Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

This answer covers the ten questions that you have tabled on cuckooing.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions directly with social landlords on cuckooing. However, the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT), which I chair, involves a wide range of agencies who come together to consider the threat and risk of serious organised crime. SOCT members use every means at their disposal to disrupt serious organised crime, including cuckooing and associated county lines activity. Membership of the SOCT includes Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, CoSLA, the National Crime Agency, and SOLACE.

In terms of awareness raising, the Scottish Government published practitioner guidance on criminal exploitation on behalf of the SOCT in 2023. The guidance was developed to support a shared understanding of criminal exploitation, which includes county lines and cuckooing. It helps professionals identify and support those at risk from being exploited by serious organised crime groups.

The guidance is available to all front-line workers such as social workers, Police Scotland, NHS, and education and third sector staff who come into regular contact with children and vulnerable adults.

Following publication of the guidance, the SOCT held a criminal exploitation awareness raising event in 2024 for practitioners and leaders within social work, education, health and other sectors. The aims of the event included raising awareness of criminal exploitation, including the practitioners guidance, and promoting multi-agency working between and across organisations to ensure better outcomes for young people and adults on the cusp of serious organised crime.

Cuckooing is not currently a criminal offence, therefore the Scottish Government holds no data on the prevalence of cuckooing. The Scottish Government worked closely with the Home Office on the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which will see the introduction of a new criminal offence for cuckooing once the provisions come into force. The offence will criminalise the control over another person's property without their consent for the purposes of enabling it to be used in connection with criminality. The use of this offence will allow for data to be collected on cuckooing in future.

Scotland’s refreshed Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy, published in July 2025, recognises cuckooing as a form of criminal exploitation. The new offence in the Crime and Policing Act will provide law enforcement partners with another option to consider when disrupting the activities of perpetrators who take over vulnerable individuals homes for the purposes of committing criminality.

The Scottish Government funds a number of services that support victims of cuckooing. These include:

• The Victim-Centred Approach Fund (VCAF), which has awarded over £75m to victims' organisations for the period 2022-2027 as part of the Scottish Government's commitment to putting victims at the heart of the justice system.
• In addition, the Victim Surcharge Fund, established in 2019, has provided over £3.4m in awards to 27 victim support organisations. The organisations can use this funding to provide practical help to victims, and the Fund has helped more than 10,000 people affected by crime.
• The Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) and Migrant Help, who will receive more than £3.5m in 2026-27 to provide support and assistance to adult victims of trafficking and exploitation.

Lastly, the Adult Support and Protection (ASP) Act 2007 places a duty on councils to make inquiries about a person's well-being, property or financial affairs if it knows or believes that the person is an adult at risk, and that it might need to intervene in order to protect the person's well-being, property or financial affairs. The Act provides a multi-agency framework for intervention and support for adults at risk of harm. It provides measures to identify and to provide support and protection for those individuals who are vulnerable to being harmed whether as a result of their own or someone else's conduct.

All ASP referrals warrant a carefully considered and measured response, and should be acted upon as a source of information that may or may not be presented as evidence at a later stage.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00962 on 24 June 2026. 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.

The Scottish Government is committed to eradicating child poverty and our Free School Meal programme is saving families who take up this offer every day approximately £450 per child, per year. As a result of our expansion programme, around 84% of primary school children are now eligible for a free school meal.

We have committed to an ambitious expansion of our Free School Meal programme and plan to deliver universal free school meals in primary schools in the lifetime of this Parliament. We will continue to work with our partners in COSLA and local authorities to deliver this.

As I set out in my statement to Parliament on 2 June, we will launch a consultation on a legislative approach within the first 100 days of this government.

Further development of the legislative approach will be informed by the outcomes of this consultation but Ministers intention is that benefits of phone free learning will be enjoyed by learners and teachers as soon as possible.

There are no plans to increase the number of places on the current Future Planners Programme. We will consider options for the future of the Programme to address the shortage of professional planners working in Scotland in advance of the completion of the current Programme in summer 2027.

Local councils have a statutory duty under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to make home to school transport arrangements for eligible pupils and have significant discretion in how those arrangements are provided.

The Scottish Government updated its school transport guidance in December 2025, providing advice to local councils on their responsibilities in relation to children who live in more than one residence during the school week. This update was informed by engagement with relevant stakeholders, including Connect and Shared Parenting Scotland.

The guidance makes clear there is no legislative barrier to prevent councils from taking account within school transport arrangements the needs of pupils who live in more than one household during the school week.

We will continue to keep this guidance under review. It remains the responsibility of local councils to determine how best to meet the needs of pupils and their families within the existing legal and policy framework for home to school transport.

The Scottish Government expects local authorities, as the duty holders, to ensure that school toilet facilities comply with the School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 1967, as currently in force, and with their duties under the Equality Act 2010. Recognising that these regulations are dated, the Scottish Government undertook a public consultation, with the analysis report due to be published before the end of summer 2026 and updated regulations planned for early 2027.

The Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools guidance, published in September 2025, was updated in light of the Supreme Court judgment and provides guidance on the provision of toilets in schools. Furthermore, the guidance was subject to an Equality Impact Assessment and a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment during its preparation for publication. These are available at: Supporting transgender pupils in schools - revised guidance: equality impact assessment - gov.scot and Supporting transgender pupils in schools - revised guidance: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment - gov.scot.

The Climate Change Committee are clear: we must prepare for global temperatures exceeding +2°C within the next 25 years, increasing the risk of flooding, drought and wildfires.

We are taking action, through the Scottish National Adaptation Plan, and Flood Resilience Strategy to strengthen the resilience of our rural and urban communities and reduce disruption to infrastructure, public services and the economy. This year we have allocated £42 million to councils for flood resilience and will identify £15 million of additional investment.

Members can track our delivery record through the adaptation progress report, laid in Parliament last week [Friday 19 June].