John Swinney
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“Since the report from several years ago was published, the Government has presided over the passage of legislation to rationalise that area of activity. Work is under way to transfer the responsibility for the funding of further education student support from the Scottish Funding Council to the Student Awards Agency Scotland.”
“I appreciate the urgency of the general policy elements of the question, because a number of applications are now being considered by planning authorities. My view is that, given the concerns that have been expressed by planning authorities, the Government has to be responsive to the issue.”
“For as long as we do not have a proper strategy on prison capacity, rehabilitation and clearing the court backlog, early release will be a revolving door, with people going in, coming out and going back into our prisons. Our justice system is in crisis, so we need a strategy.”
“I associate myself unreservedly Mr Cole-Hamilton’s comments about the feelings in the Muslim community. On Monday, I visited the Broomhouse mosque along with Simita Kumar and the Annandale Street mosque in Edinburgh with Ben Macpherson.”
“The development of further guidance will be undertaken in a manner consistent with the ruling by Lady Ross. Malcolm Offord: I thank the First Minister for his answer, which was more comprehensive than I expected.”
“I am a huge supporter of apprenticeship programmes. With foundation apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships, the Government has brought forward important reforms that create new and successful pathways for young people. I am determined to make sure that every young person has that desirable pathway for their future.”
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“I have been advised that there is a live council procurement exercise, but I will take away Mr Mundell’s point and consider whether the Government can assist in any way. Stagecoach Services (Dumfries and Galloway)”
“As I understand it, the issue is part of a live procurement exercise that is being led by Dumfries and Galloway Council. The Scottish Government has no involvement in that decision- making process, but I am assured that local authority officers are working through the options as part of that procurement process. I understand the point that Mr Mundell puts to me about the importance of sustaining community travel services in Dumfries and Galloway. That will be challenging enough for members of the public without any diminution of those services. I will ask my officials to look at the situation to see whether there is any scope for the Government to assist in reaching an agreement.”
“The Deputy First Minister is leading that work within Government to ensure that we attract investment into Scotland and that we create economic opportunity from the journey to net zero. That is the point that I made to Mr Findlay in my earlier answer and I am delighted that there will be a positive economic impact in Mr Adam’s Paisley constituency and in the constituency of my colleague Natalie Don-Innes. Stagecoach Services (Dumfries and Galloway)”
“Mr Adam raises a particular case that is directly relevant to the answers that I gave earlier to Russell Findlay: the case of ZeroAvia, which has decided to locate its manufacturing facility for hydrogen fuel cell technology for air travel at the advanced manufacturing innovation district in Inchinnan. As a consequence of that, up to 350 high-skilled, high-value jobs will be created in low-carbon technologies. That has been made possible by investment from not only ZeroAvia but the United Kingdom Government’s National Wealth Fund, the Scottish National Investment Bank, which acts on our behalf, and Scottish Enterprise. That is a classic example of how, by working with the private sector, the Government can attract investment.”
“We are ready to consider any requests that are made to us properly by the University of Dundee and the”
“At my constituency surgery on Monday, I had a member of staff come to see me in my constituency capacity, who in essence conveyed the very same message, so I understand entirely where Mr Rennie is coming from, and I want to make sure that the Government acts properly and effectively to address the legitimate concerns that he puts to me. He will of course acknowledge, because he is entirely familiar with our legislative arrangements, that the University of Dundee operates as an autonomous institution. It has to take the initiative to come to the Funding Council and the Government. I assure Mr Rennie that the issue has the most active engagement of the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the Minister for Higher and Further Education within Government.”
“A cloud has been hanging over them since November, which is seven months ago. They simply cannot understand why we still have no financial agreement four weeks on from the publication of the new financial recovery plan. One staff member had tears in her eyes as she told me about the toll that it is taking on her and her family. How much longer does the First Minister think that she will have to wait? The First Minister: First, I sympathise and empathise with the point that Mr Rennie raises with me on behalf of his constituent.”
“The University of Dundee is an autonomous institution that is responsible for its own decision-making powers and must consider whether further financial support is required. As of this morning, we have not yet received any request from the Scottish Funding Council. However, as I have reiterated throughout this situation, the Scottish Government and the Funding Council will give careful consideration to any request for additional support within the legislative framework. I am encouraged by the university’s commitment to minimise job losses, but it is vital that the university consults on its revised plan with its community, including trade unions, and with the strategic advisory task force, which is chaired by Sir Alan Langlands. Willie Rennie: The situation has been agonising for university staff.”
“We will give very serious consideration to the conduct and issues that Monica Lennon raises, because the implications and impact of those issues are detrimental to our natural environment, which we have to protect. Scottish Funding Council and University of Dundee (Financial Agreement) 7.”
“The First Minister: I compliment Monica Lennon on the diligent work that she has undertaken to engage with many stakeholders and parties, and also with the Government, on the formulation of the bill that she is to introduce to Parliament. I recognise the importance that she attaches to that piece of legislation, and the Government understands the significance of the points that are raised. We will, of course, consider the bill that Monica Lennon is going to introduce, and we would welcome further dialogue with her on the issue. We are committed to the protection of our natural environment, as represented by the introduction in February of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill.”
“Monica Lennon: The proposed ecocide (prevention) (Scotland) bill would make it a criminal offence to cause widespread, long-term or irreversible environmental damage, with penalties of up to 20 years in prison for individuals and unlimited fines for organisations. Ecocide law was pioneered by trailblazing Scottish lawyer the late Polly Higgins. The EU and many countries worldwide are acting to deter and punish such devastating crimes, and this is Scotland’s time to act. Does the First Minister agree with the bill’s aims? Does he welcome this vital opportunity for Scotland to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide?”
“The Scottish Government is committed to remaining aligned with the EU where it is possible and meaningful for Scotland to do so. That commitment is reflected in our annual reports to the Scottish Parliament on the use of the alignment power under the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021. Many of our environmental regulations were derived from EU law, and that is an important area for consideration of alignment. We are currently assessing the revised EU environmental crime directive, including its provision of higher penalties for serious environmental harm that is equivalent to ecocide.”
“The First Minister: I think that Stephen Kerr needs to go to a play park to get rid of some of his excess energy. He seems—[Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Let us hear one another. The First Minister: He seems just a little bit too excited for words today. Let me inject some basic arithmetic into Parliament today—25 plus 35 equals 60, which equals the fulfilment of the Government’s promise. One of the basic foundations of being a member of Parliament is that, when you do not get the answer that you expect, you have to pivot to deal with it. Mr Kerr cannot handle that.”
“The First Minister promised a free tablet or laptop and an internet connection for every child in Scotland. He promised to provide a free bike for every child, to close the attainment gap, to recruit an additional 3,500 teachers and to ensure that every primary school pupil would receive free school breakfasts and lunches all year round. He has failed on every promise, and now he will fail on delivering the promise of refurbishing every play park by the end of this session of Parliament. Why should the people of this country believe anything that he says, when everywhere we look we see the SNP Government offering up big, empty election gimmicks and then failing to deliver? The Presiding Officer: I remind all members that we use full names or titles in the chamber.”
“The Scottish Government has provided £35 million to local authority partners, which has already led to the renewal of 1,100 play parks since September 2021. In 2025-26, we are providing a further £25 million to help to accelerate local authorities’ plans and to make more parks welcoming, free and accessible spaces for all children to enjoy. That means that our £60 million commitment will be met by my Government. On the basis of a scoping exercise that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities undertook in 2022, we estimate that that will allow a total renewal of nearly 2,000 play parks, including all parks that are assessed by local authorities as being in need of immediate renewal. Stephen Kerr: That sounds like another Swinney broken promise.”
“The First Minister: Clare Adamson is right to highlight the lack of information since the Prime Minister made his statement a week ago yesterday. We await further detail and the implications for Scotland. Pensioners in Scotland should be absolutely assured that, when the Labour Government decided, as one of its first acts, to remove winter fuel payments from pensioners, the Scottish National Party Government stepped in and introduced a universal payment that will provide support to more than 812,000 pensioner households in Scotland—support that is not available anywhere else in the United Kingdom. The people of Scotland and, crucially, the pensioners of Scotland can see that, where the Labour Government takes away the winter fuel payment, the Scottish National Party Government will restore it. Play Parks (Renewal) 5.”
“Since the Prime Minister made his announcement, the Scottish Government has not been furnished with detail, and the lack of information is only adding further to the uncertainty. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury this week to urge the UK Government to share its plans with us as quickly as possible, so that we can understand any implications for our own programmes and, crucially, our budget. Clare Adamson: Under pressure, the Prime Minister has in effect admitted that Labour’s winter fuel payment cut was wrong, but the lack of information from the UK Government on how, when or whether it will means test the winter fuel payment is causing anxiety for pensioners. Are our pensioners to be kept in the dark, as well as in the cold?”
“That is the proper exercise of the planning process, which I am obliged by law to ensure is the case. Winter Fuel Payment 4.”
“The First Minister is not standing up for Scotland. Did he learn nothing from his mistake? Why is he still willing to back greedy developers who cannot look at a landscape without seeing an opportunity to bulldoze it for profit? The First Minister: I am absolutely committed to protecting Scotland’s natural environment. In all the decisions and steps that I take, I value and cherish that natural environment. The reporter has to come to a decision that is based on the planning merits of the case. In this circumstance, on a range of different conditions, the reporter has established a notice of intention to allow the appeal, subject to 49 planning conditions that I am sure address the issues that Mr Harvie is raising with me. Those issues have to be the subject of further discussion.”
“Patrick Harvie: I am afraid that I really do not think that the First Minister is even attempting to acknowledge the scale of the anger about the issue—anger that has been demonstrated by people outside Parliament today and by the 44,000 people who have already written to the minister—as a result of an unnecessary, unwanted and destructive development. However, this is not the first time that he has defended such a development. In 2007, when John Swinney had been in government for less than a year, he overturned a local planning decision to approve another controversial, environmentally destructive project from a greedy, bullying developer. In that case, of course, the decision was made to give Donald Trump his golf course. Even Trump’s project director from those days has made it clear that the Government was hoodwinked.”
“As Mr Harvie indicated, the appeal remains live, so members must understand that it would not be appropriate for me to comment in detail on the proposal. I am aware that the reporter has issued a notice of intention to allow the appeal and to grant planning permission in principle, subject to 49 planning conditions being met and a legal agreement—including on the Lomond promise, which includes a commitment to community benefits and fair work—being reached. The reporter is required to make his decision on the planning merits of the case and to take full account of all submissions made by the parties involved in the case, including representations from members of the local community.”
“Therefore, I appeal to Mr Sarwar to join me in what I said to the Prime Minister on Friday: the immigration proposals will be damaging to our national health service, and we do not want anything to do with them. Flamingo Land (Planning Appeal) 3.”
“Anyone who has looked at the details of what it has set out, which involves turning off our ability to attract international workers, will realise that that is a very damaging blow to our health service. I saw data from Scottish Care on social care—[Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Let us hear one another. The First Minister: —and the sector is heavily dependent on international workers. If the UK Government decides to turn off the ability of the Scottish health service to attract international workers, that will make our challenge in addressing the waiting times issue ever more difficult. That will be a consequence of the actions of the UK Government.”
“The measures that I have set out on the expansion of capacity are designed to ensure that that is the case. I am sorry that Eileen Kelly has had the experience that she has had. Obviously, there are individuals who receive treatment earlier than was promised in her circumstance, because there is an ability to put forward legitimate clinical cases for urgent intervention where such intervention is able to be undertaken. If Mr Sarwar wants to furnish me with the details of the case, I will examine exactly what has happened in that circumstance. We are working to make sure that we have in place the staff and the resources to address the issue. What will not help us is the approach that is now being taken on immigration by the United Kingdom Government.”
“She has worked and paid taxes all her life, but when she needed the NHS, the SNP let her down. She feels betrayed and abandoned. That is the reality of the NHS after two decades of SNP rule: one in six Scots is on an NHS waiting list, waits are soaring and thousands are being forced to go private. Why has John Swinney and SNP incompetence left our NHS on life support? The First Minister: In his previous question, Mr Sarwar referenced the significance of the Covid pandemic. All of us must be realistic and recognise that the Covid pandemic interrupted the ability to deliver healthcare services for members of the public for a two-year period. It takes a period of time to recover from such an event, and focus and direction are needed to ensure that the process is successful.”
“We are putting in place the practical expansion of capacity to make sure that we can treat more patients, which is exactly what the Government is focused on doing. Anas Sarwar: Just like this SNP Government, the plan is not working, and Scotland needs a new direction. There is a human cost to SNP failure. Take the case of Eileen Kelly, who is an 80-year-old grandmother from the south side of Glasgow. Eileen is living with severe osteoarthritis in both hips—so severe, in fact, that her entire right hip has disintegrated. When she most needed help, she was told that she faced a wait of two and a half years on the NHS. Due to the severe pain that she is in, she has paid more than £10,000 to be treated privately. Eileen told me that she lives two flights up and has been left immobile and in agony.”
“All of us must realise that the pandemic had a serious and detrimental effect on the ability of the NHS, over a period of about two years, to tackle the health issues that members of the public face. That is why we have in place a plan to focus on expanding capacity. What I set out earlier this year involves enhancing the capacity of national treatment centres; expanding regional delivery of healthcare services in order to increase levels of activity; and putting in place additional capacity in hospitals such as Gartnavel general hospital, Inverclyde royal hospital, Stracathro hospital, Perth royal infirmary and Queen Margaret hospital to deliver more procedures in exactly the specialisms that Mr Sarwar put to me. I acknowledge the scale of the challenge.”
“It promised recovery after the pandemic, but the situation has only got worse. The Government is now on to its fifth NHS recovery plan, its fourth health minister and its third First Minister since that promise, and the crisis only deepens. Thousands of people are, like Tracey Meechan, waiting more than two years for procedures in specialisms that include ear, nose and throat, neurosurgery, orthopaedics—that is, hip and knee replacements—and gynaecology, including ovarian surgery. When will John Swinney finally come clean and admit that he and his Government have utterly failed and that he has no plan to fix Scotland’s NHS? The First Minister: I welcome the acknowledgement in Mr Sarwar’s question of the significant impact of the Covid pandemic.”
“For that reason, the Government has made the largest-ever investment in the national health service. Based on the most recent initiative that we took to tackle the volume of transactions and procedures in the health service, we expected there to be 64,000 additional appointments and procedures by March this year—in fact, we achieved 105,500. I hope that that gives Mr Sarwar and members of the public reassurance that the Government is focusing on expanding capacity to tackle the issue that he raises. Anas Sarwar: Week after week, John Swinney comes to the chamber and apologises, and things continue to get worse. People do not want to hear “Sorry”—they want treatment, and that is on the SNP Government. Time after time, the SNP has promised to get to grips with the crisis in our NHS.”
“As I have explained in the Parliament on many occasions before, I recognise the significant impact of long waits on individual patients. I apologise to everybody who is affected by those long waits. That impact is why tackling long waits is central to the Government’s plans to deliver the improvements in the national health service that are required. I am aware of the case of Tracey Meechan; I saw the media reports on it. My officials have already contacted NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to raise her case with it. We are advised that dialogue is under way with Ms Meechan about the procedure and I hope that that leads to progress. However, there are obviously many other people like Ms Meechan who are waiting for treatment, and I apologise for those circumstances.”
“What does that sensible investment involve? It involves supporting the transition to renewable energy—and I mean the transition to renewable energy—whereby we manage carefully the way in which we generate our energy by attracting investment— [Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Let us hear the First Minister. The First Minister: —which we are successfully doing to secure the energy future of our country. That is the commitment of the Scottish Government: to ensure that we deliver a just transition, grow the economy and always take action to protect the interests of the people of Scotland. The SNP Government will do that while the Conservatives play politics with the opportunists. National Health Service Waiting Lists 2.”
“If John Swinney sticks to his target, he has to be honest with the people of Scotland about the price that he expects them to pay. People will be forced to ditch petrol cars, rip out their boilers and change their diets. Farmers will need to get rid of cattle. Scotland’s oil and gas industry will cease to exist. All of it will be paid for through higher taxes and higher household bills. None of it makes sense to people in the real world. It is just not realistic or affordable. Does John Swinney agree, or will he continue to make promises that he knows that the SNP cannot keep? The First Minister: Between 1990 and 2022, Scotland’s emissions halved, while the economy grew by 66.6 per cent. I cite that information to note to the Parliament that it is possible for us to grow our economy and reduce our emissions by sensible investment.”
“My second point is that the targets for reaching net zero by 2045 are not those of the SNP—they are the Parliament’s. They were democratically agreed to by the Parliament because we all recognised the importance of climate action. What we see in front of us just now is obvious: the Conservatives are deserting the action that is necessary on climate for a cheap political opportunity. However, this Government will do what it always does, which is to act in the best interests of the people of Scotland and to secure the future of our country. Russell Findlay: I can only share my colleague’s frustration at this weekly exercise in deflection and evasion. The SNP has missed its eco-targets for years. Its expert advisers now confirm that the only way to reach net zero by 2045 is by imposing radical and financially devastating policies.”
“The First Minister: In the Brexit—[Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Mr Ross, you have persistently refused to abide by our standing orders. I ask you to leave the chamber; you are excluded for the rest of the day. The First Minister: The issue of Brexit— The Presiding Officer: Excuse me, First Minister. Mr Ross, I have asked you to leave the chamber. Please do so. First Minister, please continue. The First Minister: Reassurance for farmers was absent in the Brexit that the Conservatives imposed on us, and it has caused incalculable— [Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Mr Lumsden, please refrain from shouting from your seat. The First Minister: Brexit has caused incalculable damage to the farming industry in Scotland, and this Government is working to repair that damage.”
“That proposal is simply not realistic, and if it was imposed, it would hammer hard-working Scots. Will John Swinney please rule it out now? The First Minister: Mr Findlay talked about reassurance for farmers. As a representative of a constituency that includes many members of the farming community, I take the commitment to support the future of Scottish agriculture very seriously, and it has always been reflected— [Interruption.] That commitment has always been reflected in my policy priorities. I can tell the Parliament that what was not reassuring to farmers was Brexit, which Mr Findlay supported. That has damaged the economic opportunities—[Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Let us hear one another.”
“There has been parliamentary consensus on the importance of achieving net zero by 2045, which has been supported across the political spectrum. The Government will consider specific proposals and bring them forward, and the Parliament will have the opportunity to decide whether those proposals should be approved or not. Russell Findlay: There is absolutely no reassurance for farmers in that answer. Let us look at another measure in the report. Fewer than 1 per cent of Scotland’s homes have a heat pump, but to meet the SNP’s 2045 target, that figure would need to reach almost 70 per cent. The number of annual installations would need to increase fivefold in just five years’ time. That is before we work out how people would afford heat pumps, given that they typically cost between £8,000 and £15,000.”
“To meet the Scottish National Party’s net zero target, the number of cattle and sheep in Scotland would need to fall by 2 million—meaning a cull of 2 million animals in the next decade—which is around 25 per cent. That would drive farmers out of business, destroy the rural economy and put our food security at risk. The report says that Scots would need to eat one third less meat. That is utter madness. It is an act of national self-harm. Will John Swinney rule out going ahead with that specific plan? The First Minister: As I have said, the Government will consider the advice of the Climate Change Committee in an orderly fashion, and we will set out our own proposals for taking the action that is absolutely necessary.”
“The Government will carefully consider the advice of the Climate Change Committee before we set out our proposed carbon budgets in secondary legislation in due course. There are a lot of policy proposals in the committee’s recommendations. The Government will consider those. However, what is absolutely inescapable is that we have to take action to tackle climate change in our society. That is why the Government is absolutely committed to achieving net zero by 2045— because the implications and consequences of not doing so would be very dramatic and damaging for Scotland and our economy. Russell Findlay: Let us take a look at some of the specific suggestions in the report.”
“We will work closely with Police Scotland and the football authorities, and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs will shortly hold a discussion with key partners to discuss those issues and ensure that we challenge everybody, including the clubs, to do everything possible to ensure that football is safe for supporters, and that we minimise disruption for local communities. The Presiding Officer: That concludes First Minister’s question time. There will be a short suspension to allow those leaving the chamber and the gallery to do so. 12:46 Meeting suspended. 12:48 On resuming— Tall Ships Races 2025 (Aberdeen)”
“There were unacceptable incidents at the weekend. I completely understand the desire of football fans to celebrate the achievements and the performance of their teams. However, incidents such as the one that took place at Tannadice, where a chair was thrown at an Aberdeen Football Club player—it seems that that emerged from the Aberdeen supporters’ stands—or the disorder that took place at Glasgow Cross, on the boundary of Mr Mason’s constituency, are totally unacceptable. Celebrations are fine, but they should not inconvenience other people, and they should not harm other people in any way, shape or form.”
“I am very sorry to hear the details that Jackie Baillie has shared with me about Isla Sneddon, and I express my sympathies to her family. Jackie Baillie makes a compelling case. I will take the issue away and raise it with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. We will pursue the issue of clinical guidance, because I understand the significance of the point that Jackie Baillie has raised.”
“How the United Kingdom Government believes that we will be able to operate social care services with the type of hostile approach that is contained in its white paper is beyond me. There needs to be serious engagement about the implications of the white paper, because it will be devastating for countless sectors of the Scottish economy. The Scottish Government will not, in any way, shape or form, engage in the type of rhetoric that the Prime Minister engaged in a week past Monday. His rhetoric was absolutely appalling, and it represented the wrong policy position. We need migration in order to boost our working-age population. That will be the sustained position of the Scottish Government. Cancer Diagnosis (Young People)”
“On Tuesday, I convened a discussion involving representatives of a broad range of sectors in Scotland across social care, the national health service, food and drink, engineering and construction and education to discuss the United Kingdom Government’s white paper on immigration. It was absolutely chilling to hear the anxiety that was expressed by those in different sectors in Scotland about the issues arising from the fact that we have a shrinking working-age population, which we need migration to boost. Scottish Care gave me a briefing paper and it cites a survey of its members indicating that 26 per cent, or 11,294, of the total social care workforce are international workers.”
“The services that the bus drivers provide are critical for the mobility of the constituents that Carol Mochan represents. I want to avoid any possible disruption to the delivery of transport services, including bus services, in the area. I encourage all parties to work together to find an agreement that will avoid the inconvenience for members of the public that Carol Mochan has raised and enable services to operate as planned. Immigration (Scottish Care Report)”
“That demonstrates the incoherence of the Conservative Party—the incoherence between two members sitting just two seats along from each other on the Conservative benches. They are utterly and completely incoherent. Stagecoach Drivers (Pay)”
“As Mr Kerr will know, the Scottish Funding Council operates at arm’s length from Government. That is what the law requires. The Government makes an allocation to the funding council, which has seen a 2 per cent uplift in the resource allocation for colleges in this year’s budget. It is then for the funding council to take such decisions independently of Government, which is what the law requires. Here we are again, with a Conservative member coming to the chamber and pressing me about the public finances. Graham Simpson, Liam Kerr’s colleague, who is sitting two seats along from him, just asked me to cut taxes by £1 billion, and now Liam Kerr wants me to increase public expenditure.”
“Not for the first time, the fishing communities of Scotland have been judged to be expendable—this time by a Labour Government and the previous time by a Conservative Government. The people of Scotland know that, whether it is a Labour Government or a Tory Government, the UK Government will sell out the Scottish fishing industry. My Government will support the industry, and we will do what we can to assist the communities to overcome the obstacles that are put in their way by the deals made by Labour and Conservative Governments. Of course, the only way in which the fishing industry in Scotland will be properly protected is with the powers of independence. North East Scotland”
“I would not for a moment want members to consider that I do not accept, in any way, the seriousness and significance of these issues. One incident is one incident too many. We have tried and tested methods of addressing the issue of knife crime, and we must make sure that those methods remain effective in all that we do, to ensure that young people and communities are protected.”
“Such incidents are destroying lives and traumatising communities, and the problem seems to be getting worse. Last year, the police seized 248 weapons in schools. Will the First Minister intervene? Will he request that the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit incentivise its efforts? Will he say that enough is enough? Will his Government deliver youth work and policing that reach out to young people to help to prevent further incidents? The First Minister: Those are the actions that we are taking. As I indicated in my earlier answer to Mr Sarwar, the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit is internationally acknowledged to have deployed very significant and effective interventions aimed at reducing the level of knife crime in our society.”
“As I indicated in my earlier answers, my heartfelt sympathies go out to all those affected by the appalling knife crime incidents in Irvine and Portobello over the past weekend. Since 2023, we have invested more than £6 million in our violence prevention framework, which supports a range of targeted prevention and early intervention activity in schools and hospitals, and across communities, as well as work with partners to tackle violence and its harms. Foysol Choudhury: Following the tragic death of a 16-year-old boy from East Kilbride last week, three young people have now been killed in stabbing incidents in the past year. Since March, there have been 11 stabbings involving young people, including multiple instances in Portobello.”