Chamber and committees

On appointment, ministers are offered electronic equipment to assist them in carrying out their official duties. I have included table which outlines the devices used by each of the ministers.

The Scottish Government continues to consider all avenues for securing a sustainable future for Ferguson Marine, including learning from relevant international examples.

One of the ways in which irretrievable breakdown of a marriage is taken to be established in divorce actions is if since the date of the marriage the defender has behaved in such a way that the pursuer cannot reasonably be expected to cohabit with the defender. This can include sexual infidelity, both same sex and mixed sex.

Another way in which irretrievable breakdown can be established is if since the date of the marriage, the defender has committed adultery. The Scottish Government’s understanding is that adultery is defined in common law as meaning heterosexual sexual intercourse outside of marriage.

Issues on adultery in divorce law were considered when what became the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 was being prepared. As the last bullet point of paragraph 138 of the Policy Memorandum for the Bill which became the 2014 Act notes, it appears that for a small number of spouses it may be important to have the civil court find that the other spouse was adulterous.

The consultation planned for 2024 will, in relation to divorce and dissolution, cover court procedures rather than the grounds of divorce and dissolution.

The Scottish Government has no plans to do so. The consultation planned for 2024 will, in relation to divorce and dissolution, cover court procedures rather than the grounds of divorce and dissolution.

There has been recent legislation for England and Wales which changed the law on divorce and dissolution of civil partnership. Before the changes, two of the grounds of divorce in England and Wales were based on periods of separation: two years if both spouses consented to the divorce and five years otherwise.

In Scotland, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage for the purposes of divorce can be established in a number of ways, including non-cohabitation. The required periods of non-cohabitation were reduced by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 to one year if both parties consent to the divorce and two years otherwise. The 2006 Act also reduced the non-cohabitation periods for dissolution of civil partnership.

The vast majority of divorces and dissolutions in Scotland are on the bases of non-cohabitation: Supporting documents - Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2021-22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) (see Divorce and Dissolutions Supplementary Tables 2021-22; tables 2 and 3).

The Scottish Government has no plans to do so. The consultation planned for 2024 will, in relation to divorce and dissolution, cover court procedures rather than the grounds of divorce and dissolution or how a marriage can be voided.

The Scottish Law Commission’s 1992 Report on family law (SLC 135) (scotlawcom.gov.uk) recommended that marriages should not be voidable on the ground of impotency (see paragraphs 8.21 to 8.29). The then Scottish Executive indicated in its 2000 White Paper Parents and Children that it did not intend to take forward this recommendation noting that “the concept of a voidable marriage on this ground in civil law would provide a solution to couples who would otherwise be required to seek divorce, against their religious beliefs.”

This matter was further considered in the consultation on the draft Bill which became the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014. Paragraph 139 of the Policy Memorandum for the Bill as introduced said “Consultees suggested that impotency should be abolished as grounds for voiding a marriage. However, other consultees suggested that the concept of “voidable” marriages can have some advantages, particularly for those who might wish to enter another marriage but might not be able to do so (on religious grounds) if they were divorced.”

The Scottish Government’s understanding is the rule that a marriage is voidable by reason of permanent and incurable impotency is little used. However, it is possible that abolishing it could remove an option for some couples.

The British Transport Police works closely with multi-agency partners to help prevent and reduce any incidents arising on the transport network and making the transport network a safer place for passengers and staff.

A positive example of BTP’s partnership working with partners such as ScotRail includes its collaboration with ScotRail’s Travel Safe Team which sees a reduction of the number of incidents on the Scottish rail network.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children. Work is underway to map existing breakfast provision which is expected to be completed in Spring 2024. This will inform policy on school breakfasts, and a plan for breakfast provision, designed around the needs of children and families.

British Transport Police Authority (BTPA) who determines the budget of the BTP force advises that there has been no reductions in funding. Scottish Government would not accept any diminution of services provided by BTP on the Scottish rail network.

This data has been redacted according to data protection legislation. As the redacted figures are below five, there is increased risk of identification of data subjects, and as such these figures must be treated as personal data.

The data protection legislation; UKGDPR and DPA 2018 are derivatives of the Human Rights Act. Their purpose is to uphold the rights of individuals in relation to their data and privacy.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Social security in an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table: