Chamber and committees

We are working at pace with Police Scotland to explore how to ensure we implement this manifesto commitment in the right way to effectively tackle the antisocial and criminal use of vehicles, including illegally modified e-bikes and e-scooters. The Scottish Government will keep Parliament updated regarding all progress made towards achieving this commitment.

Our public consultation on a range of family law matters closed to responses on 21 April this year. These matters included the Scottish Law Commission's Report and draft Bill on the reform of cohabitants' financial rights on separation, cohabitants rights where their partner dies without leaving a will and extending the simplified divorce and dissolution procedures.

The consultation responses will be analysed and used as part of our final decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. We will publish a report of this analysis.

The Scottish Government’s legislative programme will be agreed by Ministers and announced to Parliament in due course in the usual way.

The Scottish Government recognises that one of the most effective ways of tackling child poverty is by enabling parents and carers to enter sustainable work, supporting them to increase their income from employment.

We have therefore committed to investing £90 million in devolved employability services for each year of the Scottish Spending Review, running to 2028-29. In 2026-27, this includes over £40 million for Parental Employability Support, and £5 million for the delivery of Specialist Employability Support, ensuring parents continue to receive targeted, person-centred help to move towards, enter and progress in employment.

Delivered through the No One Left Behind approach, our Parental Employability Support offer is in place across all 32 Local Authority areas with support available to low-income parents. Key-workers provide tailored, one-to-one support to help reduce barriers to employment, identifying flexible work opportunities and linking to wrap-around services.

Of the 101,943 people who started to receive support from April 2020, 32,005 (31%) were parents. 29% of parents who have started receiving support have entered employment. Additionally, 9% have been supported to enter further or higher education or training, 19% gained a qualification, 4% started work experience and 3% started volunteering.

Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-2031 sets out our commitment to drive further progress by investing up to £19 million in 2026-27 to develop a new Transport to Employment offer. This support aims to reduce costs for low-income parents and enhance pathways into work at a local level by addressing challenges of accessibility, availability and affordability of transport.

Gynaecology - Waiting to access gynaecology related treatment can cause women anxiety and delays are unacceptable. Last year we allocated £13 million of additional funding to health boards to target long waits for gynaecology. We are beginning to see the impact of that of that investment, with waits going down and we are determined to build on that momentum, ensuring women receive the treatment they need as soon as possible. Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan was published in January 2026 which includes specific actions and steps to help reduce waiting times.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes statistics on stages of treatment waiting times for gynaecology by board and length of wait. The most recent report was published on 26 May 2026 and can be found at: Stage of treatment waiting times – new outpatients, inpatients and day cases 26 May 2026 - Stage of treatment waiting times - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Menopause - We do not hold data on waiting times for menopause related treatment.

However we want all women to have timely access to menopause support and services when required. Through the delivery of the first Women’s Health Plan, published in 2021, we took action to improve menopause care and support for women.

Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan published in January 2026, has menopause as a focus of that plan with targeted actions to raise awareness and provide reliable information; commission research; ensure more support for complex menopause care and continuing to deliver education and training for healthcare professionals to help them best support their patients.

Chronic Pain - The Scottish Government understands the impact waiting for treatment can have on people with chronic pain. NHS boards are continuing to effectively deliver pain management services during extremely challenging circumstances over the last few years. We know that performance is not where it needs to be and we continue to work closely with the boards facing the greatest challenges, to drive down waiting times and improve services for patients and staff.

We remain committed to improving the experience of those living with long term conditions in Scotland. That is why we will continue working with people with lived experience, the third sector and clinicians to develop our way forward for long term conditions, including chronic pain.

This will build on the work undertaken by the Long Term Conditions Advisory Groups established under the previous government. We are now carefully considering their recommendations to inform our way forward.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes quarterly official statistics on waiting times for pain management services, reported against the national 12 week new outpatient standard. The most recent report was published on 10 March 2026, for the quarter ending 31 December 2025, and is available on the PHS website. However, these data are not disaggregated by sex so we are unable to provide this. The full data set can be found here: Waiting times for pain management services - Quarter ending 31 December 2025 - Waiting times for pain management services - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

We want women and girls in Scotland to experience the best possible health, throughout their lives. However, it remains an unwelcome reality that communities across Scotland experience health, quality of life and even life expectancy differently depending on their circumstances.

In order to tackle this challenge, the Scottish Government and COSLA, in collaboration with our wider partners, published Scotland’s Population Health Framework in June 2025. This takes a cross-government and cross-sector approach to improving the key building blocks of health and addressing the broad, interrelated issues that shape health outcomes across the population. These building blocks include a focus on: good early years and education; good work and income; healthy places; and equitable health care.

To further augment this approach, Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan has a renewed focus on Optimising Future Health, supporting improvement in women’s healthy life expectancy, so they can enjoy longer healthier lives with better health, in later years.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing Part 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 despite the complex operational challenges that have been identified.

In March 2025 the former Minister for Victims and Community Safety outlined to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee the proposed next steps. These included establishing a working group with stakeholders including justice agencies and victims’ organisations to consider possible legislative changes to the 2021 Act to enable the protection notice and order scheme to be implemented in a way that is sustainable, deliverable and affordable.

The working group was subsequently established and met five times in total. The working group has developed a number of potential changes to the legislation, with the intention of these informing a consultation in early 2026. However, on further reflection it was considered right that it should be for a new Government, following the election, to determine whether it wished to adopt this approach. In light of the detailed considerations of the working group, we will now look to refine the potential legislative changes further, with a view to a targeted consultation later in 2026. Following any such consultation and analysis of responses I will be able to provide a more detailed update on timelines for bringing forward the necessary legislative changes to enable the domestic abuse protection notice and order scheme to be operationalised.

Social Security Scotland regularly publishes statistics on Adult Disability Payment statistics to 31 January 2026 - Social Security Scotland.

However, information on the number of people in receipt of Adult Disability Payment where anxiety is recorded as the principal qualifying condition, broken down by age, sex and local authority area, is not available. Published statistics provide data on primary disabling conditions at a broader level.

Latest figures, published on 17 March 2026, show that as of 31 January 2026, 88,315 people were recorded in the sub-category neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (F40–F48), which includes anxiety. Breakdowns by age, sex and local authority area are available for the overall caseload, but not for individual conditions or sub-categories.

In a Statement to Parliament yesterday, I confirmed the Scottish Government’s intention to change the law to facilitate phone free learning environments.

I confirmed we are beginning a consultation on phone free classrooms legislation within our first 100 days, and are working with education authorities to update guidance to encourage action from the start of the new school year in August, in advance of a change in the law. These commitments reflect the fact that personal devices can cause distraction and disruption and are not ordinarily used for learning. International evidence indicates that purposeful use of digital technology in education can enhance learning experiences. The level of impact depends on the nature of the task, the educational purpose it serves, and how well it is supported by effective pedagogy and professional judgement.

In schools, digital tools support structured activities such as research, writing, collaboration, creativity and accessibility. This is fundamentally different from the recreational or open-ended use often associated with personal devices at home. Decisions about when and how these tools are used are for local authorities and schools. Teachers use their professional judgement, taking account of the age and stage of learners, the wider needs of the child, and the need to balance digital activity with play, interaction and physical activity.

I have asked Linda Pollock, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS welcome and value the continued interest in HMP Barlinnie and we recognise its historic significance, however we believe that a more proportionate and selective approach is required for the site’s viability long-term.

Working in partnership with the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), SPS has utilised existing funding to lodge an appeal via Montagu Evans. Following any outcome, we will then be in a more informed position to assess the impact of the final decision, including consideration of any potential financial costs and any options for redevelopment of the site.

The Scottish Government has committed to bring forward legislation to criminalising misogynistic harassment and abuse in Scotland. As is standard practice, we will set out the timetable for the upcoming legislative programme in due course.