7. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle cybercrime in light of the challenges faced by Police Scotland. (S5O-00267)

The Scottish Government is committed to working with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority to ensure that the police have more specialists including experts in cybercrime and counter-fraud, and that the service has the right mix and numbers of staff for the future. Police Scotland is also developing its cybercrime infrastructure through the creation of a network of state-of-the-art hubs to ensure that knowledge and skills are maintained to a high level.

I thank the Minister for her response. Does she agree with the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents that criminals have evolved faster than Police Scotland and are e xploiting advances in digital technology so that the internet is arguably the largest enabler of crime in Scotland? What is the Scottish Government doing to tackle that impact?

We are working together with Police Scotland to ensure that it has the capacity to deal with the ever-increasing challenges that cybercrime presents, and we are committed to ensuring that it has the necessary resources to do that.

I will make two points on resources. First, Police Scotland is losing about £25 million per annum through VAT clawback by the UK Government. If Alexander Stewart cares about resources for Police Scotland, he might want to get on the phone to his Westminster colleagues to get that money back to Police Scotland, where it belongs.

Secondly, Europol is a key player in tackling cybercrime, and Police Scotland works closely with it on that and other important initiatives, including on child trafficking. I therefore call on the member to get on the phone to his Westminster colleagues also to ensure that the UK Government opts in to the new Europol regulation so that Police Scotland continues to have access to that key resource in tackling cybercrime.