Extract from Scottish Parliament Topical Question Time: National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2018 - May 15

Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the “National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2018”. (S5T-01083)

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Michael Matheson): The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the National Crime Agency’s “National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2018”. The assessment presents a high-level picture of serious organised crime in the United Kingdom and contains a specific section on Scotland, which draws on information that has been provided largely by Police Scotland. Police Scotland has primacy for serious organised crime in Scotland and constantly assesses emerging and existing threats. It does so in collaboration with all the law enforcement agencies that are based at the Scottish crime campus at Gartcosh.

Liam Kerr: The Scottish section of the report, to which the cabinet secretary has referred and which has been co-authored by the NCA and Police Scotland, is very clear: in Scotland, the threat from organised crime gangs is not only increasing but diversifying into new forms of activity. The report highlights on-going feuds, violence and firearms incidents, particularly in the central belt. Does the cabinet secretary think that that is good enough?

Michael Matheson: The information that is contained in the report is intelligence information that Police Scotland provides on such matters to the NCA. It is correct to say that a small number of crime groups in Scotland are presently undertaking a feud that has resulted in serious gang-related violence, which we have seen in public spaces, particularly in the Glasgow area, and which is wholly unacceptable.

Police Scotland is doing everything possible to reduce the risk to the public from targeted acts of violence that take place in public places. However, I am sure that members will recognise that it would not be appropriate for me to set out in detail the specific nature of the work that is being undertaken by Police Scotland on such matters, which are operational matters for it. However, I am regularly briefed on them by senior officers from Police Scotland and its organised crime and counterterrorism unit. Members can be assured that Police Scotland takes such issues very seriously and is determined to make sure that the actions of that small number of feuding crime groups are dealt with appropriately. It has a trail of action that is taking place to deal with them effectively.

Liam Kerr: In his answer, the cabinet secretary avoided saying whether he thinks that that is good enough. I will tell him what the public thinks: that it is not. Therefore, will he analyse the report and tell us which part of the Government’s strategy for tackling organised crime has failed, and why? The report also revealed not only that criminals have ready access to firearms but that they are willing to use them in public places. What action will be taken in response to that news, and how will progress be monitored? To put it simply, how will the cabinet secretary get the guns off our streets?

Michael Matheson: I appreciate Liam Kerr’s interest in the subject, but he fundamentally misunderstands how such matters are addressed by the police and law enforcement agencies in Scotland.

The serious and organised crime strategy is a multi-agency one involving the Scottish Government, Police Scotland, other enforcement agencies, the Crown Office and a range of public and private sector organisations, which come together to tackle such crimes collectively in a range of areas in Scotland. For example, the work that is done by a range of agencies in the divert and deter strands of the strategy to prevent and deter people from getting involved in serious and organised crime, as well as the disrupt elements, which are undertaken largely by our law enforcement agencies, are extremely important. The information that is contained in the NCA’s assessment is provided by Police Scotland—it is not new information. It feeds into the national strategy that we have in Scotland to deal with serious and organised crime. One of the things that have been very evident from the creation of a single police force has been the co-ordinated action that we are now able to take in addressing such crime.

As I have mentioned, the spilling out of the feud between crime groups on to the streets in some parts of Scotland is wholly unacceptable, but I assure Liam Kerr that Police Scotland takes such matters very seriously and takes robust action to deal with them. I reiterate that the information that is contained in the NCA report is not new. It is formed from information from Police Scotland, which is key to the delivery of the strategy to tackle such matters.

Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Lab): The report talks about serious and organised crime working across borders; it specifically mentions the ports of Loch Ryan and Cairnryan, and highlights the significant connections with gangs in the north-west of England. Therefore, what work are Police Scotland and the Scottish Government undertaking to work with the Home Office and police colleagues throughout the United Kingdom to ensure that intelligence is shared and activity co-ordinated?

Michael Matheson: The member raises an important point, because there is an issue to do with how serious and organised crime groups operate. Often, they do not recognise any boundaries between countries—that is true whether they come from Northern Ireland or from south of the border. A key part of the work that Police Scotland does is share information and intelligence with fellow law enforcement agencies within the UK and internationally to deal with such matters. The teams at Gartcosh in the organised crime and counterterrorism unit are responsible for taking such measures and sharing information as and when that is appropriate.

Mr Johnson will also be aware of the recent success of operation escalade, which resulted in a number of significant individuals from organised crime groups based in Scotland being convicted and given lengthy prison sentences. A key part of the work that Police Scotland did in dealing with those matters was share appropriate information and intelligence with other law enforcement agencies to support them in progressing their work in that area. That work continues, and having the crime campus at Gartcosh has provided a central hub that allows a range of Scottish, UK and international agencies—18 different agencies are involved—to work in a collaborative fashion to tackle such matters effectively here in Scotland.

Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP): Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is essential that Police Scotland remains able to utilise the European arrest warrant so that it can combat such crimes effectively?

Michael Matheson: That question follows on well from Daniel Johnson’s point about the need to make sure that we can share intelligence and information as and when that is appropriate because, in the crimes that they perpetrate, organised crime groups do not recognise domestic or international boundaries. The European arrest warrant is critical in supporting that work. The loss of the European arrest warrant could significantly hamper our ability to tackle serious and organised crime here in Scotland. It is still not clear how the UK Government intends to address that issue in the Brexit discussions.

The work that we do with Europol, which involves the sharing of intelligence through different police agencies, is critical in being able to track individuals who are involved in organised crime. The loss of access to such intelligence would compromise Scotland’s ability to tackle such matters. As yet, we have had no clarity from the UK Government on how those issues will be addressed.

The European arrest warrant and Europol play an important part in helping us to address serious and organised crime here in Scotland. To date, it is unclear how the UK Government intends to address those issues once we have left the European Union and, in my view, that potentially compromises our ability to tackle serious and organised crime in Scotland as effectively as we do at the moment.