Serious Organised Crime Taskforce: progress report 2024

Looking forward

Angela Constance MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

Chair, Serious Organised Crime Taskforce

This progress report gives an overview of the work that has been undertaken by the SOCT and partners to reduce the harm caused by serious organised crime in Scotland.

Partners based at the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh share intelligence and pool resources to create a comprehensive picture of the scale and nature of SOC threats, identifies vulnerabilities, and helps to identify emerging threats. This activity allows the SOCT to identify priorities and direct its collective resources more effectively.

Over the next few months, we have agreed to look at the structure of the SOCT and ensure we have the right membership, agree key priority action areas and ensure that activity agreed by the SOCT is taken forward and regular updates provided.

The issue of increased SOC activity across the prison estate has also been highlighted as a key issue, which will be one of the areas that the SOCT will be supporting.

I would encourage the public and organisations across Scotland to work with us to reduce serious organised crime, which affects every individual and community across Scotland. Everyone has a role to play in disrupting serious organised crime and if we work together, we can achieve our aims, and build a Scotland that’s safer, fairer and more prosperous for everyone.