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The Scottish Government has considered the impact of single-year budgets on court backlog recovery and does not consider them to have constrained progress. Despite the challenges of annual settlements, the criminal court recovery programme has delivered substantial results, supported by over £181 million of targeted investment through our Recovery, Renewal and Transformation Fund since 2021.

The number of scheduled trials across all criminal business types is now below 16,000, compared to a peak of 43,606 in January 2022 - a reduction of over 64%.

While this demonstrates the success of recovery efforts, court modelling shows that criminal business has yet to stabilise. Solemn case volumes remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, with current levels around twice those seen in 2019-20. COPFS plans to register approximately 600 indictments per month over the coming year, well above historic levels, further demonstrating the sustained increase in solemn business.

Future planning must also take account of major reforms, including the establishment of a standalone National Sexual Offences Court, which is expected to ease pressure on High Court and Sheriff and Jury courts.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of sustainable funding for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and is committed to supporting its work. While budgets are currently set annually through the Scottish Budget process, Scottish Ministers are committed to engaging with Parliament and stakeholders to shape our multi-year spending plans. In line with the approach taken last year, we aim to build broad support across Parliament for the 2026-27 Scottish Budget and will listen to stakeholders to ensure their views inform future spending plans.

We remain committed to improving the sustainability of the Scottish public finances, and our Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan published in June sets out how we plan to close the fiscal gap by the end of the forecast period in 2029-30.

We will provide further detail on this when we publish our multi-year Spending Review in January alongside the 2026-27 Budget. Our Public Service Reform Strategy published earlier this year sets out our commitment to public services over the longer term, ensuring people experience high-quality services while also ensuring they remain fiscally sustainable.

The progress of criminal cases through the courts is an independent matter for those involved in the cases directly including those who administer the running of the courts; namely Crown Office and Prosecutor Fiscal Service, the judiciary and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS).

Within this context, the criminal court backlogs generated by the pandemic in Scotland has largely been addressed and the position is that the number of scheduled trials across all criminal business types is below 20,000. Specifically, the total number of scheduled trials outstanding peaked at 43,606 in January 2022 and had reduced to 16,196 at the end of September 2025 (this represents more than 60% reduction). This significantly reduces the waiting time in which victims, witnesses and the accused await their trial.

While this demonstrates the success of the criminal court recovery programme, court modelling undertaken by SCTS shows that the level of business entering Scotland’s criminal courts has changed since before the pandemic. In particular there has been a sustained increase in solemn business levels (High Court and Sheriff and Jury cases) which now sit at twice their 2019-20 level. Work across all relevant interests continues to focus on reducing times for more serious cases of which, by their very nature, are more complex and tend to carry a more time-consuming process to conclude.

We have awarded £48 million to victims’ organisations, which includes £18 million for Victim Support Scotland for the period 2022-2025 under our Victim Centred Approach Fund as part of a commitment to putting victims and witnesses at the heart of the justice system. This fund will continue through 2025-27 where we will be providing £32 million to 23 organisations, including £12 million for specialist advocacy support for survivors of gender-based violence.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish courts as Criminal Proceedings in Scotland. Although this includes instances of “Plea not guilty accepted” and “Deserted simpliciter” it does not include specific reasons for these outcomes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41745 on 18 November 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

National security and counter-terrorism, including Prevent, is reserved to the UK Government but is delivered in Scotland by devolved partners such as Education, Police, Local Authorities, Prisons and Health. The Scottish Government works closely with the Home Office and key delivery partners to ensure proportionate responses to a broad spectrum of threat. There are variations over time in the number of referrals to Prevent and the number of cases adopted to the programme. This is likely due to a combination of factors including improved training of frontline staff, increasing public awareness of terrorism, related events or high-profile incidents.

Prevent is focussed on early intervention to address all forms of ideology and does not target any one community, group, or individual. The Scottish Government’s work is centred on supporting partners, increasing awareness and improving access to training for professionals to tackle ideological causes. Our wider work to support resilient and safe communities in Scotland helps to stop people from becoming alienated or isolated, reduces susceptibility to radicalisation, and increases resilience to the narratives used to divide us.

The main focus of the Scottish Government's recent engagement with the National Records of Scotland regarding the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 has been in relation to our planned Family Law consultation, this includes (i) whether we should legislate to raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 and (ii) setting qualifying requirements for religious and belief bodies to meet when they solemnise marriage. The draft consultation is currently being finalised and we expect to be in a position to launch the consultation by the end of this year.

Plans to update the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 will be informed by the responses to our planned Family Law consultation. The draft consultation is currently being finalised and we expect to be in a position to launch the consultation by the end of this year.

A total of £80,147 has been provided to fund the test cases.

We have funded 27 restorative justice test cases. Information on individual outcomes cannot be shared due to the personal and confidential nature of the process. A report summarising general learning and outcomes from the test case project will be published soon.