Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has had extensive engagement with staff who could be impacted by the Service Delivery options for change. A full 12 week public consultation will take place from the end of June where staff, stakeholders and member of the public will be given the opportunity to express their views.

SFRS takes the mental health and wellbeing of its staff seriously and have a variety of measures in place. Updates have been provided at key stages, supported by intranet resources and newsletters. Potential impacts and options have been discussed, and wellbeing support is available to all staff.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) was established on 1 April 2013 so 2013-14 is the first year of funding allocation. The allocations provided to SFRS in the annual budget Acts were as follows:

Assessing the total economic impact of cybercrime losses on households in Scotland is challenging, as a significant proportion of these crimes are not reported to the police. In recognising the value of improving the evidence base on this topic, new questions were added to the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) for 2023-24 onwards. New headline findings were then published on the 10th June 2025 (Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24 - gov.scot).

Further analysis of the survey shows that 2.2% of adults (aged 16+) living in private households in 2023-24 lost money as victims of a cyber-enabled fraud or computer misuse crime. The vast majority of these crimes were fraud. The median amount lost was £103 per crime, though a minority lost significantly more with 9% of crimes above £1,000. In around half of all cases (48%), the ultimate direct economic impact on the household was limited, as they received a full or partial refund (most often from a bank or building society).

The Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2024 publication shows that while overall casualties decreased in 2024, the number of fatalities increased by 9%.

The number of convictions and sentence imposed in Scottish courts where the main charge was under section 2(1) of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 since it came into force on 20 December 2017 to 2022-23 are as follows:

On 13 June 2025, I represented the Scottish Government at the summit meeting of the British-Irish Council hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive and jointly chaired by the First Minister – Michelle O’Neill and the deputy First Minister – Emma Little-Pengelly. The meeting was attended by Ministers from all eight of the BIC Member Administrations.

The theme of the summit focussed on “The role of AI in reform and transformation” which offered the opportunity to share and learn from the range of initiatives being taken across these islands to maximise the benefits presented by this rapidly evolving technology.

On the Latest Political Developments item, the Council reflected on international issues including the situation in Gaza as well as the concerning escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran. I also welcomed the recent trade deals with the European Union and the United States and called for better engagement with the UK Government to ensure that the deals take Scotland’s needs into account.

During the summit, I held bilateral meetings with the Taoiseach, the Tnaiste, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Northern Ireland First Minister and deputy First Minister, the First Minister of Wales and the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man.

The Communiqué that was issued by the British-Irish Council after the meeting can be found on its website at:www.britishirishcouncil.org/resources/

43rd British-Irish Council Summit

Newcastle, County Down, 13 June 2025

Communiqué

The British-Irish Council (BIC) held its 43rd Summit meeting today, Friday 13 June 2025, hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive in Newcastle, County Down.

The Summit meeting had a thematic focus on The Role of AI in Reform and Transformation and was co-chaired by First Minister, Michelle O’Neill MLA and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA.

The Role of AI in Reform and Transformation

The Council discussed the approaches of the British-Irish Council’s Member Administrations to harnessing AI technologies for public sector reform and transformation in the provision of public services across these islands.

The Council discussed the potential benefits, and the associated challenges, of the more widespread and scaled-up use of AI technologies in public administration.

Latest Political Developments

Council members reflected on significant recent developments within their administrations and discussed a number of domestic and international topics of mutual interest.

Next Summit Meeting

The Council noted that the next BIC Summit will be hosted by the Welsh Government in late 2025.

BIC Secretariat

13 June 2025

Plenary Participants

The Scottish Government is firmly committed to advancing equality and improving outcomes for disabled people across Scotland. I’m pleased to confirm that the Disability Equality Plan will be published today.

This plan has been shaped through close collaboration with Disabled People’s Organisations at every stage of its development. I want to sincerely thank each organisation for their time, insight, and dedication in helping us create a plan that aims to deliver meaningful and lasting change.

The plan sets out a series of actions to ensure disabled people are more visible and actively involved in shaping policy and decision-making. It also commits to improving disability competence across government, so that the needs and rights of disabled people are considered from the very outset of policy development. I will personally champion this work to ensure it is embedded across all areas of government.

Finally, the plan introduces a robust governance framework to hold us accountable for delivering on our commitments—whether that’s reducing the disability employment gap, reforming social care, or promoting and protecting disability rights.

The publication of this plan marks an important milestone. It lays the foundation for systemic change and is a vital step toward building a fairer, more inclusive Scotland for everyone.

Link to the plan: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836915508

This information is not currently held centrally.

As part of delivering Section 15 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, we will prepare an annual report for parliament later this year covering the year of 2024-25. This will include both the characteristics of those involved and the specific prejudices shown by the perpetrators.

Police Scotland have published management information which details the total number of hate crimes recorded by them during 2024-25, by quarter and protected characteristic. This is available in Table 4 of their Quarter 4 Force Quarterly Bulletin 2024/25.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Police Scotland on matters of relevant and shared interest, including preventing and tackling hate crime in Scotland.