Chamber and committees

We recognise the findings of the Audit Scotland report and the importance of continuing to strengthen digital capability across the criminal justice system, including progress towards a more cohesive, whole-system approach to data.

There continues to be a focus on Public Service Reform across the justice system, led by the Justice Board, ensuring a collaborative approach is being taken across the portfolio. This includes development of a joined-up justice digital programme, which will seek to understand current capabilities, identify gaps, and agree future priorities within existing structures that will support us in our end-to-end reform of the justice system.

Funding will be considered as part of wider justice portfolio reform and future spending plans, ensuring that investment is targeted and evidence-based.

We recognise that the register of child welfare reporters is a key part of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020. It remains a priority and will improve consistency, transparency and quality in how reporters are appointed and deliver their role. To support the delivery of this, we convened a short-life Child Welfare Reporter Working Group to consider what is needed in advance of establishing the new register.

The Child Welfare Reporter Working Group last met on 19 March 2026 to consider a draft implementation plan and Logic Model. The plan is not yet finalised, and a further meeting is expected in autumn 2026.

Subject to approval of the implementation plan, delivery of the register is expected to take up to three years. This will include developing regulations, establishing operational arrangements, and making any necessary changes to court rules. Work is also underway to assess costs and ensure the register is implemented sustainably while delivering its intended improvements.

We are investing over £2.3 billion in social care and integration in 2026-27. This investment includes an uplift to adult social care pay as well as providing support to deliver improvements to wider terms and conditions for workers, such as maternity and paternity pay and also to help with payment of PVG checks for workers.

There are no plans to review the law on the liability and responsibility for vehicles abandoned without permission on private property.

Controls on abandoned and other vehicles are set out under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978. It is an offence to abandon a motor vehicle on any land without lawful authority and local authorities are required to remove abandoned vehicles in certain circumstances. Where a vehicle is abandoned on land which is occupied, the local authority must serve the occupier of the land with a 15 day notice, for which they have 15 days to object to the vehicle being taken away as prescribed by the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986. Local Authorities also have the power to recover costs of removal, storage and disposal from the person responsible for abandoning the vehicle.

The police have powers to remove any vehicle that is in breach of local traffic regulations, causing an obstruction, likely to cause a danger, broken down or abandoned without lawful authority. Any car that is considered to be a dangerous wreck and where a notice has been issued, can be removed immediately.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with road authorities across Scotland to monitor the impact of 20 mph speed limits, including analysing evidence from areas where these limits have been implemented.

Evidence specific to Scotland indicates that 20 mph limits are contributing to reductions in vehicle speeds, collisions and casualties. Findings from early adopters, including Scottish Borders Council, support these conclusions with a 70% reduction in collisions on 20 mph and 30 mph roads. This is demonstrating improved safety outcomes for all road users, particularly vulnerable road users, where limits have been appropriately introduced and assessed.

The Scottish Government will continue to monitor these impacts as part of broader efforts to deliver Scotland’s Road Safety Framework.

Further information on the impact of 20 mph speed limits can be found at: Scottish Borders Council - 20 mph Peer Review - Scotlands Road Safety Framework

We understand the importance of aviation to the Highlands and Islands, which is why the Scottish Government provides funding to support the operations of Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL). In order to ensure that HIAL can continue to operate safe and regulatory compliant airports, supporting connectivity in the Highlands and Islands, we’re making a budget available to HIAL of £52.3 million in 2026-27. This subsidy is crucial to facilitating the operation of air services by enabling HIAL to set its airport charges at a lower level than they would otherwise, thus lowering costs for airlines.

We also continue to operate the Air Discount Scheme which provides residents of Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles, Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Caithness and north-west Sutherland with a 50% discount on the core air fare on eligible services. We currently expect the scheme to provide support to registered scheme members of around £15 million in 2026-27.

Scotland’s screening policy, as is the case in the other nations of the UK, is guided by the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). Before making any recommendations, the UK NSC considers the best available evidence to establish whether the harms of screening outweigh the benefits.

On 28 May, the UK NSC recommended that prostate screening should be offered to men aged 45 to 61 with both a confirmed BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer.

The Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs, Maree Todd, welcomes and accepts this recommendation. As an immediate priority we are working to consider how the current system for cancer surveillance across our Health Boards can be strengthened to bring us in line with the UK NSC Recommendation. In parallel, work will explore what might be needed to formalise the existing system as a national screening programme.

The UK NSC will continue to gather evidence on the impact of screening on other groups, particularly through the TRANSFORM trial. The Scottish Government will support this evidence gathering in any way it can.

The creation of a national register for child welfare reporters is a priority for the implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020. The register will improve consistency, transparency and quality in how reporters are appointed and carry out their role, helping to support better outcomes for children involved in contact and residence cases.

To support this work, the Child Welfare Reporter Working Group last met on 19 March 2026 to consider a draft implementation plan and supporting Logic Model for the establishment of the register. The plan has not yet been finalised, and we expect the Working Group to meet again in autumn 2026 to consider further.

Once the plans are approved, it is anticipated that it will take up to three years for the new register to become fully operational. Key elements of this work will include developing and laying the necessary regulations, determining the operational model for the management of the register (for example, through contractual arrangements), developing a robust understanding of the costs associated with reports, and identifying any required changes to court rules.

The increased prevalence of new synthetic substances is of real concern, not only in Scotland but across the whole of the UK. We are working closely with partners to communicate vital information and advice. We have been able to identify and respond to new and emerging threats such as dangerous synthetic opioids thanks to the investments made in surveillance like our RADAR early warning system.

Ministers routinely meet with a range of stakeholders to discuss the ongoing threat of synthetic substances. Later this month, Public Health Scotland will host a summit with system leaders (including Scottish Ministers, COSLA and representatives from NHS Boards, Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, justice leaders and those with lived and living experience) to address the changing drugs landscape in Scotland and concerning trends in drug related harms.

In addition, a virtual meeting of all UK drugs ministers is scheduled for 24 June 2026. Scottish Ministers have requested that the topic of synthetic opioids be included on the agenda for discussion.

Sectoral Skills Assessments (SSAs), produced by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in partnership with stakeholders, provide a consistent evidence base to inform strategic skills investment planning and understanding of workforce demand and supply across sectors. The most recent Construction SSA was published in October 2025.

Skills Development Scotland routinely assesses demand for apprenticeships throughout the operational year. Modern Apprenticeship places are allocated in line with employer and training provider demand, balanced against Scottish Government priorities. Construction is a priority sector, and Modern Apprenticeship starts in construction frameworks increased in 2025-26 compared to the previous year.

In addition, the Scottish Government has introduced a new skills planning model, being developed with partners, to ensure the post-school education and skills system is more responsive to Scotland’s strategic skills priorities. Construction has been identified as an early area of focus within this model, reflecting current and emerging skills needs and its alignment with national policy priorities.