Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Police Scotland are providing training to Sri Lankan police forces.

Police Scotland and the legacy Scottish Police College have a longstanding involvement in the delivery of training, mentoring and capacity-building for the Sri Lanka Police Service (SLPS). This includes a range of programmes between 2010 and 2018 focused on a variety of training and reform requirements including community policing, development of the SLPS National Police Academy and work on issues related to gender and vulnerable groups. The programme's approach has been regularly revisited and adapted depending on context and requirements.

The current programme, which began in 2019 and is due to last until 2022, focuses on activities aimed at developing community policing, the role of women in the SLPS and improving the response to sexual and gender-based violence. Due to Covid-19, many of these activities are paused with the exception of work at the local level to support victims of sexual and gender-based violence and domestic violence.