Restitution Fund: guidance

1. Introduction

1.1 The Scottish Government is committed to putting victims' rights and needs at the centre of the criminal justice process and to improving the support, information and advice that is available to victims of crime. This includes victims of assault on police. The Scottish Government wants to send a clear message that assault on police officers or staff is unacceptable.

1.2 The Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced a range of measures to support this commitment, including provisions to introduce a new financial penalty of a restitution order to be available to the courts for those convicted of assault on police officers or police staff, and other specified persons (under section 90(1) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012).

1.3 The power to make a restitution order came into force on 10 February 2021. They are collected from offenders by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, in the same way they collect fines and compensation orders. Whether to impose a restitution order for the section 90(1) offence, and the level of that financial penalty, is a matter for the courts to decide.

1.4 The Restitution Fund (Scotland) Order 2025 revoked the original Restitution Fund Order (Scotland) 2021 to remove the Scottish Police Benevolent Fund as the operator of the Fund, following their withdrawal. The 2025 Order made provision for the Fund to be managed by the Scottish Ministers.

1.5 The money received from restitution orders and paid into the Restitution Fund, will then be used to provide support services for victims of such assault in Scotland. The Fund will be used to support both physical and mental health and wellbeing. The money received is not to be directed to the victim of the individual offence but for the benefit of all victims. A flow chart illustrating how the process will work is in Annex A.

1.6 Under the 2025 Order, no payments can be made from the Restitution Fund prior to 1 April 2026, and opening for applications will be advertised on the SG website. Thereafter, the Fund will reopen when it is considered to contain sufficient funds.