Chamber and committees

It is our aim to publish final outputs from the evaluation of the early adopter community (EAC) work in the second half of 2026.

As outlined in our previous answer, due to the significant financial challenges facing the Scottish Government as a result of budget choices made at Westminster, Ministers have had to make tough decisions for the current parliamentary session to protect our existing investment in childcare. This includes almost £1 billion a year for local authorities to deliver our current offer of 1140 hours of high quality, funded early learning and childcare. We are working with local authorities to maximise uptake of our existing offer for eligible 2 year olds to ensure that as many children as possible benefit from the offer and investing up to £16 million over 2024-25 and 2025-26 in the six council areas participating in the EAC work.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-37425 on 2 May 2025, the Scottish Government will lay before the Scottish Parliament in September a proposed draft of an SSI to add the characteristic of “sex” to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

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

As detailed in our programme for Government for 2025-26, we are committed to carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the law in relation to non-fatal strangulation to determine if there is further action that needs to be taken.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-37425, which was answered on 2 May 2025, due to the short amount of time left in this parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. Therefore, the Scottish Government has decided not to proceed with this Bill in this parliamentary session.

However, in order to allow for the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ to be added to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 so that women and girls have the same protections as other groups protected by that Act, we will lay before the Scottish Parliament in September a proposed draft of an SSI under the powers within the Act. This will allow for views to be offered on the approach taken before a finalised SSI is then subsequently laid which will, if agreed, result in new protections for women and girls being introduced.

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

At a national level, the Scottish Government funds the National e-Learning Offer (NeLO) to provide a range of resources to support learning across the curriculum. This includes the piloting of the i-Sgoil service to provide online support for young people who have disengaged from their school learning.

The Scottish Government has confirmed funding for e-Sgoil for the 2025-26 financial year, which includes confirmation that support for the i-Sgoil service is considered a priority and enables the service to continue.

Decisions around eligibility and waiting lists for i-Sgoil are a matter for e-Sgoil who deliver the service. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the current waiting times.

While the i-Sgoil service clearly supports education authorities in the fulfilment of their statutory functions in relation to delivery of education and support for learning, it cannot fully replace localised arrangements.

The Scottish Government is committed to working together with local authorities and other partners to implement a range of support for local authorities and schools to support them to respond to issues related to school attendance and absence.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for implementation and ongoing delivery of placental growth factor- (PLGF-) based testing and we have confirmed that this will be allocated to NHS Boards on a recurring basis to ensure that all women who require access to the test during pregnancy in Scotland are able to do so.

NHS Grampian has confirmed that it is taking forward the necessary work to procure a suitable testing platform and equipment. Officials continue to engage with NHS Grampian to ensure that implementation remains on track for July 2025.

Supporting families through access to high quality, affordable and accessible childcare is critical to the First Minister’s mission of eradicating child poverty. That is why, since 2021, the Scottish Government has prioritised investment of £1 billion per year in funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) for all 3- and 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds whose entry to primary school has been deferred, and those 2-year-olds who need it most.

The Scottish Government looks at a range of evidence when it comes to assessing the impact of childcare costs on families. We are evaluating the contribution of the expansion of funded ELC to 1140 hours per year on outcomes for children, parents and families, which will include consideration of the impact of funded ELC on women’s employment. The data we are collecting will allow disaggregation by a range of parent, child and household characteristics. We have focused primarily on gathering data in relation to the Best Start Bright Futures priority families, as well as on gender, age, area deprivation and household income. Our Interim Evaluation Report, published in August 2024, found that uptake of the expanded hours is high, and there are promising signs that the expansion is delivering improvements in quality, flexibility, accessibility and affordability. Our full evaluation report will be published later this year. In the interim, the 2022 Parent Survey found that 74% of parents using funded ELC said it had enabled them to work or look for work, and 63% of families with a child aged two to five and not yet at school stated said that they had no childcare costs, an increase from 50% in 2018.

Turning to the second point on fertility rates, we know that Scotland is not alone in experiencing falling birth rates. This is a trend being experienced across many high-income countries and which has significant implications for the sustainability of our economies, communities and public services. While deciding to have a child or not is a personal decision, we are identifying and addressing barriers to people starting or expanding their families through the delivery of Scotland’s Population Strategy.

Our 2022 ‘Attitudes to Family Formation’ research highlighted that a range of key factors such as housing, childcare costs and wider economic pressures drive decisions around family formation in Scotland. In mid-2023, the Ministerial Population Taskforce requested that further research be undertaken to increase the Scottish Government’s awareness of family friendly policies which had been developed and implemented in different countries, including interventions implemented in Nordic countries. The next steps for this workstream will include further research into parental leave uptake and its impact on fertility decisions. Outputs from this work will be considered accordingly by Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government’s seventh Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) will be published week commencing 23 June 2025, alongside a Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan.

Publishing in June will allow the MTFS to reflect the outcome of the UK Spending Review on 11 June, enabling the Scottish Government to publish a more robust central funding forecast as the basis for its financial strategy and delivery plan.

The MTFS will provide the Scottish Government’s medium-term (five-year) economic and fiscal outlook and spending projections. It is underpinned by the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts and provides the context for annual Scottish budgets.

The MTFS will also set out the Government’s strategic approach to setting the public finances on a sustainable pathway over the medium-term.