Chamber and committees

Operational matters and internal policies are the responsibility of the Chief Constable, who is committed to ensuring all staff voices are heard. The Scottish Government expects Police Scotland to support a diverse and inclusive workplace where all staff networks are treated with respect. Police Scotland continues to engage with staff associations and networks to consider the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling on its internal policies.

The deployment of officers and staff is a matter for the Chief Constable. It is vital that the Chief Constable has the flexibility to develop her workforce to respond to new and emerging operational demands.

Investigation of reports to Police Scotland are quite rightly operational matters for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland has confirmed that every crime report is assessed for threat, harm, risk, vulnerability and for proportionate lines of investigation and evidence, as soon as it is reported.

Our goal remains to decarbonise the heat in Scotland’s buildings by 2045. We are taking action in pursuit of this target, including the allocation of £1.63 billion of funding through our Heat in Buildings schemes this Parliamentary Session so far.

The Heat in Buildings Bill that we have committed to introducing this year will set this target in legislation. But we also need urgent UK Government action to significantly reduce the running costs of clean heating systems like heat pumps.

The Scottish Government has had a range of discussions with a number of stakeholders regarding implementing the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, including on alternative models.

The Scottish Government is clear in its support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments and energy security.

No concerns were raised at any point.

The recruitment and deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government has increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, with £1.64 billion being invested this year. Scottish Government funding in 2024-25 enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception and Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales.

The Chief Constable has made it clear that she intends to bring the frontline of policing to its strongest possible position and that frontline strength goes beyond an overall officer headcount to focus on the whole policing workforce. Police Scotland’s three-year Business Plan 2024-2027 sets out an ambitious programme of workforce modernisation, reducing back-office duplication and creating capacity to deal with new and emerging threats. The current Police Scotland workforce figures indicate that the total policing workforce stands at 22,482 (FTE).

The SPCB is committed to creating and maintaining a safe, welcoming and inclusive working environment that nurtures a culture in which we treat one another with courtesy and professionalism. There is no place for bullying, harassment, discrimination, sexual misconduct or victimisation in our parliamentary community and each of us is responsible for the way we interact with and treat others.

As an employer, the SPCB aims to create a working environment in which staff are treated with respect, in a manner that allows them to maintain their dignity and where there is zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, including on the basis of gender identity or expression. This includes protecting staff against harassment or bullying behaviour from third parties.

Inclusiveness and respect are core values for the Scottish Parliamentary Service (SPS), and we value the diversity of our staff and respect individual differences within an inclusive working environment. We want to continue to attract and retain a workforce that reflects diverse communities and we are committed to eliminating discrimination and complying with our equality statutory duties. And our staffing policies and practices are in place to continue to achieve this.

The SPCB’s Dignity at Work Policy plays an important part in preventing staff from experiencing bullying and harassment and ensures all staff are clear about what is acceptable behaviour in the workplace. We continue to develop our employment practices to ensure legal compliance and workplace integrity.  A formal review of the Dignity at Work Policy will take place this year.

As the national Parliament, there is the need to balance the needs and legal rights of all those who work at and visit the Parliament, and manage the tensions this sometimes creates.

The right to private life is a key consideration for all employers and we will continue to ensure that such rights are protected. The Corporate Body has a general public sector duty and must have due regard to the need to–

• Eliminate discrimination

• Advance equality of opportunity

• Foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.

We will continue to ensure all our services, policies, practices, events and decision-making processes are fair and systematically assessed (in respect of protected characteristics). The next phase of our work will look at changes in the medium to longer term to enhance our inclusive provision and includes engaging with staff, Members, Members’ staff and other stakeholders including external groups and organisations who work regularly and closely with people across all of the different protected characteristics.

As part of preparations for the public consultation on the proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill, the Scottish Government collated existing information on how current barriers in society affect the outcomes and wellbeing of neurodivergent people. Whilst we did not secure specific data for ADHD, we identified that employment rates were 29% for autistic people compared with Scotland's national employment rate, which in 2024 was 83% for non-disabled people and 51.7% for disabled people. Responses to the consultation suggested that various barriers prevent neurodivergent adults from securing and maintaining employment, meaning that our economy is not benefiting from neurodivergent people’s skills and talents as much as it could.

Research conducted both in the UK and abroad suggests that there are further economic impacts of not providing appropriate support for neurodivergent people, including increased healthcare, education, and benefits costs.

In 2016, we committed to halving the Disability Employment Gap, outlining the initial steps that would be taken to achieve this by 2038 in A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan, published in 2018. To improve employment opportunities for those who face many structural barriers on the labour market, we have carried forward several actions into our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Fair Work Nation by 2025, published in December 2022. Input was provided by disabled people and their representative organisations.

To help improve the wellbeing of autistic adults, including those with ADHD, we invest £1 million a year through our Adult Autism Support Fund to provide community support to autistic adults, both before and after their diagnoses. In a recent independent evaluation of the current Fund, 77% of participants reported feeling more confident about the future, and 66% said that their quality of life had improved. We hope that, correspondingly, such support will help ensure that autistic adults, including those who also have ADHD, continue to experience positive outcomes in healthcare, employment, and other areas that in turn helps maximise any economic contribution that they may wish to make to Scotland.