Chamber and committees

Social Security Scotland’s application forms for disability benefits were designed with disabled people and organisations who support them, to ensure the forms were accessible and inclusive for the people who would be using them.

Careful consideration was given to each of the questions, so people can give Social Security Scotland the information on their individual needs required to make a decision, while balancing the length of the application form.

Social Security Scotland supports people to apply for benefits, including in-person by appointment through its Local Delivery service based in each local authority in Scotland.

Social Security Scotland continues to review how people, including young cancer patients, access its services, and the Agency uses feedback from clients and stakeholders to drive forward improvements, including through its annual Client Survey.

The Adult Disability Payment: Independent Review began in February 2024 and is considering people’s experiences of applying for Adult Disability Payment, which includes the application form and process.

Social Security Scotland has a dedicated application route for terminally ill adults, children and young people with a diagnosed terminal illness. Published data shows the Special Rules for Terminal Illness applications are currently processed within three working days for Child Disability Payment and two working days for Adult Disability Payment.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes statistics on Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment processing times, which include information on the median average processing times.

Latest statistics show that the median average processing time was 42 days in January 2025 for Adult Disability Payment and 73 days in December 2024 for Child Disability Payment.

Social Security Scotland does not currently publish information on the longest processing times for Adult Disability Payment or Child Disability Payment.

The latest Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment official statistics publications can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics.

COPFS does not hold records of arrests: not all persons who are arrested by the police are subsequently reported to Procurator Fiscal.

The following table shows the number of charges, not accused persons, reported to COPFS under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) 2021 section 1 or any charge with an Enforcing Statutory Age Restriction aggravation. It is highlighted that the figures for the year 2021- 22 start from 24 August 2021. Under further explanation that some prosecutions may be taken against an accused where the specific statutory charge is not prosecuted however some of the libel in the charge might have been included.

The Minister for Housing and I wrote to the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March to provide an update on the implementation of the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Act 2020 and our planned next steps: Letter from the Minister for Equalities, 11 March 2025.

As the letter outlines, since the start of this year, my officials have been engaging with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Civil Justice Council to understand the legal and technical changes that are required for implementation of the Act.

My officials have also set up a Working Group which includes representation from Health, Social Work, Education, Child Protection, Police Scotland and third sector organisations. Additionally, officials are considering what training and awareness raising materials are required to support the implementation of the Act.

We are aiming to implement the Act by Summer 2026 and are working closely with our partners to achieve this.

COPFS regularly liaises with the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service (SCTS) in relation to upcoming Fatal Accident Inquiries. In particular, the Head of the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU) of COPFS writes to all Sheriffs Principal on a quarterly basis to ensure future Fatal Accident Inquiry business is factored into the court programme as efficiently as possible.

As at 3 April 2025, there are 246 mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiries where no First Notice has been lodged with the Sheriff Clerk. The oldest of those cases was reported to COPFS on 19 August 2018.

The Family Liaison Charter sets out the Crown’s obligations in relation to liaising with and providing information to bereaved relatives.

In relation to every death where a Fatal Accident Inquiry is to be held, a dedicated COPFS Victim Information and Advice (VIA) Officer will update the nearest relative throughout the investigation and inquiry processes, including directing them to organisations that offer support and bereavement counselling. The VIA Officer will also update the family after the Inquiry has concluded about the publication of the Sheriff’s Determination.

COPFS regularly invites and receives feedback from nearest relatives of their experience of the death investigation and Fatal Accident Inquiry processes. That feedback is carefully considered to identify any improvements that can be made. As an example, feedback obtained by COPFS VIA Officers on the questions commonly asked by relatives was used to assist in the preparation of a Guide to Fatal Accident Inquiries on the COPFS website, providing detailed information for bereaved families about the FAI process.

COPFS has established a Death Investigations Improvement Board to oversee all ongoing pieces of work and new proposals to achieve greater public confidence, to improve the service delivered to bereaved relatives and to reduce the journey time for concluding death investigations, including FAIs. One of the significant workstreams of that Board is the proposed creation of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel, which will enable participants with experience of the death investigation process to help inform improvements to the process by providing independent advice to the Board on a range of issues.

Pupil Equity Funding has been a policy of the Scottish Government since 2017-18.

Statistics on pupil teacher ratio at local authority and sector level are published annually the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

Statistics prior to 2004 are not available.