Chamber and committees

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.

Public bodies in Scotland, as both employers and service providers, are required to comply with all relevant legal obligations, including the Equality Act 2010. The Scottish Government expects all public bodies to ensure that its policies and practices are legally compliant, taking account of the UK Supreme Court judgment and their own legal advice.

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.

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

SPS publishes prison numbers on a quarterly basis via the Prisoner Information Page (PIP), the most recent of which can be found here: Public Information Page

Additionally, SPS publish Prison Population Data Reports which illustrate the population in custody broken down by custody type, gender, and age, the most recent of which can be found here: Prison Population data 12 June 2026.xlsx.

It is the project promoters, Winchburgh Developments Limited and West Lothian Council, who are currently responsible for setting the project delivery timeline for a new station at Winchburgh.

The funding application for capital construction costs submitted to the Scottish Government by West Lothian Council is under review and, as stated in our Budget 2026-27 statement, we are committed to working with partners to support delivery of a new station at Winchburgh.

Ministers will always seek to engage openly and positively with all parties interested in strengthening the protection, preservation and maintenance of Scotland’s war memorials, including Members. Ministers will consider their position on the protection afforded to war memorials from damage by the criminal law. Ministers will give careful attention to any proposals brought forward in the Parliament for amendments to the law, examining their detail and practical implications before taking a view on support, in line with normal procedure.

Protecting and preserving war memorials remains a priority demonstrated through ongoing support, including funding from Historic Environment Scotland to the War Memorials Trust, and through the ability for sites to be considered for listing or designation. More broadly, Ministers remain committed to ensuring that service personnel, veterans and their families can access the support and services they need, reflected in their commitment to the UK Veterans Strategy.

On the protection afforded to war memorials from damage by the criminal law, Ministers can reassure communities and armed forces groups that existing law already allows such offences to be prosecuted, that current offences available to independent prosecutors includes a common law offence of malicious mischief where the sentencing powers are unlimited and that the court and prosecutors already take into account community impact and trauma as highlighted in evidence to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee during consideration of the Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill in the last session. Additionally, Ministers will be making decisions on further action and in that context, Ministers welcome representations - including from Members - on further action.