Chamber and committees

The Independent Review of Scotland’s Legislative Framework for Children’s Care will undertake a comprehensive, independent review of Scotland’s legislative framework affecting children, young people, families and the children’s care system, and to provide Scottish Ministers with clear, evidence-based and practical recommendations with the aim of simplifying legislation for practitioners and those working with, and supporting, children and families.

The remit will be finalised in the coming weeks however it is expected to take account of:

• challenges around access to justice and effective participation;

• the need for clarity about rights, responsibilities and routes to help;

• evidence of tensions, contradictions or misalignment across statutes and policy frameworks; and

• the benefits for children’s rights of re-enacting specific provisions relating to the care system in Scotland that are currently contained in UK Acts.

Immigration legislation and policy is a reserved matter, and won’t specifically fall within the scope of the review. However unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are entitled to support within the care system, and the review will consider relevant Scottish legislation such as the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 - which applies in relation to the care, protection and support of children and young people in Scotland, including unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict the Scottish Government has urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. We fully support the UK Government’s sanctions regime against Russia and apply additional discretionary economic measures, whereby the Scottish Government and its economic agencies will not support trade and investment activity with Russia.

The case of Seapeak, and their role in transporting Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to European countries, was previously raised in the Scottish Parliament on 4 September 2024 by Patrick Harvie MSP (S6O-03656).

Importing LNG into the UK is prohibited by the UK’s Russian sanctions regime, however, equivalent sanctions are not yet in place in the EU.

Sanctions are a reserved matter over which the Scottish Government has no control we are therefore limited in the action we can directly take. However in September 2024, I wrote to the then UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and raised the case of Seapeak and also encouraged the UK Government to take all possible action to ensure the effectiveness of the UK’s sanctions regime in exerting pressure on the Russian regime.

My position on Russia has been clear since its invasion of Ukraine and I have urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. Beyond consideration of potential reputational, economic or security implications, the Scottish Government has made clear that it stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian government and its people and resolutely condemns Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.

I therefore welcome recent developments in the EU and UK sanctions regimes against Russia, with the EU sanctions banning the import of Russian LNG from January 2027 and the UK Government’s intention to ban maritime services on Russian LNG, to be phased in over 2026.

As outlined in my response to your PQ S6W-43449 on 10 February 2026, I plan to write to the UK Government regarding these developments in due course.

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.

All answers to Oral 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/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament

Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict the Scottish Government has urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. We fully support the UK Government’s sanctions regime against Russia and apply additional discretionary economic measures, whereby the Scottish Government and its economic agencies will not support trade and investment activity with Russia.

The case of Seapeak, and their role in transporting Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to European countries, was previously raised in the Scottish Parliament on 4 September 2024 by Patrick Harvie MSP (S6O-03656).

That same month I raised the case of Seapeak in a letter to the then UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and encouraged the UK Government to take all possible action to ensure the effectiveness of the UK’s sanctions regime in exerting pressure on the Russian regime.

All Enterprise Agencies – Scottish Enterprise, Highland and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise – also confirmed at that time that they did not have a relationship with Seapeak, and have recently reconfirmed that they continue to have no ongoing relationship with Seapeak.

I understand that the EU has since adopted, on 23 October 2025, further sanctions including a ban on Russian LNG imports, applying to long-term contracts from January 2027, with earlier termination of short-term contracts. The UK, on 12 November 2025, announced its intention to introduce a maritime services ban on Russian LNG, to be phased in over 2026 in coordination with the EU.

This should affect what is permissible for UK companies to do in regards to Russian LNG, and I will be writing to the UK Government to ask for further clarity on this in due course.

All answers to Oral 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/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament

The largest part of the ending homelessness together fund goes to local authorities to support the transition to rapid rehousing, including the roll out of housing first. The Scottish Government carries out monitoring to understand from local authorities how that investment is helping them to prioritise settled housing and reduce the use of temporary accommodation. We report to parliament annually on progress against actions in our homelessness strategy – most recently in December 2025 - and this captures the impact of our continued investment in prevention, rapid rehousing and housing first and other initiatives.

The Scottish Government is committed to full and successful implementation of the new homelessness prevention duties. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 includes a provision that Part 5 (homelessness prevention, including ask and act) should be commenced no later than three years from Royal Assent (given November 2025). However, we are clear that relevant bodies named in the Act do not have to wait for the duties to come into force to adopt the ask and act approach.

We provided targeted funding of £4 million this financial year for 15 homelessness prevention pilots, which will run until December 2026. Learning from the pilots will help inform the development of guidance and secondary legislation on ask and act and support smooth implementation of the new duties.

A further £4 million is included in the 2026-27 homelessness budget and we are working with stakeholders to identify the most effective use of this funding.

Our Equally Safe strategy recognises that, just as violence against women and girls takes place in all communities and places, the same applies to all online spaces. Action is therefore required across Government, the wider public, third sector, industry, and wider society to respond to the added risks this may pose to women, children and young people.

Whilst regulation of AI is a reserved matter, we continue to engage with the UK Government on this issue. We understand that the UK Government is introducing new legislation related to AI, and we will continue to work closely with them to ensure that Scotland’s interests are represented.

The Scottish Government welcomes Ofcom’s formal investigation into X under the UK’s Online Safety Act.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government will shortly publish a consultation to seek views on a number of issues relating to how the criminal law protects women and girls. This will include seeking views on online harms, including proposals to criminalise the non-consensual creation of intimate images, including through the use of AI image generation tools.

The Older and Disabled Persons’ National Concessionary Travel Scheme is administered locally by Local Authorities and the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO) on behalf of Transport Scotland.

As part of the verification process, applicants for disabled concessionary travel are asked to provide proof of eligibility dated within the last 18 months. This requirement helps ensure that an individual’s qualifying benefit and personal details are up-to-date at the point of application or renewal.

The Scottish Government does not consider this requirement to be a barrier to applying for or renewing a disabled person’s bus pass. Local authorities also have access to the Social Security Scotland Data Sharing Portal, which allows them to confirm an applicant’s qualifying benefit even where evidence is incomplete or out-of-date, reducing the need for applicants to provide further documentation.

These measures are intended to support a smooth and timely application or renewal process, while ensuring that the correct entitlement is awarded.

As set out during the debate in Parliament on Motion S6M-19504 on Non-fatal Strangulation Laws and Intimate Partner Homicides on 8 January 2026, the Scottish Government will shortly publish a consultation to seek views on a number of issues relating to how the criminal law protects women and girls. This will include seeking views on online harms, including proposals to criminalise the non-consensual creation of intimate images, including through the use of AI image generation tools.

The existing law concerning intimate images makes it an offence for a person to disclose or threaten to disclose an intimate image of another person where they either intend to cause that person fear, alarm or distress or else are reckless as to whether the disclosure or threatened disclosure would be likely to cause the person to suffer fear, alarm or distress. The definition of an intimate image includes images that appear to show a person in an intimate situation and as such, images generated using a software programme that appear to be photographs are covered by the offence where the image is shown or made available to anyone other than the person featured in the image.

Social Security Scotland is committed to making the right decision first time by ensuring it has the information needed to make robust, person-centred decisions, based on a thorough understanding of how an individual’s disability or long-term health condition affects their daily life.

Latest statistics show that, by 31 October 2025, 53% of Adult Disability Payment appeals decided by the First-tier Tribunal were upheld in favour of the client. This compares with 66% of Personal Independence Payment appeals over the past five years, rising to 74% when including lapsed appeals where the DWP changed its decision prior to a tribunal hearing.

The Scottish social security system has been co-designed with people who have lived experience, ensuring that processes for challenging decisions are accessible and support clients to engage confidently. During the appeal process, people can provide further information directly to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.

Social Security Scotland continuously evaluates decision-making quality across all benefits. A tribunal reaching a different conclusion reflects the evidence available at the time of the hearing, rather than necessarily the quality of the original decision. Tribunal decisions are reviewed to identify any errors of law and to inform continuous improvement.