Chamber and committees

As set out in the debate on Expanding Childcare on 27 May 2026, the Scottish Government has committed to expanding funded childcare to children from 9 months to the end of primary school, in this parliamentary term. As we shape our approach to expansion, we are committed to working in partnership with the childcare sector, parents, carers and children to ensure any future developments create a system that responds to the needs of families across Scotland and helps build a strong, sustainable and resilient childcare sector.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to extend kinship care allowances to age 21.

We recognise, however, the importance of supporting young people in kinship care as they move into adulthood. Existing legislation allows local authorities, where they consider it appropriate, to provide an allowance to certain eligible young people in kinship care after they reach 16 and until age 18.

A range of other support is available to eligible care-experienced young people as they move into adulthood, including Continuing Care and Aftercare, depending on their individual circumstances and care history.

In 2025, the Scottish Government consulted on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), including a draft Model Law prepared by interested stakeholders. The majority view expressed by respondents was that SLAPPs need to be tackled and that reform should resemble the Model Law consulted on. The Scottish Government agreed and further work is being carried out on aspects of the Model Law, including how it would operate in practice. The Scottish Government continues to consider how this may be taken forward. The legislative programme will be agreed by Ministers and announced to Parliament in due course in the usual way.

The Scottish Government does not provide funding to promote chestfeeding. It has provided more than £12m additional investment since 2018 to support new mothers to achieve their breastfeeding goals, with more babies in Scotland now being breastfed for longer than ever before.

We are aware of media reporting that has incorrectly characterised a voluntary-led community group, Queer Milk, as a service that trains people to breastfeed or supports medical interventions. The Scottish Government has received clear and unambiguous assurance that the group is not training men to lactate and feed infants. Any claim to the contrary is untrue.

The Scottish Government does not provide funding for Queer Milk.

The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening Scotland’s international presence, in line with commitments set out in the manifesto, with the number of Scotland Houses expanded to over forty by the end of the Parliament.

An expanded Scotland House network will play an important role in attracting investment, supporting jobs and economic growth, and promoting Scottish Government priorities while helping Scottish businesses and key sectors access international opportunities.

Work is underway to develop options for delivery of these commitments, including consideration of future Scotland House locations. Decisions will be announced, and projected costs will be published, in due course.

The delivery of police services, including call handling arrangements and the use of technology to support operational policing, are matters for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority which is responsible for holding the Chief Constable to account.

The estimate of 8,500 general adaptations contained in the 2025 Programme for Government was calculated as follows:

Total budget for general adaptations in 2025-26 divided by the average cost of a general adaptation in 2024-25 = estimated number of general adaptations which could be supported.

These calculations have been revised for 2026-27 using the average cost of a general adaptation delivered in 2025-26. The £20.9m budget for 2026-27 is estimated to deliver 6,935 general adaptations and 32 major adaptations.

The Scottish Government will deliver this commitment through a refresh of the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Developments (GPPs), building on proposals set out in the working paper Onshore renewable energy: refreshing the Good Practice Principles for community benefits, published on 18 February 2026. These proposals include updated recommendations on community benefit fund levels, clearer expectations across different technologies and development types, and measures to strengthen the guidance, tools and support available to communities. Officials are currently considering feedback received on these proposals. Subject to the completion of this work, the Scottish Government plans to publish the refreshed Good Practice Principles before the end of 2026.

Prior to 2021, international recruitment was not widely utilised across NHS Scotland, and no direct funding was available to health boards to support these activities. Between 2021 and 2026, the Scottish Government invested more than £21.5 million to develop international recruitment capacity across NHS Scotland. This included funding for dedicated international recruitment leads and support for overseas recruitment costs, such as visa and sponsorship fees. This investment enabled the recruitment of more than 1,200 overseas professionals into roles across NHS Scotland.

Although no direct funding has been provided since 2024 to meet international recruitment costs, the infrastructure established through this investment remains in place. With the continued funding of an international recruitment lead in each health board, international recruitment can continue to be considered as a means of filling hard-to-recruit vacancies where appropriate.

The Scottish Government has protected the Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) Adaptations Programme budget, maintaining this at £20.9 million for 2026-27. This reflects our ongoing commitment to support social landlords to deliver necessary adaptations for older tenants and disabled tenants to ensure they can live safely and independently in their own home for as long as they choose to do so.

Demand for this programme is high, due to the increased need for adaptations to support people to live safely and independently at home, maintaining the significant increase to this budget for a second year reflects this.

All funding available to the Scottish Government is allocated through the annual budget process. It is not possible to attribute a specific funding source to a particular budget line.