Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government introduced the Leases (Automatic Continuation etc.) (Scotland) Bill which will clarify and modernise the legal rights of commercial tenants to terminate their lease. The Bill will benefit commercial tenants, such as small businesses, who do not have the means to employ legal representation and the Government is committed to preparing and publishing guidance about the reforms to further support small business tenants. Further details and progress of the Bill is available Leases (Automatic Continuation etc.) (Scotland) Bill | Scottish Parliament Website.

Whilst the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) made 22 main recommendations, some of these recommendations included further separate recommendations, for example, recommendation 8 involved nine separate recommendations.

In our response to the review we set out our position on each of the review’s recommendations:

• Agree in principle: 14 recommendations (or parts thereof)
• Agree: 18 recommendations (or parts thereof)
• To note: three recommendations

In our response to the review, the Scottish Government committed to a programme of work that would bring about transformational change to the VNS. We are delivering that programme of work through legislative and non legislative routes.

We have prioritised those recommendations which required changes to primary legislation through the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill (VWJR Bill) as outlined in our letter to the Criminal Justice Committee on 4 March 2025. The Stage 2 amendments were passed by that Committee and we will lodge the amendments at Stage 3 of the Bill. Together these amendments relate to 11 of the recommendations of the review. We will only be able to take forward these recommendations if the VWJR Bill is passed by Parliament.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39643 on 15 August 2025. In relation to the number of recommendations and those that we have taken forward through legislation. 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.

We highlighted in our response to the Review that along with the legislation the other priority for Scottish Government was the setting up of the Victim Contact Team (VCT) which was the key innovation from the review.

Not all the recommendations were for Scottish Government to take forward, but we are working closely with criminal justice partners and stakeholders to take forward the reform of the victim notification scheme and establish the VCT. This is so we can take a holistic view of the changes and put the victim at the heart of them.

As outlined in the review response we will produce an annual report to review progress of these key reforms, later this year.

The independent review of the VNS ran from spring 2022 to spring 2023. Its report which can be found at: Victim Notification Scheme (VNS): independent review - gov.scot, made 22 main recommendations for change, some of which contained multiple individual recommendations. The Scottish Government published its response to the review in October 2024, in which it accepted, or accepted in principle, the majority of these recommendations.

The complex multi-agency nature of the VNS was recognised in the approach that Scottish Government adopted in responding to the review. We therefore worked with the partners who administer the scheme: the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (which identifies relevant victims and send registration packs to them), the Scottish Prison Service (which registers victims and provides information), the Parole Board for Scotland (which considers victim representations), and victim support organisations, to properly inform our response found here: Victim Notification Scheme - Independent Review: SG response - gov.scot, to each recommendation.

We continue to take this partnership approach as we progress reform of the VNS, ensuring delivery of a more person-centred and trauma-informed VNS.

No. It is the Scottish Government’s view that both parents should be fully involved in their child’s life, as long as this is practical and in the child’s best interests.

There is no legal presumption in favour of shared parenting in section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, which is the key legislation in relation to contact, residence and parental responsibilities and rights. When deciding whether to make an order under section 11 (e.g. a contact or residence order) the welfare of the child must be the court’s paramount consideration.

The Scottish Government has no plans to change the law to introduce a presumption of shared parenting, as this could cut across the driving principle of the legislation that the welfare of the child is paramount.

However, section 16 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, once in force, will require the court to consider the effect of any order under section 11 of the 1995 Act on the involvement of the child's parents in bringing the child up. We plan to make further commencement regulations later this year to bring provisions, including section 16, into force in October 2026.

I have regular meetings with the Chief Constable where discuss relevant issues. Whilst this is an operational matter for Police Scotland, we have discussed the impact that mental health issues have on officers. most recently at our meetings on 27 February and 30 April 2025.

Minutes of these meetings can be found at:

Police Scotland and Scottish Government meeting: February 2025 - gov.scot

Police Scotland and Scottish Government meeting: April 2025 - gov.scot

Whilst this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, I welcome Police Scotland’s commitment to supporting officers after critical incidents.

Scotland’s police officers and staff do a challenging job and I also welcome the Chief Constable’s commitment to workforce wellbeing. I am pleased that in addition to the provision of Trauma Risk Incident Management assessments and Occupational Health counselling, Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and direct access to occupational health services, where officers suffering psychological or physical trauma can be supported.

Whilst this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, I am pleased that Police Scotland has signed up to the Mental Health at Work Commitment, which prioritises mental health in the workplace. In addition to Trauma Risk Incident Management assessments and Occupational Health counselling, Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, direct access to occupational health services and a greater focus on mental health.

This highlights the priority that Police Scotland places on supporting the health and wellbeing of the workforce, supported by a Health and Wellbeing Action Plan to underpin delivery.

The Scottish Parliament elections in May 2021 resulted in 72 of the 129 MSPs elected on manifestos which commit them to a referendum on Scottish independence during this Parliament.

A range of publicly available polling evidence is available showing support for Scotland’s right to choose its own future, and the right of the people of Scotland to choose their future was the belief of all three main Westminster party leaders at Scottish level, who signed a pledge in 2014 saying: “Power lies with the Scottish people and we believe it is for the Scottish people to decide how Scotland is governed.”

Following the independence referendum, the cross-party Smith Commission, containing representatives of all parties in the Scottish Parliament, agreed that:

“nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose.”

We are working with all health boards to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan. This will reflect on needs across Scotland and support continued safe operation of existing facilities, as well as determination of longer term investment priorities. The National Treatment Centre (NTC) programme is currently paused and the development of the NTC Ayrshire and Arran remains under review at the current time.

As detailed in the 2025-26 budget, we are funding a £139 million additional investment across NHS infrastructure to support improvement and renewal. We will seek to progress the development of business cases projects and invest an extra £20 million in equipment to bolster productivity. Any final decision to progress to construction will be subject to the outcome of the Scottish Government Investment Infrastructure pipeline.