Chamber and committees

The regulation of public EV charging is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has invested over £70 million in public EV charging since 2011, as a direct result of this funding and increasing private sector investment, Scotland has over 12,700 public chargers, including over 3,200 rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers.

There are already 221 rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers in 54 locations along the route of the A9 with a further 104 that are known to be in development across 12 locations.

The private sector has invested over £100 million in public EV charging infrastructure in Scotland over the last three years, predominantly in new rapid and ultra-rapid EV charging, and In April 2026, the Scottish Government introduced a 10 year relief from non-domestic rates for properties wholly or mainly used for EV charging to support continued private sector investment across Scotland, including the A9.

Part one of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 requires local authorities and National Park Authorities (“access authorities”) to take the lead role in delivery of non-motorised outdoor access, and in relation to core paths. Access authorities have a range of duties and powers to publicise, maintain, and keep core paths free from obstruction.

We have committed to explore with the Ordnance Survey the potential for core paths to be recognised in their mapping; and to work with the Scottish Outdoor Recreation Alliance and others to develop a Scottish Paths Fund; as well as to produce new guidance for access authorities on how to fulfil their responsibilities. Scoping of these commitments is currently under way.

We are continuing to deliver Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls (VAWG), through a comprehensive and coordinated approach across prevention, protection and justice.

A new Equally Safe Delivery Plan will be published later this year, setting out the next steps for the Scottish Government and our partners to tackle VAWG. The new Delivery Plan will remain aligned with Equally Safe’s core priorities, including taking a public health approach to prevention, strengthening the capacity and capability of services to prevent harm, ensuring sustained and improved support for victim-survivors - alongside future funding for VAWG services - and delivering effective, trauma-informed justice responses. This includes progressing key justice measures, such as the development of misogyny legislation, to strengthen protections and improve outcomes for victims.

The Delivery Plan will be informed by the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention and the recommendations of the 2025 UK GREVIO baseline evaluation report, which provides a coherent framework for action. We will continue to work closely with operational partners and our stakeholders to translate these recommendations into meaningful, system-wide change for women and girls across Scotland.

While the subject matter of the Equality Act 2010 is reserved to the UK Government, we are undertaking a detailed analysis of the Code to fully understand its implications and to ensure our approach remains aligned with the law.

Responsibility for interpreting and complying with the Act remains with service providers and those providing a public function, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission continuing its role as regulator and enforcer.

Scottish public bodies are therefore expected to consider the Code carefully and to undertake their own assessment of its impact on their policies, services and functions, and to take all necessary steps to ensure compliance with their legal obligations.

The Scottish Government recognises the Heriot Watt University report as a valuable contribution to understanding the potential international scale of offshore wind deployment in the North Sea.

As part of an annual update on Primary Care Improvement Plans (PCIP), the Scottish Government (SG) publishes information on workforce numbers for the General Practice Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), which support delivery of the 2018 GP contract. Community Link Workers (CLWs) are a key part of the MDT and detailed information on their workforce numbers can be accessed at: Primary care improvement plans: implementation progress reports - gov.scot. Please see the below table for a breakdown of WTE CLWs in post from 2017 to 2026.

The closure of the Victoria Quay nursery followed the withdrawal of the sole service provider during the contract renewal procurement exercise. The provider indicated that continued operation was not viable, reflecting reduced demand. The decision to close the nursery was not taken by the Scottish Government.

We recognise that the closure of the nursery was difficult for the families affected. To support the transition to closure, the Scottish Government put in place a short-term contract extension to enable parents to secure alternative childcare; and all parents using the VQ nursery, and those on the waiting list, were offered alternative provision by the original provider at a site 2.5 miles away.

No specific assessment of the closure has been undertaken. However, a range of support is available to parents, including flexible working arrangements, flexi-time to support work–life balance, special leave for unexpected emergencies, and carers’ leave for parents of disabled children.

Parents and guardians also have access to our Employee Assistance Service that can provide information and support in relation to childcare or parenting.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with the parent group and, as previously committed, will keep future provision under review based on demand.

The Scottish Government is deeply grateful to all those who have previously, and continue, to serve in the armed forces. No requests from veterans groups for any meeting with Ministers on the matter have been received.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets strategic policies and frameworks for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing are the responsibility of the relevant NHS Board. This ensures local recruitment decisions are based on regional and local priorities. NHS Boards are responsible for providing safe, effective and high quality care, in line with their statutory service provision, national standards, providing access to psychological treatments and workforce planning responsibilities.

Clinical psychologists are highly valued as part of wider multi-disciplinary teams in Scotland. They play an important role in supporting people to access psychological therapies (PT) and helping local areas to meet the national waiting times standard for PT.

In September 2023 we published the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions and the Core Standards for Mental Health. These set out the standards to which we expect psychological therapies and mental health services to be delivered, including appropriate staffing.

We recognise the vital role of effective workforce planning in supporting the renewal of our health services, ensuring Scotland has the right number and mix of staff, including clinical psychologists, now and in the future. Work is underway to develop a comprehensive approach that strengthens workforce planning across Scotland, aligned with the ambitions of the Health & Social Care Service Renewal Framework. This work will improve the quality and use of workforce data, enabling us to better understand current capacity, forecast future demand, and respond proactively to the needs of our workforce.

We are committed to working collaboratively with partners across health, social care, education and the third sector, to ensure our workforce planning is robust, evidence-based and sustainable.

We know that demand for social work services continues to grow. The National Social Work Agency was launched on 17 March 2026, to empower the profession, champion social justice, and keep people safe. As part of the launch, investment of up to £994,000 was announced for 2026/27, supporting measures that directly respond to national workforce challenges around recruitment and retention, particularly in high demand areas such as mental health and practice education.

The Scottish Government and the National Social Work Agency, across the course of the parliament, are committed to identifying opportunities to strengthen the social work workforce, including children and families social work. We recognise that these skilled and dedicated professionals play an essential role protecting children and in achieving The Promise commitments by 2030.

Working alongside social workers and sector experts, we have developed Valuing Practice: The Framework for Social Work Education and Learning, which, for the first time, sets out standards for learning and development across the full span of social work careers. It aims to enable a skilled and confident workforce that makes a meaningful difference to people and communities. We will engage with the sector in the autumn seeking views on learning and skills priorities to inform development of a national training plan.

The National Social Work Agency aims to address ongoing sector challenges, including workforce capacity and consistency of practice, across all social work disciplines, including children and families. Recognising recruitment and retention as key to a resilient workforce, which is supported and sustainable, we will do this by:

• improving and strengthening professional leadership and development, including learning opportunities,
• reviewing workforce wellbeing, including measures to address stress and promote positive working environments, in recognition of the impacts of high caseloads on retention engaging with the workforce to develop career resources and clear pathways, increasing consistency in service delivery, and
• enabling social workers to work more effectively with people (children, young people and adults) to transform their lives and implement rights-based practice across all services.

However, we cannot achieve all this alone and we are working alongside COSLA and Social Work Scotland, through the Scottish Social Work Partnership , to ensure a skilled, supported and sustainable social work workforce throughout Scotland.