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COPFS uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical analysis. This question as currently framed cannot be readily answered by COPFS.

The following table shows the number of criminal cases reported to COPFS with a first substantive marking for court proceedings.

COPFS communicates with bereaved relatives in every case before proceeding with cases involving fatalities and continues to do so during those court proceedings. The Family Liaison Charter sets out the Crown’s obligations in relation to liaising with and providing information to bereaved relatives. These obligations apply equally to deaths arising in any area of Scotland.

The various specialist death investigation teams within COPFS consider deaths from all over the country, therefore communication with families in respect of fatalities occurring in Aberdeen, may be undertaken by staff situated in offices other than Aberdeen.

The following table shows percentage of cases reported to the Aberdeen Procurator Fiscal’s Office containing one or more charge under - Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

In the last 5 years, almost 100,000 charges have been reported to the Aberdeen Office of COPFS.

COPFS uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical analysis. Any data sought in the requested period would encompass convictions for cases reported out with that period. As such, any figures would not accurately reflect numbers of convictions in respect of the cases reported in that period.

The following table shows the percentage of criminal cases reported to COPFS by Police Scotland.

As SEPA are directly responsible for its day-to-day operations, I have asked Nicole Paterson, Chief Executive of SEPA to respond. Her response is as follows:

SEPA plan the work it will deliver each year and regularly monitor, review and report on performance in a variety of formats.

The automated customer hub enables greater data insights for regular and accurate performance reporting. KPIs include first call resolution, average handling time, call abandoned, time spent customer facing as percentage of rota, forecast and adherence time and customer satisfaction.

As SEPA are directly responsible for its day-to-day operations, I have asked Nicole Paterson, Chief Executive of SEPA to respond. Her response is as follows:

As part of the early implementation of the enhanced out-of-hours service, SEPA successfully managed 182 calls that were received outside of working hours during the first four weeks of operation. This included 24 emergency service calls and 158 general inquiries, with a total of 21 calls requiring escalation, all of which were resolved promptly.

SEPA will continue to monitor call performance and customer experience through continuous engagement and involvement of the customer hub team and colleagues across the service, and through customer feedback surveys. A customer experience manager with significant experience of managing contact centres has been appointed to ensure the effective planning and performance management of SEPA’s customer service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32923 on 15 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

SEPA’s 24-hour availability to the Scottish public remains fully in place, ensuring 24-7 coverage for critical support for Scotland’s communities and environment. Where appropriate, this includes direct access to a SEPA employee to ensure a timely and effective response.