Chamber and committees

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical importance of providing the current and future workforce with high-quality lifelong skills – either acquired through new learning or upskilling and reskilling – and the pivotal role this plays in our plans to unlock Scotland’s green potential. Scotland is already leading the UK in delivering a green jobs revolution, with colleges and universities acting as key anchor points for research, innovation, and training, which will be reflected in the Biodiversity Investment Plan.

Delivery of healthcare and the NHS is devolved and therefore work on the safety of and continuous improvement in maternity services in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The National Maternity Safety Ambition was launched in 2015 by the Department of Health and Social Care and applies to maternity services in England only. Officials and professional advisors meet regularly with colleagues across the UK, including from the Department of Health and Social Care in England, to discuss priorities across the UK, such as the Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) and to better understand work underway across each of the four nations.

The Biodiversity Strategy Delivery Plan 2024-2030 includes specific action to implement Scotland’s Strategic Approach for Scotland’s Rainforest which aims to improve its condition and health so that it can regenerate and expand whilst providing benefits to communities. There are a number of actions that protect our wider native woodlands including a commitment to landscape restoration areas with a significant woodland element, a register of ancient woodland, ensuring mechanisms are in place for restoration of ancient woodlands, establishing a programme to bring protected woodlands into favourable condition, best practice guidance for upland restoration, and actions on deer and grazing management.

The Delivery Plan also contains the key action to develop an invasive non-native species (INNS) Action Plan to support the protection and restoration of native habitats. The Plan will include actions to be taken to ensure new potential INNS are detected early to prevent establishment and spread. The Action Plan will also seek to better focus resources and effort to control or eradicate established INNS, where possible working at a landscape scale. Scottish Government are currently working with our stakeholders to develop the Action Plan, with a view to publication in summer 2025.

Scottish Forestry continues to target support for Rhododendron control through the forestry grant scheme at the priority areas in our Strategic Approach to Scotland’s Rainforest.

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.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact that child poverty has on families with a baby, and that some of these families may use baby banks.

Anyone supporting a family in desperate need should refer them to their local authority or a health professional, such as a health visitor, midwife or family nurse, in order to make sure they are getting the holistic support they need, including financial advice and a referral to cash-first crisis supports such as the Scottish Welfare Fund. To support this work, the Scottish Government has published a toolkit to help local areas to respond to and prevent food insecurity.

Our five family payments aim to give children the best start in life and could be worth over £10,000 by the time an eligible child turns six. These include the Scottish Child Payment, which is only available in Scotland, Best Start Foods and three Best Start Grants. They offer financial support to families who are on a low income, both in and out of work. There are no limits to the number of children in a family who can receive these benefits.

Scotland’s universal Baby Box is also offered to all parents in Scotland. It provides essential items worth around £400 for the first 6 months of a baby’s life.

The National Maternity Safety Ambition in England was launched in 2015. Delivery of healthcare and the NHS is devolved and the Sottish Government is committed to continuous improvement in maternity safety across Scotland, working in partnership with NHS Boards and clinicians and service users, to deliver the best and safest care for mothers and babies. The Scottish Government’s Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) Perinatal strand (formerly MCQIC), part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), was established in 2009 to improve outcomes and reduce variation in maternity services by providing safe, high-quality care for all. The aims of the programme are to reduce stillbirths; understand variation in caesarean birth rates; improve the recognition, response and review of the deteriorating woman, and to reduce neonatal mortality and morbidity.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned HIS to develop standards for maternity services, to support consistency of service design and delivery across Scotland. We continue to work with NHS Boards, clinical leaders, the third sector and national partners to develop our approach in the Scottish context.