Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is clear that everyone should be able to practise their faith safely and free from fear and condemns all forms of religiously motivated violence affecting Muslim communities and places of worship.

We are continuing to work closely with Police Scotland, Muslim communities and local partners to understand the concerns being felt, particularly following recent incidents, and to identify what support may be needed to provide reassurance and enhance security. This includes ongoing dialogue to ensure that responses are informed by the experiences of those directly affected.

We will continue to support communities and work in partnership with local and national organisations to help ensure that places of worship remain safe and that communities feel reassured in their daily lives.

It should be noted that the UK Government’s Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme is available for communities in Scotland, with applications open continuously, and details of how to apply can be found at Protective Security for Mosques Scheme - GOV.UK.

Alongside this, we will continue to consider how our wider work on community safety and resilience, including through the Hate Crime Strategy, can support communities and respond to emerging concerns.

The Scottish Government is clear that we must not allow recent attacks to stoke fear or division. We recognise the distress these events have caused, and that everyone in Scotland should be able to go about their daily lives without fear.

Ministers and senior officials have met with Police Scotland following the reported attacks in Edinburgh on 19 June 2026. The Scottish Government engages regularly with Police Scotland on issues of community safety and the policing of public events, and recognises the importance of communication that supports safety and provides reassurance across communities.

The European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) articles apply to marches, parades and static demonstrations and organisers of static demonstrations or protests do not need to notify a local authority or Police Scotland of their intentions to hold an event. Police Scotland regularly communicates information about events and potential disruption through public communications, local engagement, and partnership working, including outreach to affected communities where appropriate but they will often not have advanced information to communicate ahead of a static demonstration taking place.

Scottish Ministers do recognise the importance of ensuring that all interested parties, including small community groups, are able to participate effectively in the inquiry process. In this context, a number of measures are available within existing procedures and practice.

All interested parties are notified of the inquiry and given the opportunity to participate in the DPEA process. Reporters appointed by DPEA are responsible for ensuring that proceedings are conducted in a fair, transparent and proportionate manner. This includes tailoring how evidence is presented, ensuring that the evidence presented is accessible by all parties, focusing on the key issues, and putting in place arrangements that enable all parties, including small community groups, to participate effectively without requiring extensive legal or technical resources.

In addition, the new Planning and Infrastructure legislation strengthens requirements for early and meaningful engagement with communities at the pre-application stage. This enables communities to identify and address concerns before any application is made.

Guidance is available to support participants in understanding the process, and Scottish Ministers continue to consider how participation can be further supported. Together, these measures are intended to ensure that inquiry processes are accessible and that community groups are able to participate on a fair and proportionate basis.

Both Ministers and officials engage regularly with faith groups, Muslim community organisations and third sector partners across Scotland, including in Edinburgh and the Lothians, to understand local concerns and strengthen community safety and resilience.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage regularly with faith communities through established mechanisms, including the Faith and Belief Representatives Group, alongside targeted roundtables and stakeholder engagement, ensuring that their views inform policy development and responses to emerging issues.

Work is currently progressing on the next phase of Scotland’s Hate Crime Strategy, and we are taking steps to ensure that the experiences and priorities of those most affected by hate crime, including faith communities, help to shape its development.

The Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism Delivery Plan 2026–2030 sets out a cross-government approach to tackling structural and systemic racism, with the aim of creating a Scotland where equity, justice, dignity and respect are upheld for all. The Plan responds to calls for practical action, long-term systemic change and stronger accountability, embedding anti-racism across government through clear governance and lived experience leadership. Establishment of the Anti-Racism Observatory further supports this, and works closely with affected communities and uses evidence to inform priorities and action.

The Scottish Government is clear that racism, Islamophobia and all forms of hatred and prejudice have no place in Scotland, including when expressed online. Social media companies have a fundamental responsibility to enforce their own rules, prevent harmful content from being amplified and protect users from harm. That responsibility must be backed by robust regulation.

It is essential that Ofcom is able to use its full regulatory powers to hold platforms to account when they fail in their responsibilities. We recognise concerns about the role that algorithmic systems can play in promoting and amplifying harmful content, and support effective regulatory oversight that ensures platforms are transparent about risks and take appropriate mitigating action. The Scottish Government recently attended the Ofcom Scotland Advisory Council meeting in Aberdeen where officials presented on the work of our Online Safety Taskforce and Action Plan, our main mechanism to coordinate work in this area.

We welcome that Ofcom has taken up the issue of regulation of spikes in illegal content during periods of public disorder by strengthening their codes of practice on Illegal Content and the Protection of Children. The amendments ask service providers to prepare and apply a crisis protocol to mitigate and manage the risks arising from a significant increase in relevant illegal content and/or content harmful to children on their services. This is a priority for the Scottish Government and we are keen to remain informed on the effectiveness of these measures.

While regulation of the internet remains reserved, we have consistent and robust engagement with UK Ministers and Ofcom to strengthen a range of online protections, including as part of the Online Safety Act 2023.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns all forms of hatred and prejudice, including hate speech and the incitement of racial or religious hatred online. We are clear that behaviour which targets individuals or communities on the basis of their protected characteristics is unacceptable, whether it takes place offline or online. We would encourage the reporting of such behaviour to Police Scotland.

There are already a range of offences that can be used to prosecute threatening behaviour online. These include the offence of ‘threatening or abusive behaviour’ which has been in force since 2010 and criminalises behaving in a threatening or abusive manner that would be likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm. Other offences include breach of the peace, the common law offence of threats and the offence of ‘improper use of a public electronic communications network’ at section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Additionally, the offences of stirring up racial or religious hatred and racially aggravated harassment in the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 are enforceable.

In 2025 Scotland experienced the driest start to the year in more than 60 years, prompting enhanced monitoring and assessment activity by the Scottish Government, SEPA and Scottish Water.

As previously stated, Transport Scotland and our operating company BEAR Scotland have held discussions with various local stakeholders regarding the A84 Teith Bridge and options for active travel improvement between Doune and Deanston. Transport Scotland is working closely with Stirling Council regarding this matter.

Transport Scotland and BEAR Scotland shared the results of the modelling with Stirling Council and met with them to discuss it where Stirling Council requested that a live exercise be undertaken to directly investigate the impact on delays to vehicular traffic.

Taking account of the requirements of all modes of travel, including public transport services, it is recognised that the best form of improvement may not be amendment to the trunk road and the existing bridge. It may be more practical and effective to create an entirely new, offline facility.

Following discussions with Stirling Council, their preferred approach was to trial Option 3. This involved implementing an all-red phase at the traffic signals, allowing pedestrians to cross the bridge independently. However, this arrangement was not considered feasible under temporary conditions due to the associated safety risks.

Alternative options would lie outwith the trunk road and therefore outwith the responsibility of Transport Scotland. Progression of these would be the responsibility of Stirling Council or the Regional Transport Partnership to take forward, and Transport Scotland has suggested that the Council continue to appraise the best means of active travel connection between the two communities.

The Scottish Government notes the findings of the Scottish Land Commission's Rural Land Market Insights 2026 report.

The policy intent of the lotting provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 is to address issues relating to the scale and concentration of land ownership in Scotland. Scottish Land Commission research has highlighted that concentrated land ownership can negatively impact community sustainability, particularly through its effect on land availability.

The policy rationale for lotting is not linked to trends in speculative investment in forestry or natural capital markets, which are more recent developments and were not the focus of the evidence base underpinning the Act.

There are no plans to delay implementation of the lotting provisions. The Act was developed following extensive engagement with a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives of the rural property sector, and a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment considered the potential impacts of the measures on businesses and the rural land market.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the Scottish Land Commission on implementation of the Act and wider land reform policy. Ministers and officials will continue to engage with stakeholders, including land agents, rural surveyors, lenders, representatives of the rural property sector and other land market interests, through consultation on secondary legislation and guidance. This engagement will help ensure that practical considerations are fully taken into account as implementation progresses.

Transport Scotland carries out a rigorous assessment process to establish the preferred option for a trunk road improvement. The three stage assessment process is based on the standards of good practice set by the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) and includes engagement with stakeholders.

Five route options were assessed for a permanent, long-term solution to the landslide challenges at the Rest and Be Thankful. These options included an option along the base of the Glen Croe valley as well as an option on the opposite side of the glen, on the route of an existing forestry track, as suggested by the A83 Campaign Group. The outcome of this assessment work is set out in the published DMRB Stage 2 Route Options Assessment Report.

As requested at the A83 Taskforce meeting in October, Transport Scotland has undertaken additional design and appraisal work in consultation with the A83 Rest and Be Thankful Campaign Group regarding the appraisal of two-way free flowing options for a medium-term solution and the findings from this work was presented at the last Taskforce meeting in March 2026.

I am aware of the Campaign Group’s desire to make their suggested two-way free flowing medium-term solution along the forestry track the permanent long-term solution.

I am now seeking advice from my officials at Transport Scotland on the outcome of this appraisal work and will make a decision in due course.