Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-27669

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, following the closure of Torness nuclear power station, which is currently projected to be in 2028, what proportion of the energy that households in the Lothian region will draw from the grid it estimates will be generated by nuclear power stations in the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-27850

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government sdfsf

Question reference: S6W-27849

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Governmentasdfsa

Question reference: S6W-27851

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test 16.56 lodged.

Question reference: S6W-27848

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government sdfsf

Question reference: S6W-27657

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government in what system Police Scotland is currently mandated to record non-crime hate incidents; whether this is a distinctly different system to the system for recording arrest records or formal charges, and, if this is not the case, whether there are strict Chinese wall protocols in place to mitigate the risk of deliberate or accidental disclosure.

Question reference: S6W-27656

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published Police Scotland interim guidance on the recording of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), which states that a report would happen in "exceptional circumstances", what are defined as "exceptional circumstances" in which a party allegedly at fault in a reported incident could have their details recorded.

Question reference: S6T-02000

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported figures showing that average rents increased at a higher rate in Scotland than any other region or nation in the UK between September 2022 and March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27475

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is any regulatory requirement that means that public sector bodies should not use recycled aggregates in construction projects, and what plans it has to encourage the use of recycled aggregates through its procurement programme.

Question reference: S6W-27006

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of (a) online extortion and (b) threats to disclose an intimate image have been (i) reported to and (ii) investigated by Police Scotland in each year since records began, and whether there are any plans to begin recording incidents of sextortion.

Sextortion is sexual extortion and involves the threat of having sexual information, photos or videos shared with others. It is carried out to extort money or force a victim to do something against their will, control behaviour or obtain further images.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves the perpetrator making demands for money or other valuables, Police Scotland will record and investigate it under Threats and extortion. Table 1 shows the estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online, from 2019-20 to 2022-23. This is based on an annual review of crime records (commenced in 2019-20) which aims to estimate how many cyber-crimes are recorded in Scotland. It should be noted the figures below are based on a sample of police records (rather than all police records), so should be seen as providing a broad estimate of the volume of this type of crime, rather than an exact count.

Whilst not all online threats and extortion will necessarily have a ‘sextortion’ based element, it is very likely a high proportion (and certainly the majority) of the cases shown in Table 1 do. Figures for 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Where a reported sextortion-related crime involves a motive other than financial gain (for example a demand of a physical sexual nature or some other attempt to exert control over the victim), Police Scotland will record and investigate it under Threatening to disclose an intimate image. Table 2 below shows the number of these crimes recorded since the associated Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act was implemented on 3 July 2017. Again, figures for 2023-24 will be published in June 2024.

Table 1 - Estimated volume of threats and extortion committed online: 2019-20 to 2022-23

	Estimated volume committed online
Crime type	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Threats and extortion	290	730	1,260	1,830

Source: Recorded Crime Accredited Official Statistics, Police recorded cyber-crime in Scotland

Table 2 – Count of crimes of Threatening to disclose an intimate image: 2017-18 to 2022-23

Crime type	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Threatening to disclose an intimate image	193	255	275	337	382	302

Source: Recorded Crime Accredited Official Statistics, Scotland

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