Chamber and committees

National Records of Scotland (NRS) oversees statutory arrangements for public authority records management. I have therefore asked Alison Byrne, Chief Executive of NRS, to respond. Her response is as follows:

NRS expects public authorities holding records of potential significance to ensure they are preserved securely and transferred appropriately.

The Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 requires named public authorities, including NHS bodies, to prepare and implement a Records Management Plan covering the management, retention, disposal and, where appropriate, archiving of public records. This applies whether the authority is carrying out the functions itself, or when functions are contracted out to a third party.

These Plans are assessed by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland and must include arrangements to ensure records remain properly managed during periods of organisation or system change.

For independent boarding schools and other non-public bodies, responsibility for records management rests with the organisation concerned.

Under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the Chief Constable is responsible and accountable for the policing of Scotland to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) who are independent of the Scottish Government. These arrangements are in place to ensure public confidence that the police act free from unwarranted Ministerial and political interference.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) has a wide ranging powers to look into the state, effectiveness and efficiency of both Police Scotland and SPA, and they regularly undertake inspections and scrutiny of policing activities. This includes a Strategic Review of Police Scotland’s response to online child sexual abuse from 2020. Additionally, HMICS Scrutiny Plan for 2025-28 shows that a further thematic review of investigation of child abuse will be carried out by 2028.

The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of measures to strengthen Scotland's response to child sexual abuse and exploitation, including implementing recommendations from the National Review into Group-Based Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, the work of the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, the work of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, and the establishment of a statutory public inquiry chaired by Professor Alexis Jay.

Protecting children from harm remains an absolute priority, and Scotland's child protection framework requires agencies to work together to identify risks, safeguard children and take action where concerns arise.

National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland makes clear that where information is received indicating that a child may have been abused or is at risk of harm, an Inter-agency Referral Discussion should be convened involving police, social work and health services to support risk assessment and decision-making.

To support businesses and communities, including the licensed hospitality sector, the Scottish Budget 2026-27 decreased all three Property Rates for 2026-27 and offers a generous package of reliefs which means almost all (96%) retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in Scotland can benefit from some form of rates relief. As a result of the decisions in the budget and the additional relief announced at Stage One of the Budget Bill, the revenues raised from non-domestic rates are estimated to be 6% lower in real terms (using GDP) in 2026-27 than pre-COVID, despite the number of non-domestic properties increasing in that time.

The Small Business Bonus Scheme remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK and acknowledging the impact of the 2026 revaluation of non-domestic properties, a Revaluation Transitional Relief protects those seeing the most significant increases in rateable values at revaluation.

Recognising the particular challenges faced by the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors 15% relief is available for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties liable for the Basic or Intermediate Property Rates, with an additional 25% relief to eligible licensed hospitality premises and music venues - including pubs, restaurants, hotels, night clubs and licensed clubs - liable for the Basic or Intermediate Property Rate (those with a rateable value up to and including £100,000). 100% relief is also available to 2028-29 for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on islands and in specified remote areas. These reliefs, are capped at £110,000 per business per year, and are guaranteed for three years to provide certainty to businesses.

Non-domestic rates bills and any reliefs are administered by local authorities and most reliefs require an application to the relevant local authority. Hospitality businesses may wish to contact their local councils to find out about any reliefs that they may be eligible for.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is responsible for accrediting ITE programs in Scotland, ensuring they meet professional standards and prepare students for registration as teachers.

Initial teacher education providers are responsible for determining how their programmes respond to developments in curriculum, pedagogy and society, including emerging technologies. Courses are designed to support student teachers to meet the Professional Standards, which include expectations relating to curriculum design, digital technologies, professional learning and teachers’ ability to work and develop in a changing environment.

Initial teacher education is complemented by induction and career-long professional learning. Education Scotland has strategic responsibility for professional learning and leadership development and, with the Scottish Government and partners, provides guidance and resources covering the opportunities, risks, safeguarding considerations and ethical use of AI in schools. Local authorities and schools can use this support to help newly qualified and experienced teachers continue to develop their knowledge and practice as AI evolves.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the Centre for Teaching Excellence as its work develops, including to identify and share emerging evidence and effective practice that can support teachers to understand the opportunities, risks and ethical implications of using AI in education.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-04163 on 29 October 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government notes the findings of the Care Inspectorate report on Serious Incident Reviews between 2024 and 2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls. Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls recognises that coordinated action is required across government, public services, justice agencies, local authorities, specialist organisations and communities. Scotland’s Public Service Reform plans provide a focus on prevention, joined up services and efficiency in order to better deliver for people, which aligns with our approach to tackling violence against women and girls.

The Programme for Government 2026-2031 sets out our strongest proposals to date on tackling and preventing violence against women and girls and includes commitments to: ensure effective legal and justice responses that hold perpetrators to account and improve victims’ experiences of the justice system; introduce a Misogyny Bill to recognise misogyny as a distinct form of prejudice; embed the Equally Safe primary prevention framework; and developing a new multi-year fund for specialist organisations, responding to what organisations need to sustain vital services and deliver critical preventative activities. We cannot eradicate violence against women and girls without addressing women’s inequality, so our work to tackle poverty and the cost-of-living crisis, to increase economic opportunities, and to advance public service reform are all critical to tackling violence against women and girls. We will continue to assess the impact of public service reform plans on our approach to tackling violence against women and girls as they develop.

Further detail will be outlined in the Equally Safe Delivery Plan which will be published later this year.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S7W-03012 and S7W-03013 on 22 September 2026 which state that the Scottish Government is considering how best to communicate on implementation of this work as part of its wider approach to international relations this parliamentary session.

Work is underway to deliver on the commitments set out in the 2023 position paper, with ministers and officials exploring how the principles that underpin Scotland’s Feminist Approach to International Relations can be embedded across programmes, policy and engagement.

This includes the wider actions that the member refers to across domestic and international work. For example, a Centre of Expertise in Equality and Human Rights was established in Directorate General for Economy in 2022 to build capability in economic policy officials, including increasing gender competence.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Part 11 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 amends Section 3A of the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962 to allow local authorities to create local non-domestic rates relief schemes to reflect local need. It is entirely at the discretion of individual local authorities as to whether they use these powers to offer such relief taking into account affordability and the interests of the local community, and it would be contrary to the intention of the legislation for Ministers to encourage them to do so.

Local authorities can for example use the powers to offer a local relief in full or in part for empty properties following the devolution of Empty Property Relief on 1 April 2023 utilising the £105 million per year funding transfer that accompanied the devolution. These powers are also used to deliver Green Freeports non-domestic rates relief to properties within Green Freeport tax sites, where the property meets the eligibility criteria set out in the non-statutory guidance published in May 2024; and non-domestic rates relief in specified tax sites within Investment Zones in line with the eligibility criteria set out in the non-statutory guidance published in July 2026.

The Scottish Government provides annual guidance for local authorities on all non-domestic rates reliefs with information for each non-domestic rates relief, including local discretionary relief. This guidance is published on the Scottish Government website at: Local government finance circular 7/2026: non-domestic rates relief guidance.

Amina – The Muslim Women’s Resource Centre received £461,754 from the Scottish Government in 2025-26 and has been awarded £497,563 for 2026-27 through the Delivering Equally Safe Fund, the Equality and Human Rights Fund, and the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund.

This funding supports Amina’s work to tackle violence against women and girls, advance equality and human rights, and improve outcomes for Muslim and Minority Ethnic women, including provision of a national helpline, delivery of the Sahara Scotland casework and domestic abuse service, and adult learning, training and employability services. In addition, in December 2025, Amina received £500 for ‘The Hidden Harm’ event during the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.