Chamber and committees

Violence against women and girls is a fundamental violation of human rights and has no place in our vision for a safe, strong, successful Scotland.

Our Equally Safe Delivery Plan contains a range of actions to build a robust and joined up approach to the prevention of violence against women and girls across all education settings in Scotland. Action 4.3 commits us to consider how we connect and share data with other public protection areas and use data and evidence to support conversations to prevent and reduce harm and to improve outcomes for adult and child victim-survivors of VAWG.

Tackling the difficult issues of having the right data for improvement and assurance and risk escalation at local and national level, is a workplan priority for the National Public Protection Leadership Group (NPPLG). A medium-term action for the NPPLG will look at how we progress interconnectedness of strands to inform policy and practice. The work of the Scottish Government Cross-Government Public Protection Team will complement the work of the NPPLG and support this action.

In relation to adult victim-survivors, the Adult Support and Protection National Minimum Dataset collects data on primary harm, including categories on physical harm’, ‘sexual harm’, ‘psychological/ emotional harm’ and ‘domestic abuse’. This data is shared with Local Health and Social Care Partnerships on a quarterly basis as unpublished management information and can be used to inform broader local discussions on public protection.

Adult Support and Protection contribute to the Equally Safe strategy as a partner in public protection and data will be available from wider sources.

For child victim-survivors, the Scottish Government are continuously looking to improve local and national data and evidence around child protection. A National Child Protection Data Group with members from the Scottish Government, Care Inspectorate and the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS) oversees this work. The group meets regularly and organises annual in-person events to bring together individuals with an interest in local and national child protection data from across the country.

A national dataset is published on an annual basis to support the publication of the Scottish Government’s annual children’s social work statistics. The publication of these statistics is important to allow us to follow long term trends in child protection data. The data collection specification has been revised to ensure alignment with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 – updated 2023. Child protection registrations linked to domestic abuse are collected as part of this publication.

A minimum data set for Child Protection Committees (CPCs) has been developed which aims to support the delivery of continuous improvement and self-evaluation responsibilities. The minimum dataset is a ‘package’ of data collation, presentation, analysis, reporting and scrutiny supports to support child protection improvement, local planning and service development, and expanded analytical capacity. Child Protection Committees can supplement the minimum dataset with additional information depending on the needs of their area. Version 2 of the minimum dataset for Child Protection Committees was launched in June 2021 and aligns with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland.

Since 2021, our partners CELCIS have administered the Children’s Care and Protection Data Community of Practice Scotland Knowledge Hub site. The site is open to all people interested in children’s data. The Hub will facilitate a more co-ordinated strategic approach to sharing learning and to help inform local planning and service development.

Summerhall Arts, set up in 2023, was awarded Multi Year Funding by Creative Scotland in January 2025. Over 2025-26 it will receive grant funding of £168,254 which will support its core operating costs.

The previous operator of the Summerhall venue, Summerhall Management, had received the below payments from Creative Scotland since 2020:

I am pleased to confirm that today the Scottish Government will publish its new palliative care strategy 2025-30, Palliative Care Matters for All: Palliative Care Matters for All Palliative care strategy (2025–30) - gov.scot. This strategy highlights the changes needed to improve the experiences of people of all ages who are living with life shortening conditions or dying in Scotland, and their families and carers.

We have worked closely with a Strategy Steering group, comprising of third sector organisations, NHS bodies and those with lived experience, to develop this strategy. It will be supported by an initial three year delivery plan (2025-28): Palliative Care Matters for All Palliative care strategy initial delivery plan (2025-28) - gov.scot, which sets out how the Scottish Government will work with those who plan and deliver palliative care in Scotland. This will be delivered in partnership with people of all ages who have life shortening conditions, their families, carers and communities, to deliver the changes outlined in our palliative care strategy.

The Scottish Government has today published the Scottish Blue Carbon Action Plan. It can be accessed on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781806430208

The Scottish Blue Carbon Action Plan sets out our priorities for blue carbon habitats, including saltmarsh, seagrass, seafloor sediments and kelp and other seaweeds. Working with the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum, we are investing in research to fill essential evidence gaps to ensure that blue carbon habitats are effectively utilised as part of our strategic approach to tackling climate change. The Plan also highlights important policies and ongoing work to ensure blue carbon habitats are given due consideration as part of protecting and restoring Scotland’s natural environment.

I refer to the answers I provided to questions S6W-39428 on 28 July 2025 and S6W-39996 on 3 September 2025 and confirm that Crown Estate Scotland is responsible for managing seabed leasing for offshore wind and other marine renewable energy developments. Therefore, the process for leasing the seabed, as well as the criteria underpinning it, is a matter for Crown Estate Scotland.

At this time, there are no defined plans to incorporate AI into the RP&S platform. The Agriculture Reform Programme is currently leading the development of a Future Operating Model for ARE which is carefully considering the capabilities required to deliver the Vision for Agriculture/policy objectives. This will include fully exploring the use of appropriate digital capabilities and technologies which can improve our services and the customer experience of our users however as stated at this time, there are no plans to incorporate AI into the RP&S platform.

To grow Scotland's economy, we must make full use of our potential workforce and remove barriers to employment.

The 2025-26 budget provides £139 million additional investment for health infrastructure which allows some work to resume on delivering new acute facilities, and supporting Boards’ priority maintenance.

Despite this increase, following the outcome of the UK Government’s Spending Review, the capital funding position remains challenging. As a result, it remains the case that we cannot replace or upgrade health infrastructure as quickly as we might wish to –a position that is not unique to Scotland.

We are working with all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan to inform strategic investment priorities across the NHS estate. This work supports continued safe operation of existing facilities and will inform determination of longer-term investment priorities.

A key part of this longer-term planning work is development of an investment strategy for primary care, considering both priorities and delivery model.

NatureScot did not hold any direct discussions with (a) NFU Scotland and (b) Scottish Land and Estates regarding its recent decision to grant licences for the release of six beaver families at two sites in the River Beauly catchment

The main engagement for conservation translocations is carried out by the applicants, in this case, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).

The FLS application followed two years of engagement by Trees for Life and FLS. The Abriachan application followed local community consultation hosted by the Abriachan Forest Trust and Scotland the Big Picture. Scottish land and Estates and NFUS were invited to attend a consultation event, which NFUS attended.

The Affric engagement reports can be found here:

https://treesforlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Glen-Affric-and-Strathglass-beaver-consultation-report.pdf

https://treesforlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Deciding-Matters-Beaver-Consultation-Report-28-May-2024.pdf

NatureScot received correspondence from NFUS on this topic on behalf of members prior to and after the application was submitted by FLS.

As Licensing Authority and recognising there remained concerns amongst land and fisheries managers in Beauly and Strathglass about beaver release proposals, NatureScot carried out further engagement over the summer 2025 to better understand these concerns. Site visits were requested by 12 landholdings and three groups representing fishing interests. NatureScot staff met with the land and fisheries managers directly on site to discuss their concerns. A representative from NFUS was present at one of these meetings.

We are developing a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Needs Assessment Tool which will help build a robust picture of the specific needs of women, children and young people experiencing VAWG in the different local authority areas across Scotland. This follows discussions with a range of specialist stakeholders about the importance of understanding the extent of need for VAWG services across Scotland.

The tool is seen as an important aide in bringing together partners from across different services and policy areas to raise awareness of everyone’s role, help identify opportunities to drive forward improvements and maximise the safety and wellbeing of women, children and young people.

The Needs Assessment Tool is entering a testing phase, supported by £350,000 of Scottish Government investment in 2025-26.