Edinburgh's gangland shootings raised at FMQs

Edinburgh Evening News

Edinburgh Eastern Alba MSP Ash Regan raises Edinburgh's gangland shootings and police numbers with John Swinney at First Minister's Questions 27-03-25.  Lothian Tory MSP Sue Webber also asks a question on the issue.

Transcript

00:00I, too, extend the deep condolences from all at the Alba party to the friends and family

00:10of Christina McKelvie at this very sad time.

00:15In light of reports of an escalation of gang-related violence in Edinburgh, with recent shootings

00:20in Nidri and West Pilton, what immediate action can be taken to support the emergency services

00:26in ensuring the safety and reassurance to communities in my Edinburgh eastern constituency?

00:33I am grateful to Ash Regan for her comments on my dear colleague.

00:38In relation to her question, I am deeply concerned by recent incidents in Edinburgh and am fully

00:43supportive of Police Scotland's efforts to apprehend those responsible.

00:46Although it would be inappropriate to comment on the investigation itself, I can reassure

00:51members that significant resources are being put into the scrutiny of CCTV, door-to-door

00:56inquiries and increased patrols are being deployed in the area.

01:01I encourage anyone with information to report that directly to Police Scotland.

01:07A range of other measures have been taken in relation to the work of the serious and

01:12organised crime task force key partners to disrupt, deter and detect serious organised

01:17crime, and that remains an absolute priority for all partners.

01:22The very serious concerns that were raised at the Scottish Police Federation conference

01:27over issues such as officer burnout and under-resourcing leading to reactive policing must be urgently

01:36addressed to support our police, which in turn support our community safety.

01:41residents have the right to reassurance from visible proactive policing and not to be left

01:48at the risk of being caught up in gang warfare.

01:52Will the First Minister commit today to review the allocation formula for police funding

01:57to Edinburgh and consider targeted support for policing in areas of rising gang activity?

02:06Those judgments are a matter for the chief constable in the exercise of her operational

02:13responsibility for the control of policing.

02:16It would be inappropriate for me to specify where police officers should be located, other

02:24than to reassure communities that, where there is intelligence that is actively scrutinised

02:31by Police Scotland to identify the potential for violence to emerge in our society, that

02:39will be responded to by Police Scotland and resources allocated accordingly.

02:43In the budget, the Government has allocated £1.62 billion to support police capacity

02:49and capability, which is an increase of £57 million in resource funding to enable our

02:58police to undertake the roles that we expect them to undertake.

03:03There is now capital funding in place to assist with the renewal of the estate,

03:10technology and fleet activities, and investment in body-worn video camera equipment,

03:17which has been rolled out for the first area of the country in the past few days.

03:22These events should concentrate the minds of the Scottish Government regarding the

03:30on-going under-resourcing of policing in the capital. Three years ago, Edinburgh had 120

03:36fewer officers than its population needed, and by March last year there were 22 fewer

03:42than the year before. Will the Scottish Government commit to resourcing Edinburgh's police force in

03:49a manner that reflects the growing population and the additional complexities that are needed

03:54to police a capital city?

03:58I give the reassurance that the chief constable will address those issues. The chief constable

04:03is responsible for the operational deployment of police officers around the country.

04:07I believe that the financial settlement that we have put in place for policing

04:11is adequate for the challenges that we face in our country, given the fact that

04:15we know that recorded crime is down 40 per cent since 2006-07 and that there has been a 54 per cent

04:24fall in attempted murder and serious assault. Comparatively, we have lower levels of crime in

04:32our society, but we continue to invest in policing. I know that the chief constable will be

04:38very attentive to the deployment of resources around the country to meet the needs of communities

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