Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-41518

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40884 by Angela Constance on 17 October 2025, how much funding in total has been provided to any restorative justice test cases that have been conducted in the last 18 months.

Question reference: S6O-05123

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been distributed by Creative Scotland in the previous 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-41139

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many illicit cigarettes have been seized by Trading Standards Scotland since 2021.

Trading Standards Scotland is a team operated by COSLA and has no role in the disruption of the illegal tobacco supply. The Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP) is delivered by local authorities coordinated by Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS).

SCOTSS have provided the following figures in relation to the amount of illicit cigarettes and tobacco seized since 2021:

Year	Number of Cigarettes seized (million)	Weight of Hand Rolling Tobacco seized (kg)
2024-25	1.4	800
2023-24	0.29	71
2022-23	1.08	115
2021-22	0.36	107

Question reference: S6W-41141

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for illicit cigarette selling there have been since 2021.

There is a range of legislation which may be relevant when referring to prosecutions for “illicit cigarette selling”. The following information relates to charges reported to The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under:

The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016;
The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015.

Action taken re Subject	Action Taken Re Charge	Outcome	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Summary	Court	Conviction	3	3	6	0
		No conviction	1	1	21	2
		Ongoing	0	4	10	15
		No further action	6	1	48	2
	Court Total		10	9	85	19
	Not separately actioned	Not separately actioned	2	2	2	0
Summary Total			12	11	87	19
Direct measure	Warning	Warning	0	4	0	0
	Not separately actioned	Not separately actioned	0	0	0	2
Direct measure Total			0	4	0	2
No action			10	17	2	44
No decision			0	0	17	10
Grand Total			22	32	106	75

(date of extract 20 October 2025).

Not Separately Actioned

No action was taken against the charge, but action (prosecution in court or direct measure) was taken against the accused.

Some of the libel in the charge may have been incorporated into a charge that was actioned.

Question reference: S6W-41137

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to repond to the illicit cigarette trade.

We work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including on illicit tobacco. SCOTSS manages the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP) in Scotland, which is a key component in the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vaping Framework.

In 2025-2026, Scottish Government provided funding of £46k to SCOTSS support a National Coordinator post and specific enforcement projects that vary year on year.

In 2024-2025 SCOTSS received an additional £75k to support the UK-wide Operation CeCe, which is a joint initiative between National Trading Standards and HMRC to remove illicit tobacco product from sale. SCOTSS plays a key role in this operation, coordinating local authority activity in Scotland. From 2025-2026 Operation CeCe is being funded directly by UKG.

In 2024-2025 19 local authorities in Scotland engaged in a joint operation with HMRC and Police Scotland as part of Operation CeCe. This resulted in the seizure of 1.4 million cigarettes and 800 kg of hand-rolling tobacco. Scottish referrals accounted for over 40% of successful HMRC sanctions across GB.

Scottish Government Officials also meet regularly with HMRC, who work with Border Force to take action to tackle the import of illicit tobacco and vaping products at the border.

Question reference: S6W-41136

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to prevent the sale of illicit cigarettes through street traders.

The Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Product Register is a Scotland specific register that is governed by legislation. Scottish Ministers have a commitment to keep and maintain a register of all sellers of tobacco and vapes. The register has been an asset to enforcement authorities in Scotland for over 15 years. The refreshed register, launched in January this year, has improved this important tool for enforcement as well as a more efficient vehicle for engagement with retailers on compliance.

In addition, we work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including on illicit tobacco. SCOTSS manages the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP) in Scotland, which is a key component in the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vaping Framework.

In 2025-2026, Scottish Government provided funding of £46k to SCOTSS support a National Coordinator post and specific enforcement projects that vary year on year.

In 2024-2025 SCOTSS received an additional £75k to support the UK-wide Operation CeCe, which is a joint initiative between National Trading Standards and HMRC to remove illicit tobacco product from sale. SCOTSS plays a key role in this operation, coordinating local authority activity in Scotland. From 2025-2026 Operation CeCe is being funded directly by UKG.

Scottish Government Officials also meet regularly with HMRC, who work with Border Force to take action to tackle the import of illicit tobacco and vaping products at the border.

Question reference: S6W-41146

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many sheriff courts are currently experiencing staffing issues that prevent the implementation of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders.

The resourcing and supervision of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders is a matter for individual local authorities which are best placed to ensure provision meets the needs of their local area.

While DTTOs are not currently available in all areas of Scotland, similar services can be provided via Community Payback Orders with particular requirements, helping to ensure that individuals’ support needs are met.

Question reference: S6W-41138

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any potential revenue that was lost due to the illicit cigarette trade in Scotland, over the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-41140

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value is of illicit cigarettes that have been seized by Trading Standards Scotland since 2021.

Trading Standards Scotland is a team operated by COSLA and has no role in the disruption of the illegal tobacco supply. The Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP) is delivered by local authorities coordinated by Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS).

Scottish Government does not hold information relating to the value of illicit cigarettes seized by Trading Standards. Value could relate to the average retail cost of cigarettes and tobacco, or the “street value” of illicit products.

However, SCOTSS have provided figures in relation to the amount of illicit cigarettes and tobacco seized since 2021, and this has been answered in question S6W-41139 on 4 November 2025.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-41147

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40336 by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025, how many Drug Treatment and Testing Orders were (a) imposed by Edinburgh Sheriff Court and (b) successfully completed in (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24, also broken down by calendar month.

The information is provided in the following tables:

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders imposed by Edinburgh Sheriff Court in 2022-23 and 2023-24, broken down by calendar month [Note 1][Note 2]

Month	2022-23	2023-24
April	5	6
May	7	8
June	16	12
July	6	0
August	c	c
September	c	c
October	0	0
November	c	c
December	c	c
January	0	0
February	c	c
March	c	c
Total for year	38	29

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders from Edinburgh Sheriff Court which were successfully completed in 2022-23 and 2023-24, broken down by calendar month [Note 1][Note 3]

Month	2022-23	2023-24
April	5	4
May	7	5
June	c	8
July	6	c
August	c	5
September	9	6
October	6	c
November	c	c
December	8	c
January	5	c
February	c	c
March	c	c
Total for year	59	39

Notes

1. [c] in tables refers to values between 0 and 3, which may have been suppressed to prevent against the identification of individuals.

2. For some DTTOs imposed by Edinburgh Sheriff Court, the person may live outwith the City of Edinburgh council area.

3. Orders can be successfully completed in a different year to the one in which they were imposed. Persons included in these figures may live outwith the City of Edinburgh council area.

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