reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). This information is published in Table 1a of the Hate Crime in Scotland 2017-18 Official Statistics [1] produced by COPFS (provided in the following table).

It should be noted that a very small number of the charges shown in the following table relate to Sections 18, 19 or 23(1)a of the Public Order Act 1986 (fewer than 10 in any single year). For disclosure reasons these have not been disaggregated, and as such the vast majority of the charges shown below will relate to Section 50A of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995.

Table: Race crime charges reported under Section 50A of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 or Section 18, 19 or 23(1)a of the Public Order Act 1986

Decisions on the timing of statistical and social research publications are a matter for the independent analysts producing these reports. The timetable for the Scottish Government’s consultation on hate crime legislation was not a factor in the date chosen for publication of the report ‘Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland’, which was published shortly after being finalised by analysts.