Chamber and committees

As one of the five main drivers of biodiversity loss and a barrier to nature restoration, the Scottish Government takes the control of invasive non-native species (INNS) seriously and we work with a range of partners to minimise their negative impacts.

The Scottish Plan for Invasive Non-Native Species Surveillance, Prevention and Control is a key component of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Delivery Plan which was published on 27 November 2024. We are currently working alongside NatureScot and a range of stakeholders on developing the Scottish Plan for INNS and we intend to publish it during the summer of 2025.

The Plan will build on the actions contained within the GB INNS Strategy on which we are already working closely with the UK and Welsh governments. It will set out in more detail what we intend to do to tackle INNS and will ensure that resources are better focused on preventing and tackling INNS where possible.

We are currently scoping our approach to a review of the Scottish Biodiversity List and will engage with stakeholders on the review. However, our initial view is that public consultation on a revised list would provide limited additional input on what is a fairly technical matter, and is not therefore necessary. Public consultation is not obligated under the relevant legislation and we do not consider that it will add meaningfully to the planned policy development.

The Scottish Government is committed to its ambition of delivering 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030, as outlined in our Hydrogen Action Plan. This target harnesses Scotland’s renewable energy potential to produce green hydrogen, supporting domestic decarbonisation and positioning Scotland as a leading exporter.

ScotRail will partner with Clarus in a project taken forward on behalf of Scottish Government digital, Scottish Futures Trust, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which will use ScotRail trains to test satellite connectivity in rural areas where existing 4/5G mobile connectivity is poor or does not exist. The trial will last 6 months and, amongst other benefits, offers an opportunity to provide reliable connection to passengers where digital gaps currently exist.

Separately from that, ScotRail currently utilises Starlink to fill in any gaps where internet connection is not strong enough to support its day to day activities, including maintaining safety and security. This is an operational matter for ScotRail.

The Scottish Government funded this research on Domestic Abuse and Child Contact: The Interface Between Criminal and Civil Proceedings - SCCJR. In the light of this research, the Scottish Government has held workshops with stakeholders to consider the issues on the civil/criminal interface. The first workshop was with justice agencies on 8 May 2024 and the second workshop with voluntary and third sector bodies on 3 October 2024. Following these workshops, the Scottish Government is considering next steps in this area.

There is no place for harassment or abuse in any form in our schools. We published a national framework for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence in March 2024. This framework helps to support schools both to prevent gender-based violence from occurring, and to respond appropriately when it does occur. To support its implementation, in September 2024 Education Scotland ran an information session on the framework for school staff. As part of that, they sought feedback on areas where more bespoke training may be helpful. We will commission an independent review of the framework to establish positive practice and further areas for improvement, before the end of this parliamentary session.

Misogynistic behaviour was identified as an emerging trend within the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023. The relationships and behaviour in schools action plan contains a number of commitments to address this, including Action 10: Children and young people are supported to develop healthy relationships and behaviours, grounded in tolerance and respect. Delivery of this action is supported by our ongoing investment in the school-based peer education programme, Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP), which was awarded £156,000 funding for 2024-25 to tackle gender stereotyping and attitudes that condone violence against women and girls. Earlier this year, Education Scotland, who operate the programme, developed a new MVP scenario on misogyny. In addition, through our Delivering Equally Safe fund, we are also continuing to fund Rape Crisis Scotland’s national sexual violence prevention programme Equally Safe at School which is aimed at local authority secondary schools across Scotland.

Our Equally Safe strategy makes challenges the notion that violence against women and girls is inevitable or acceptable and emphasises the importance of challenging attitudes that underpin violence against women and girls.

We know that it is important that men and boys are seen as part of the solution and that they are involved in the work of prevention. This is why, we continue to fund projects such as White Ribbon Scotland to work with men and boys on the issue through our Delivering Equally Safe fund. I was pleased that my colleague, Mr Hepburn, was able to speak at their recent event which they hosted alongside Zero Tolerance on Wednesday 11 December. It was an important opportunity to highlight the importance of engaging with men to tackle VAWG, and to reinforce the Scottish Government’s commitment to engaging men within our work to prevent violence against women and girls.

We continue to take forward a range of actions in schools to address gender based violence and sexual harassment. For example, Equally Safe at School, Rape Crisis Scotland’s national sexual violence prevention programme and Mentors in Violence Prevention, a peer education programme that gives young people the chance to explore and challenge the attitudes, beliefs and cultural norms underpinning gender based violence, bullying and other forms of violence. We have also published a national framework for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

Additionally, within our recently published Equally Safe Delivery Plan, we have committed to developing a public engagement approach to raise awareness of the scale and impact of VAWG.

Section 9 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act) requires the Scottish Ministers to establish a register of child welfare reporters. These may be appointed by the court in cases under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the key legislation on parental responsibilities and rights, contact and residence) to obtain the views of the child and report on the best interests of the child.

Section 21 of the 2020 Act places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to ensure the availability of child advocacy services in contact and residence cases.

The Scottish Government is taking action in these areas in advance of full implementation:

• We have established a short-life working group on child welfare reporters that will inform further development of policy around the new register and consider how changes from a previous working group are working in practice. The first meeting of the working group took place on 20 November 2024. A note of that meeting will be published in due course.
• In relation to child advocacy services in contact and residence cases, the Scottish Government will hold discussions with key stakeholders in 2025 on what they would like to see in this area.

Implementation of the 2020 Act was discussed at the meeting of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Parliament on 10 December. The Scottish Government is considering commencing further sections of the 2020 Act in 2025.

The Land Reform Bill seeks to place legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to set out how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, such as addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature. Landowners will be required to set out how they manage or intend to manage the land in ways which contribute towards net zero emissions targets, climate change adaptations and increasing or sustaining biodiversity.

Keeping children safe from online abuse and exploitation and tackling misogyny in our society are key priorities for the Scottish Government. We are committed to ensuring that robust measures are in place across Scotland to ensure our services can identify and support victims of online harm, including children and young people.

While regulation of the internet remains a reserved matter, we have engaged with both the previous and current UK Government administrations to strengthen the protections for children in the Online Safety Act. The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise and I met with the online safety regulator Ofcom in August to discuss their strategy for online safety in Scotland. We await Ofcom’s draft guidance on protecting women and girls online, due to be published next year, and will reflect on its recent research which has highlighted the increased risk and concerns teenage girls and women face in relation to misogynistic content.

The Scottish Government also works closely with operational partners to tackle cyber-crime including Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland. These agencies link to international partnership working, and we will continue to identify opportunities for international engagement as we develop our approach to the global threat of online harm and radicalism.

As part of our existing approach, we support victims of abuse linked to misogyny, including through the provision of Our Delivering Equally Safe fund. This includes an award of over £110,000 to the South West Grid for Learning to deliver advice to victims of intimate image abuse and to improve awareness of sexual exploitation – or ‘Revenge Porn’ across Scotland. The Safer Scotland website was updated earlier this year to provide information, links to support and advice for victims on reporting intimate image abuse and our ParentClub website provides information on online harms including specific advice on misogynistic content.

The Scottish Government has also established an internal policy group on Technology-Facilitated Violence against Women and Girls, in recognition of the cross-cutting nature of this issue. This work will look to coordinate and accelerate the Scottish Government’s strategic approach to tackling technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, including how we further strengthen our approach to addressing online misogyny.