Chamber and committees

As I set out in my statement to Parliament on 2 June, we will launch a consultation on a legislative approach within the first 100 days of this government.

Further development of the legislative approach will be informed by the outcomes of this consultation but Ministers intention is that benefits of phone free learning will be enjoyed by learners and teachers as soon as possible.

As part of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government announced it will provide £3 million to continue to fund an additional 9,000 Bright Start Breakfasts club places in 2026-27.

The Scottish Government will also provide recurring investment of £44 million from financial year 2027-28 to provide a national breakfast offer starting in August 2027, which comprises a nutritious breakfast and up to one hour of supervision, delivered flexibly to meet the needs of children and young people, including those with additional support needs.

To support this expansion, we will provide initial investment of £15 million in 2026-27 to help Local Government and third sector partners prepare for the introduction of the universal breakfast club offer.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00956 on 24 June 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 has been clear that we will support the delivery of a guaranteed three-year employment for newly qualified teachers.

Local authorities, as the employers of teachers, hold full responsibility for creating employment contracts and the decisions associated with them. Therefore, this commitment requires careful engagement with local government and trade union partners.

Further details on the Teacher Jobs Guarantee will be set out in due course.

The Scottish Government continue to prioritise delivery of the Promise by 2030.

The Promise Implementation Plan, published in March 2022, set out the Government’s approach to fulfilling these commitments. A comprehensive update on progress was provided in the Implementation Plan Update, published in September 2024, which outlined the actions taken and the ongoing work required.

Progress is being assessed through the Promise Story of Progress, a joint approach co-authored by the Scottish Government, COSLA and The Promise Scotland. The Story of Progress was update and published in December 2025. One component of this is the Promise Progress Framework, which builds on a theory of change to identify the outcomes for care-experienced children, young people and families that need to improve by 2030, alongside national-level data to help understand where change is happening.

At the end of the last parliamentary session, a significant package of legislative change through the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act was unanimously approved in Parliament.

The Act will help improve the lives of people across Scotland with care experience, as well as those who care for them. This legislation represents a significant step forward in delivering our commitment to The Promise by 2030, by placing the needs and rights of care-experienced children and young people at the centre of the care system, and responding directly to what people with care experience have said they need to thrive.

The Care Leaver Payment provides a payment of £2,000 to young people leaving care, with the intention of providing additional financial security for care leavers as they transition into adulthood and more independent living.

The Care Leaver Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026 came into force on 1 April 2026, commencing the scheme for all of Scotland. The regulations place all local authorities in Scotland under a legal duty to make this payment to young people who are eligible on or from this date, if they also meet the other eligibility requirements.

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 expects all public bodies subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to comply with their obligations as set out under the Equality Act 2010. The PSED should be factored into the exercise of all duty bearers’ functions, including policy development and implementation.

Responsibility for enforcement and compliance rests with the courts and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as the regulator of the Act, and who operates independently and cannot be directed by Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government published proposals to enable better performance of PSED in Scotland over a four-year period in its Regulation 12 Report 2025-2029 in December 2025. This includes actions intended to increase understanding of PSED in the public sector. At the same time, we also launched the Equality and Human Rights Mainstreaming Toolkit an online resource to support duty bearers to integrate equality and human rights across their core functions.

The Scottish Government completely rejects UK Conservative Party proposals to scrap the Equality Duty. We are clear this would roll back rights and fail minority groups.

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.

Since 2020, the Scottish Government has made a sustained and significant financial commitment to keeping The Promise, with investment delivered annually through the Children and Families Directorate and across wider portfolios.

Keeping the Promise is not funded through a single programme. It is a whole-system commitment, with investment spanning multiple directorates and public services, including social work, education, health, housing and justice, alongside local government funding. The Scottish Government does not assign a single fixed annual cost to keeping The Promise, reflecting its scope as a cross-government, system-wide reform programme. Key investments include support for The Promise Scotland, the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF), and measures such as the Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers. These are designed to transform how families are supported, with a focus on early intervention and prevention.

The Whole Family Wellbeing Funding is central to this approach. Between 2022 and March 2026, over £154.5 million has been invested to transform family support. This includes multi-year funding for Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs), which deliver support locally. We will continue to invest £50m in 2026-27 in a programme of work aimed at transforming family support services, by strengthening holistic and preventative approaches that improve family wellbeing. This includes funding for CSPPs which has increased from £32 million to £38.1 million in 2025–26 and 2026–27 to strengthen locally-led provision.

Progress is also supported by legislative change through the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act, with a Financial Memorandum published in February 2026 setting out indicative costs at introduction. These estimates will continue to be refined as implementation progresses.

The Scottish Government continues to work with partners, including COSLA, to ensure delivery is aligned with available resources while maintaining the long-term commitment to keep The Promise by 2030.