Chamber and committees

Yes—I apologise if I was ambiguous; that was not my intention. We do collect data on age—everyone providing a public service has that responsibility. We get that data through various means, including from service users. We have all the data sets available through the census, and we can use that information to extrapolate and regionalise. That data is available.

Yes. I will provide a bit of context. The main aim of my meetings with the cabinet secretaries was to remind them of the public sector equality duty, the need for impact assessments and the Equality Act 2010. Any obvious areas of overlap between my portfolio and theirs were raised, along with other issues. To be transparent, I note that the meetings often lasted only 30 minutes so they were not detailed discussions. When maternity services were discussed, they were raised in the round with other healthcare services and provision in regard to accessibility and availability in general terms.

All decisions on maternity care should ensure the safety of mothers and babies, and should ensure that women who are giving birth and their families always receive safe, person-centred maternity care that is suited to their needs. Decisions about the place of birth should be made by women in consultation with their midwife and obstetricians, taking account of individual need and the circumstances. As a Government, we expect all NHS boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practical, balanced with the need to ensure the safety of mother and baby.

The newly established Scottish maternity and neonatal task force will review the provision of rural maternity services. Implementing initiatives such as the best start programme, introducing continuity of care, developing community hubs and the increased use of Near Me to allow for remote consultations and appointments, where appropriate, all aim to improve delivery of maternity services in rural areas.

If there are further specific technical questions for the health portfolio, I am happy to take those away and get a response from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care.

I mentioned that the challenges are huge, including in transporting goods. When I visited Harris and Lewis, I saw at first hand machinery being used to drill down into enormously hard rock—specialised equipment is required, as well as the building materials. I also visited local builders who were taking part in apprenticeship schemes to increase the workforce. You can see how that becomes circular. If young people have good jobs—in that case, it was in the house building sector—they are more likely to stay and to add to the economy and build up communities. The challenges are absolutely massive, but we recognise that good-quality affordable housing is essential to attract and retain people. That links to the issue of having the right type of housing in the right place, bearing in mind the needs of young families as well as ageing populations.

We are building on the delivery of more than 12,000 affordable homes in rural and island communities between 2016 and March 2024. Earlier, I mentioned the figure of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 10 per cent of those in rural and island communities. That is supported by the rural and islands housing action plan, which was published in October 2023 and which was developed with strong engagement from rural and island stakeholders. There are demand-led funds, such as the £30 million rural and island housing fund, which was recently extended to 2028, and the £25 million rural affordable homes for key workers fund. A range of things are going on.

We are grateful to the committee for the invitation to give evidence as part of the short inquiry into human rights in rural Scotland. I begin by acknowledging the role that rural communities play as part of Scotland’s social and economic fabric. Rural Scotland accounts for 98 per cent of the country’s landmass and around 18 per cent of its population. The Highlands and Islands region alone makes a huge economic contribution. In 2022, islands, remote rural and mainly rural areas accounted for about £42 billion, or 25 per cent, of Scotland’s gross value added. Rural Scotland is central to Scotland’s energy transition and home to some of our most innovative sectors, including the space, tourism and food and drink sectors.

Our rural communities have shown themselves to be dynamic and resilient and are well-placed to seize opportunities in feeding, powering and inspiring us all. However, I acknowledge the unique challenges that those communities face, including barriers in accessing public services and opportunities that are more readily found in urban areas. Those experiences shape daily life and can impact on how individuals can access and claim their human rights. The distances often mean long journeys to healthcare and education. Digital connectivity is improving but it still affects work, learning and participation. Economic activity can be seasonal. Costs are higher and housing scarce and costly, especially where demand for second homes is strong. Tackling those pressures needs approaches that are rooted in rural realities and that build on community strength and resilience.

I know that those and other issues were raised last week when the committee took evidence from organisations that are active in our rural communities. Similarly, the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report from last year on “Economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands” is an important intervention, as it reflects some of the experiences of people living across rural communities in the north of Scotland. The rights that it focuses on—health, housing and social security—are everyday rights. They go to the heart of decisions around public service delivery, quality and accessibility.

The report explores some of the challenges that I mentioned and examines them through the lens of international human rights law. It pioneers a new model of human rights monitoring in combining data with lived experience. Although the report acknowledges that it is not a definitive assessment of rights realisation in the Highlands and Islands, it is nevertheless an important reflection of lived experience in those communities, and it shows that there is more to do to ensure better enjoyment of rights equally across Scotland.

All those who are responsible for services in rural areas should use the report’s findings to drive improvement. In May, the Scottish Government responded, outlining actions that we are taking on the report’s eight recommendations and demonstrating progress to support better rights realisation for rural communities. That includes our forthcoming rural delivery plan, which will set out actions to address the distinct issues that are faced in rural Scotland, and our new national islands plan, which is guided by islanders to deliver thriving, sustainable and successful island communities.

Our progress is also reflected in investing in areas such as housing, where we are delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 10 per cent in remote rural and island communities; digital connectivity, where our R100—reaching 100 per cent—contracts have already delivered 16 new fibre-optic subsea cables, providing resilient connectivity to 15 islands; and transport, where we fund initiatives to make transport affordable, including free bus travel for young people, disabled people and everyone over the age of 60.

However, we recognise that the journey is on-going. Our intention to bring forward a new human rights bill in the next parliamentary session seeks to strengthen accountability and improve outcomes in everyday areas such as health and housing. That aims to bring economic, social and cultural rights closer to home so that communities, including rural communities, feel reflected in the decisions that duty bearers make. That is why I have been relentless in driving the Government’s ambitious agenda to ensure that equality and human rights are embedded in all that we do, which is supported by the imminent publication of an overarching mainstreaming strategy.

Thank you once again for the opportunity to attend today. I welcome your continued scrutiny and support for the work that we do together, alongside our national human rights institutions, to advance rights for all communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government shares the committee’s ambition in that regard. We want to improve labour market outcomes and experiences for people living in rural and island communities. Through the no one left behind approach, we aim to deliver an all-age, place-based, person-centred model of employability, with support being provided across communities and a strengthened partnership approach that involves the Scottish Government and local government working together with public, private and third sector organisations to design and deliver services. To back that up, we are investing £90 million in 2025–26 in the delivery of devolved employability services across Scotland, including rural and island communities.

Addressing labour market shortages requires a collaborative, concerted approach from a range of services. We are implementing activity across Government and are committed to doing more. I look forward to reading the committee’s report and seeing your suggestions and recommendations.

Collectively, with partners, our aim is to build an employability system that tackles labour market inequalities by being more responsive and joined up and by aligning with the needs of employers and service provision, and which also ensures that the work is fair and accessible. Services are in place in all 32 local authorities, including rural and island areas, but we have to remember that full control over employment and industrial relations legislation remains reserved to the UK Parliament.

Yes, of course.

That resonates a lot with what I said in my initial response to you. You mentioned planning in your opening question. We understand that planning is a critical enabler for building more quality homes. There are challenges there. I have visited places with housing associations, local authorities and other models for building houses. Again, it is about local solutions to local issues, bearing in mind the geography, the locations and the challenges.

Work has been accelerated across planning to support the response, in the context of the housing emergency and other challenges. In September 2025, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and the Minister for Public Finance wrote to planning authorities to make clear their expectation that an emergency-led focus should be applied to decision making in the planning system. Our national planning policy in national planning framework 4 gives explicit positive support for the delivery of more high-quality, affordable and sustainable rural homes. We have taken action to improve the resources that are available to planning authorities through measures such as the national planning hub, which will provide additional capacity and expertise to planning authorities.

On your other points, I will bring in Anna Densham.

I can do that. I covered much of those issues when answering Ms Grant’s question, but I can add more to it. In the context of social security, Social Security Scotland’s local delivery service gives clients the option to meet someone in person, face to face, as well as through digital applications.

We continue to fund an independent advocacy service to support disabled people accessing and applying for social security benefits. That service, which is currently being delivered by VoiceAbility, is free and is independent of the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. Since its launch in January 2022, the service has supported more than 13,000 disabled people in more than 15,000 cases as they navigate the devolved side of the social security system.

On general digital connectivity, through a combination of our work on the R100 programme, our Scottish broadband voucher scheme and continued commercial coverage, all homes and businesses across Scotland should be able to access superfast broadband connections.

You mentioned what has happened in Tiree. We recognise the impact that can be felt when things go wrong. In that particular case, I believe that Kate Forbes, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, was able to support the necessary work, and that a solution has been found and connectivity is back in place. That incident has shown us where we need to do better, and we absolutely accept that. There are definite lessons to be learned from that case and I have been given assurances that we are progressing that work.

In the wider context, we are investing more than £600 million in R100 contracts and expect to cover 113,000 premises across Scotland, so the reach is expanding and the coverage is there. The largest of those contracts—the north contract—has already delivered 16 new fibre optic sub-sea cables. They provide future-proofed and resilient connectivity to up to 15 Scottish islands and will ultimately connect more than 60,000 premises, including those in the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Government is also playing a lead role in delivering project gigabit by managing all local and regional activity in Scotland as well as jointly managing delivery of the nationwide project gigabit contract with the UK Government.

Finally, we have also introduced amendments to the building standards scheme to require all new housing developments in Scotland to provide gigabit-capable infrastructure, subject to a cost cap of £2,000 per premises. That legislation came into force on 1 January 2025.

I know that you take this issue very seriously and you raise it legitimately. The civil legal aid system is generally effective in delivering help to those who need it, but we recognise that there are some challenges in certain types of cases and locations. That is why solicitors in all parts of Scotland can access funding for work to be carried out under legal assistance schemes. The schemes are flexible enough for solicitors to travel to rural and remote parts of the country to conduct work, should it not be possible to instruct a local agent.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board is aware of the difficulties that people may face in securing access to justice due to the relatively low number of solicitors in the Highlands and Islands. That was a factor in the creation of the Civil Legal Assistance Office—the CLAO—which has offices in Inverness, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The Inverness office opened in 2008, and it serves the Highlands and Islands, including the Western Isles.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 is a significant step towards expanding access to justice. Once commenced, the legislation will remove restrictions that prevent charities, law centres and citizens advice bodies from directly employing solicitors to provide certain legal services to some of the most vulnerable people in society. I hope that the committee agrees that that is a significant step in expanding who can provide legal advice.

The Scottish Government is taking forward reforms outlined in our “Legal aid reform: discussion paper”, which was published earlier this year. That should simplify the process for solicitors and those needing legal assistance, and it includes longer-term proposals for funding and improving the delivery of services. All views are welcome on that discussion paper.

On women’s aid organisations, I have had the honour of visiting provision throughout Scotland, from Dumfries to way up in the Highlands and Islands. Their work is vital, and I commend it. They work incredibly hard, and I have spoken to women who have benefited as well.

I have mentioned before the equally safe strategy, which recognises that small rural and island communities face particular challenges. The strategy is funded accordingly, and the equally safe delivery plan is in place. We have mentioned the funding challenges, especially concerning multiyear funding and the precarious funding that can happen as well. However, I will end on a reminder that at least £5.4 million from the delivering equally safe fund is allocated to rural and island communities—and that excludes rural areas that are predominantly within urban local authorities, so the actual amount will be higher.

The equally safe delivery plan is held jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and it provides services through third sector organisations across multiple portfolios, including health. It is an example of cross-portfolio delivery.

We are expanding access to justice in the ways that I mentioned, for instance by removing restrictions that currently prevent charities, law centres and citizens advice bodies from providing legal services. You and I both know that they often have solicitors working in them. Those bodies have that support, but they have not been able to offer services, so I think that there will be a significant impact in expanding provision. Citizens advice centres and third sector organisations are based in local communities, and that change should make a difference.