Short life working group: FOI release

Information requested

1. A copy of all minutes of meetings of the short life working group.
2. An explanation of the amount of input each member of the reference group had into the short life working group. This could for example be the number of emails sent to the working as referenced in your reply to my previous FOISA request.
3. You state that "The group held its final formal meeting in April 2022, although stakeholder engagement will continue as the framework further develops." [https://www.gov.scot/groups/challenging-mens-demand-for-prostitution-short-life-working-group/] Please provide information regarding stakeholder engagement since the final formal meeting of the working group. Which stakeholders have been engaged, how often, what amount of engagement has occurred? This could be evaluated for example by the number of times stakeholders and the Scottish Government have communicated since April 2022. 
4. In your release about the policy principles dated 6th Dec 2022 [https://www.gov.scot/publications/challenging-mens-demand-for-prostitution-policy-principles/], you refer to the "development of a framework", including "a legal and societal framework" and " [an] adaptative framework". What mechanism does the Government anticipate using to bring this framework into existence, e.g. does "framework" refer to new legislation?

Response

As you may know, the Scottish Government has a Programme for Government commitment to develop a model for Scotland which effectively tackles and challenges men’s demand for prostitution. We are taking this forward through the development of Framework to challenge men’s demand for prostitution and support those with experience of it. Principles to underpin the Framework’s development were published in December 2022. The minutes from the meetings of the Short Life Working Group who helped develop the principles are included within this response.

The Short Life Working Group was comprised of key stakeholders, within the public and third sector, many of whom we were already in regular contact with, as part of our work within this policy area. As members of the Group, each stakeholder had an equal opportunity to engage with and contribute to the development of the principles, both during the meeting and outwith. This is also reflective within the minutes from the Group meetings. As such, all members of the group were active participants and we are grateful for the contribution they made in helping to develop the principles. We are committed to continuing to engage with stakeholders as the Framework develops – which will include those who were on the Short Life Working Group.

The aim of the developing Framework is to set out Scotland’s collective approach, across government, the wider public and third sector, to challenging men’s demand for prostitution and supporting those with experience of it. The developing Framework is in it’s early stages and there are a range of considerations as part of this, which include ensuring alignment to wider policy, such as our Equally Safe Strategy and our unique legal landscape in Scotland.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR - 202300336725 - Annex

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1 page PDF

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88.4 kB

FOI - 202300336725 - Information release

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12 page PDF

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164.2 kB