Chamber and committees

Will the member accept that, under the Equality Act 2010, single-sex spaces are absolutely a right?

I agree, and I am glad that the member has given me the opportunity to re-emphasise my point and celebrate the important work of Education Scotland and our teachers up and down the country.

Our mentors in violence prevention Scotland programme addresses gender stereotyping and harmful attitudes that condone violence against women and girls. In addition, the gender equality task force in education and learning focuses on eradicating systemic gender equality in education.

I pay tribute to the role that the sector has played in supporting women, children and young people who have experienced violence, abuse and exploitation. I witnessed at first hand on a visit to Monklands Women’s Aid at the start of the 16 days how its work saves and transforms lives. I am fully aware that these are challenging times for the sector and the services are under enormous strain. I want the sector to know that I am committed to continuing the Government’s support for the vital work that it does. That is why I am pleased that, earlier today, I was able to confirm my commitment to the delivering equally safe fund and advise current recipients of our intention to extend the fund until March 2026.

I want the Parliament not just to imagine a better future for women and girls but to be the driving force for change and the elimination of violence against women and girls.

I move,

That the Parliament recognises the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign 2024; further recognises the vital contribution that the sector has made this year to tackle violence against women and girls, in particular the role that it has played in supporting children and young people who have experienced violence, abuse and exploitation; welcomes this year’s debate at the Scottish Youth Parliament, which challenged politicians to ensure that the youth voice is central to action to address gender-based violence; recognises the importance of working with young people to ensure that their experience and expertise are harnessed to build a future that is equally safe; further recognises and champions the importance of education as an early and ongoing strand of prevention; condemns misogyny and all forms of violence against women and girls, and acknowledges the significant harm that they cause to individuals and wider society.

I reassure the Parliament and the member that I have extensively engaged with disabled people’s organisations and that I am in regular contact with them. We have taken the time that was needed to genuinely engage with disabled people’s organisations, and to fully consider their feedback and make changes wherever possible. We have heard their concerns loud and clear. That is what meaningful co-operation requires, which reflects my commitment to ensuring that the plan can and will be delivered. Collective leadership, accountability and disability competence underpin every action in the plan. We are undertaking dedicated cross-governmental work in order to achieve that.

I agree with Clare Adamson’s comments. Our £5 million equality and human rights fund is helping to tackle inequality and discrimination. The forecast spend for 2024-25 on the disability portfolio that is included in the fund is £2.1 million, which is inclusive of core grant funding to disabled people’s organisations—Glasgow Disability Alliance, Disability Equality Scotland and Inclusion Scotland. The fund also includes a range of projects that deliver vital services to disabled people across Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of tackling Islamophobia while ensuring equality and inclusion for everyone. In September, I wrote to ministers across Government to remind them of their legal duties under the public sector equality duty. I am now undertaking one-to-one meetings with them and continuing to work closely with those who hold shared portfolio interests, including the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, who has responsibility for hate crime. That will help us to explore what actions can be taken to improve equality and human rights and to reflect our collective agenda to tackle all forms of religious prejudice, including Islamophobia.

The Scottish Government is clear that it is not for us to seek to dictate or influence whether an individual should have a child or how many children they should choose to have. However, a key aim of the family-friendly strand of our population strategy is to ensure that we are creating the right conditions for people to have the number of children that they wish to have. The task force brings together relevant ministers from across the Scottish Government to ensure that we take a joined-up cross-portfolio approach to delivering on the ambitions that the strategy sets out.

Our on-going work on tackling hate crime and the causes of Islamophobia is incorporated in our key priorities, which include delivery of the hate crime strategy, as well as wider cross-governmental activities. Our approach is supported by equality stakeholders, and there are regular opportunities to review priorities for tackling all forms of hatred and prejudice, including Islamophobia. The United Kingdom Government is considering the issue, too, and we will consider any decisions that it makes with implications for our own approach to adopting a definition in due course.

I recently met Jeremy Balfour, other members and disabled people’s organisations to discuss the plan. It will take a collective effort and investment over several years to deliver equality for disabled people. This first publication is one step on that journey and does not represent the full extent of our ambition.

Due to the challenging fiscal situation, difficult decisions had to be made to ensure that this first stage of our plan is deliverable. The plan lays important foundations around improved accountability and collective leadership, and future phases can build on that to deliver impactful change.

I whole-heartedly agree. It is evident that the dedication and expertise of our diverse and dynamic third sector have been crucial in shaping Scotland’s policy landscape. That is especially the case in relation to our work around seeking to better embed the delivery of human rights in our public services.

I note, again, that I am grateful for the support and challenge of the organisations that have been involved in that work to date. I look forward to our continued close collaboration as we progress the human rights agenda across Scotland.

Scotland is not alone in experiencing falling birth rates, which is a trend across many high-income countries. That has significant implications for the sustainability of our economies, communities and public services, which is why our population strategy sets out our ambition to ensure that Scotland is the ideal place in which to raise a family.

In 2022, the ministerial population task force undertook research to explore family planning and ideal family size. The task force is now considering the next steps for that work, alongside the recent census data, to support people to have the number of children that they wish to have.