Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the recent meetings of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on unimplemented legislation, including the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act), where updates on implementation of the Act were discussed – on 10 December 2024 [see Official Report columns 11 to 15] and 24 June 2025 [see Official Report columns 10 to 14].

The Scottish Government letter to the Committee on 11 March 2025 sets out the position on commencement and implementation of key provisions of the 2020 Act: Letter from the Minister for Victims and Community Safety.

Since that letter we have made a further set of commencement regulations: The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provision) Regulations 2025 relating to section 1(2), on the views of the child being considered when parents are making major decisions; and section 30(1), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7), on delay in children’s hearings and adoption and permanence proceedings.

A number of other provisions are already in force or have already been commenced for certain purposes:

?The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 1 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2020

?The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2021

We plan to make a further set of commencement regulations in October 2025 of provisions set out in the letter to Committee. This commitment was made at the meeting of the Committee on unimplemented legislation on 24 June 2025.

Sections 4, 5, 7 and 8 of the 2020 Act are considerably amended by provisions in Part 3 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill, therefore commencement of those sections will follow enactment of the Bill. In addition, since we intend to regulate child contact services using powers in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, we won’t commence further provisions in section 10 of the 2020 Act at this time.

I refer the member to a meeting of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 24 June 2025 on unimplemented legislation, including the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, where the Scottish Government provided an update on implementation of the register of child welfare reporters and child advocacy services in contact and residence cases: Official Report (columns 10 to 14).

We recognise the importance of section 21 of the 2020 Act and the need to ensure child advocacy is available to children in contact and residence cases. However, we are not in a position to implement this provision until other areas of implementation work (e.g. child contact services regulation and child welfare reporters) are further advanced. Therefore, we have not yet commenced section 21, but we will gather views of key bodies on what they would like to see in this area.

There have been four meetings of the working group on child welfare reporters to date with a focus on looking at what changes can be made to the system and how we will establish the register. We plan to publish minutes from those meetings in due course.

Section 30(1), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, on delay in children’s hearings and adoption and permanence proceedings, came into force on 22 June 2025:

The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provision) Regulations 2025.

Section 30(2), relating to delay in cases under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (e.g. contact and residence) is not yet in force. It will be included in the next set of commencement regulations planned for October 2025. Since it is linked to the commencement of other provisions where there will be operational implications, there will be a 12 month lead-in period before the provisions in the next set of commencement regulations will come into force.

I refer the member to a meeting of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on unimplemented legislation (including the 2020 Act) on 24 June 2025 regarding this commitment: Official Report (see columns 10 to 14).

We are working closely with the Mhor Collective and specialist violence against women and girls (VAWG) services, to identify the digital inclusion needs of women and girls who have experienced technology-facilitated VAWG and improve the support that is available to them.

We have established a VAWG Digital Inclusion Network, made up of specialist violence against women and girls (VAWG) services to consider how we can improve access to information and advice for survivors of technology-facilitated VAWG. This includes developing and sharing appropriate resources with the organisations supporting survivors and building the digital skills and confidence of staff and volunteers working in those organisations. We are funding the Mhor Collective, who have a long track record of digital inclusion work, to lead this work.

Recognising the barriers that exist for certain groups, we are considering the digital inclusion needs of minority ethnic women and girls, women involved in commercial sexual exploitation and women in rural and remote areas.

Our Equally Safe Strategy Delivery Plan committed to develop a campaign to work with men and boys to recognise that we need to challenge misogyny to pave the way for the effective dismantling of the gender-based structures and attitudes which enable and support violence against women and girls. We recognise that men and boys need to be part of the solution.

Officials have undertaken extensive desk research and insight discovery work to support the development of a campaign to tackle this issue. This work has been supported by an investment of £35,000 to date and further investment planned this year to develop, produce and launch the activity in the first quarter of 2026. We will work closely with our partners in the statutory and third sectors throughout the campaign development.

There has been no formal assessment of how many children have been affected by delays in implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, but the Scottish Government recognises the need to implement the Act to ensure the best interests of children are at the centre of any family proceedings.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing the Act, and I refer the member to the recent meetings of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on unimplemented legislation where further commencement and implementation of the 2020 Act was discussed – on 10 December 2024 [see Official Report columns 11 to 15] and 24 June 2025 [see Official Report columns 10 to 14].

We have undertaken a literature review and engaged with a range of specialist organisations to understand the issue and what is required to address it. We are currently developing a policy definition of extended family abuse, including exploring how it interacts with intimate partner abuse and honour based abuse and other forms of VAWG.

We will continue to work with specialist organisations and academics in the Addressing Violence Against Minority Ethnic Women and Girls Network, and mainstream services including Social Work Scotland, Police Scotland, COPFS, NHS Scotland and local authorities to inform our work. We will share the draft policy definition with partners in Autumn 2025.

The Scottish Government meets with the Scottish Ambulance Service regularly in the form of Operational Meetings, Mid Year and Annual Reviews where performance is discussed. The Scottish Government also receives weekly performance reports which are analysed and if performance is a concern, it is escalated to the Scottish Ambulance Service executive team.

The Scottish Land Commission has not incurred any expenditure on diversity, equality and inclusion officers in any year since 2021.

The Scottish Land Commission has not incurred any expenditure on diversity, equality and inclusion training in any year since 2021, with the exception of 2024-2025 when £59.40 was incurred.

Forestry and Land Scotland received independent professional advice prior to the purchase of Glen Prosen from their appointed advisers. That advice informed the decision to make an offer and its level.