Chamber and committees

That the Parliament congratulates New College Lanarkshire and Scottish Autism on their partnership in delivering the Better Than 52: Autism Symposium at New College Lanarkshire's Coatbridge Campus on 30 October 2026; recognises the importance of this work to autistic people, families and communities across Central Scotland and Lothian West; commends both organisations for their commitment to improving understanding, challenging barriers and promoting greater inclusion across education, employment, health and the criminal justice system; welcomes the development of new learning opportunities and resources, including Understanding Neurodivergence in the Workplace and Neuroinclusive: Designing Better Experiences for Different Brains, to help employers, educators and communities create more inclusive environments; acknowledges the importance of involving autistic people and those with lived experience in shaping services and driving meaningful change; recognises the potential for the partnership's work and expertise to benefit colleges, employers and public services across Central Scotland and Lothian West and beyond, and encourages greater collaboration between educational institutions, specialist autism organisations, employers and public bodies, to ensure that autistic people have equal opportunities to learn, work and participate fully in society.

As an amendment to motion S7M-01517 in the name of Neil Gray (Strengthening Scotland’s Cyber Resilience), insert at end “considers that, despite a substantial framework of strategies, significant gaps remain in the implementation of cyber resilience across Scotland’s public sector; expresses concern that only 64% of Scottish public sector organisations have reported carrying out cyber resilience exercises in the previous 12 months; believes that the priority should now be the effective implementation, testing and enforcement of existing cyber resilience standards and to resist the tendency to create further strategies and frameworks to achieve simple objectives; understands that resource constraints are limiting the ability of organisations to implement lessons learned from incidents and exercises to address identified weaknesses, and calls on the Scottish Government to establish clear minimum standards for regular testing of cyber defences and incident response arrangements across the public sector, and to ensure that public bodies have sufficient financial, technical and specialist resources to address identified vulnerabilities."

That the Parliament recognises the incredible achievement of 90-year-old Ian Winship, from Cumbernauld, in completing the 10km Cumbernauld Run on 13 September 2026 with a recorded time of 1:04:37, and applauds him on recording a World Best Performance in the M90 category.

That the Parliament notes Engender’s April 2026 report, Standing Down, Speaking Out, which found that 23 of the 40 MSPs who stood down before the 2026 election were women; recognises that women cannot achieve equal representation if the culture and conditions of political life drive them out; believes that sexism, misogyny, harassment, workload and caring responsibilities must never be barriers to public service, including for those in the Central Scotland and Lothians West region, and notes the calls on the Parliament and political parties to make Scottish politics a place where women can enter, lead and stay.

That the Parliament congratulates the head teacher, staff and pupils of St Stephen’s Primary School in Coatbridge on achieving three “excellent” and one “very good” evaluations in the report published yesterday by His Majesty’s Inspectors of Education (HMIE), following the inspection visit in May 2026; recognises the hard work and dedication of the whole school community in achieving these outstanding results, and commends everyone involved for this significant achievement.

That the Parliament recognises the vital role that thriving high streets play in supporting local economies, creating employment, sustaining independent businesses and providing communities with places to meet, shop and socialise; believes that the decline of high streets across Scotland, reflected in rising vacancies and falling footfall, requires urgent action; calls on the Scottish Government to make the revitalisation of high streets a national priority by reforming the business rates system to create a fairer environment for businesses, supporting new enterprises to occupy vacant premises, investing in cleaner, safer and more attractive town centres and working with local authorities to deliver long-term regeneration and sustainable economic growth; further calls on the Scottish Government to work with Police Scotland, local authorities and other relevant agencies to identify and disrupt criminal activity operating through commercial premises, including money laundering and the sale of counterfeit or substandard goods, and believes that protecting legitimate businesses from criminal activity is essential to restoring confidence, increasing footfall and creating high streets that are safe, vibrant and welcoming for communities, businesses and visitors.

That the Parliament recognises that access to justice is a cornerstone of a fair society; notes with concern reports that survivors of domestic abuse who qualify for civil legal aid can be unable to find a solicitor willing and able to take their case; believes that legal aid is meaningless if there is no lawyer available to provide it; further believes that this failure is particularly unacceptable in complex family law cases, where the absence of legal representation can leave survivors legally tied to abusive partners and vulnerable to continued coercive control, and calls on the Scottish Government to make access to civil legal aid an urgent priority, ensure that legal aid rates are sufficient to make complex family law work viable, address so called legal aid deserts that leave eligible people without representation and ensure that survivors of domestic abuse can access the legal representation they need to end abusive relationships and rebuild their lives.

That the Parliament recognises the devastating impact of domestic abuse on victims and their children; acknowledges that financial dependence and economic abuse can prevent victims from leaving abusive relationships; commends the vital work of charities and frontline organisations across Scotland that help victims and survivors rebuild safe and independent lives; calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that public funding for victims and survivors is targeted towards effective frontline support, with consistent access across Scotland, clear standards for service delivery, transparent reporting on outcomes and value for taxpayers’ money, and further calls on the Scottish Government to identify and address gaps in provision so that victims and survivors can access the practical support they need to achieve safety and financial independence.

That the Parliament remembers with solemnity and respect those who fought on the Asia-Pacific front during the Second World War; notes that 2026 marks the 81st anniversary of the surrender of Japanese forces and the end of the conflict; records its utmost admiration for surviving veterans and its profound gratitude for their service, courage and sacrifice, and remembers the countless courageous men and women from Scotland, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and countries across the world who served, and those who gave their lives, in the hope of securing peace and building a better future for generations to come.

That the Parliament recognises the reported concerns of residents across Central Scotland and Lothians West regarding crime and anti-social behaviour within their communities; acknowledges that everyone should be able to live, work and raise their families without the fear of, or experience of, crime; notes the reported concerns of communities regarding the lack of visible policing and the delays in police officers being able to respond promptly and effectively to local incidents, and calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that Police Scotland has the resources necessary for effective neighbourhood policing and a visible presence in communities.