Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 06 January 2016
06 Jan 2016 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Knife Crime (West Scotland)
Justice and the Law Officers
I welcome the progress that has been made so far in West Scotland. East Renfrewshire, for example, now has one of the lowest rates of recorded knife crime in Scotland, with an 82 per cent fall in recorded crimes of handling offensive weapons since 2006-07.
Does the minister agree about the importance of educating young people through initiatives such as the no knives, better lives programme, which he mentioned, to ensure that that welcome reduction in crime continues? Will he reassure me that there will be no let-up in tackling the scourge of knife crime?
In the same item of business
6. Stewart Maxwell (West Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle knife crime in the West Scotland region. (S4O-05209)
The Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs (Paul Wheelhouse)
SNP
We are working with various partners to tackle knife crime, including YouthLink Scotland, which supports local authorities to deliver the no knives, better l...
Stewart Maxwell
SNP
I welcome the progress that has been made so far in West Scotland. East Renfrewshire, for example, now has one of the lowest rates of recorded knife crime in...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Absolutely. On the latter point, I reassure the member that we will not let up our efforts to tackle knife crime. We have consistently said that the best wa...
Annabel Goldie (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Given the fact that the Scottish Government’s data confirms a continuing reliance by judges on short and medium-term sentences for persons who are convicted ...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I am happy to confirm to Ms Goldie that those sentences will still be available. In the measures against short sentences, we are considering where it is appr...