Chamber and committees

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

Paragraph 12.1 of the Scottish Ministerial Code (Scottish Ministerial Code: 2024 Edition - gov.scot) requires former Ministers intending to publish their memoirs to submit the draft manuscript in good time before publication to the Permanent Secretary and to conform to the principles set out in the Radcliffe Report of 1976. On receipt of any such manuscript the Permanent Secretary, supported as necessary by other senior Scottish Government officials, will conduct a review in accordance with that arrangement.

The Scottish Government has in place a Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents Procedure. This is a voluntary process which encourages Scottish Public Sector bodies to report cyber incidents to the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre. The process also encourages reporting of cyber incidents to the UK Government National Cyber Security Centre and Police Scotland where appropriate.

The Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) provides a centrally coordinated, multi-agency response capability and expertise in national incident response and to support any Public Sector organisation which is victim to a cyber security incident.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are responsible for considering welfare complaints and investigating potential breaches in welfare legislation.

APHA veterinarians have the professional knowledge and training to assess against the welfare needs set out in Section 24 (3) of The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

The Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture is a sector developed code which supports producers in understanding and delivering their obligations around welfare and other matters. Compliance with the code may form part of the range evidence used by APHA in considering whether obligations have been breached.

Since 2022, the Scottish Government has been notified of 38 cyber incidents under our Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents Procedure. This is a voluntary notification procedure. The National Cyber Security Centre advises government departments to withhold specific information that may provide insight into the likelihood of successful attacks, and the Scottish Government follows this advice. The Scottish Government will therefore not provide further details as this may cause substantial harm to the effective conduct of public affairs and the security of our public services.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

The Minister for Housing and I wrote to the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March outlining some of the challenges that remained around the implementation of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 and our planned next steps - Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and the Minister for Housing, 11 March 2025.

By way of an update I can advise that the workshop referenced within my letter and in connection with Domestic Abuse Protection Orders which is Part 1 of the Act, has now taken place, and involved members of the Implementation Advisory Board originally established to help make progress on the work in this area.

I am currently awaiting advice from officials and will look to reflect on the outcomes and discussions at the workshop, with the aim to provide clarity on how we will move forward in the coming months.

In addition, I can also advise that in relation to Part 2 of the Act, draft statutory guidance and information about the secondary legislation required for implementation is currently being shared with key stakeholders with a view to laying this legislation in summer and publishing the guidance as soon as possible thereafter. We are aiming to bring Part 2 of the Act into force in December 2025. Court rules will however also need to be updated and this may affect the timetable.

There are no plans to review our nuclear policy or to revise the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4). The Scottish Government’s position on traditional fission nuclear energy is clear: we do not support the building of any new nuclear power stations in Scotland under current technologies.

I am aware of concerns about gaps in the law relating to illegal content that is distributed online, including where this amounts to harassment or abuse of an individual. The power to legislate on matters pertaining to the regulation of internet services is reserved to the UK Parliament. With regard to the substantive criminal law relating to harassment and bullying, there are a range of general criminal offences that can be used to prosecute harassment and bullying which protect everyone, including teachers, where this occurs in any place including online. These include stalking and threatening or abusive behaviour offences. There is also a more specific offence of misuse of a public electronic communications network.

The Scottish Ministers keep the criminal law that sits within the powers of the Scottish Parliament under continual review to ensure it is fit for purpose. Any new laws focused on regulating the internet would be for the UK Parliament to consider.

Although not formally adopted under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 nor the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012, the finfish sector’s Code of Good Practice supports producers to deliver on their welfare obligations.

The Scottish Government, in its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (13 March 2025), has committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for production going forward and will update the Committee in September 2025 on progress and next steps.

We are currently developing guidance for the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter taking into account the recommendations made in the UK Animal Welfare Committee report of 2014 and its updated opinion of 2023. We will engage with the industry and other stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, for their views at the appropriate stage.