Chamber and committees

As part of our Equally Safe governance arrangements, we have a progress reporting cycle in place which will see an annual progress report published by the end of this year, providing updates on the actions it contains and sets out the work that will be undertaken over the next period.

An interim progress report is also compiled for the Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board to monitor progress, the most recent one in February 2025. I would be more than happy to share a copy of this with the elected member.

Violence against women and girls is a fundamental violation of human rights and has no place in our vision for a safe, strong, successful Scotland.

Our Equally Safe Delivery Plan contains a range of actions to build a robust and joined up approach to the prevention of violence against women and girls across all education settings in Scotland. Action 4.3 commits us to consider how we connect and share data with other public protection areas and use data and evidence to support conversations to prevent and reduce harm and to improve outcomes for adult and child victim-survivors of VAWG.

Tackling the difficult issues of having the right data for improvement and assurance and risk escalation at local and national level, is a workplan priority for the National Public Protection Leadership Group (NPPLG). A medium-term action for the NPPLG will look at how we progress interconnectedness of strands to inform policy and practice. The work of the Scottish Government Cross-Government Public Protection Team will complement the work of the NPPLG and support this action.

In relation to adult victim-survivors, the Adult Support and Protection National Minimum Dataset collects data on primary harm, including categories on physical harm’, ‘sexual harm’, ‘psychological/ emotional harm’ and ‘domestic abuse’. This data is shared with Local Health and Social Care Partnerships on a quarterly basis as unpublished management information and can be used to inform broader local discussions on public protection.

Adult Support and Protection contribute to the Equally Safe strategy as a partner in public protection and data will be available from wider sources.

For child victim-survivors, the Scottish Government are continuously looking to improve local and national data and evidence around child protection. A National Child Protection Data Group with members from the Scottish Government, Care Inspectorate and the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS) oversees this work. The group meets regularly and organises annual in-person events to bring together individuals with an interest in local and national child protection data from across the country.

A national dataset is published on an annual basis to support the publication of the Scottish Government’s annual children’s social work statistics. The publication of these statistics is important to allow us to follow long term trends in child protection data. The data collection specification has been revised to ensure alignment with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 – updated 2023. Child protection registrations linked to domestic abuse are collected as part of this publication.

A minimum data set for Child Protection Committees (CPCs) has been developed which aims to support the delivery of continuous improvement and self-evaluation responsibilities. The minimum dataset is a ‘package’ of data collation, presentation, analysis, reporting and scrutiny supports to support child protection improvement, local planning and service development, and expanded analytical capacity. Child Protection Committees can supplement the minimum dataset with additional information depending on the needs of their area. Version 2 of the minimum dataset for Child Protection Committees was launched in June 2021 and aligns with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland.

Since 2021, our partners CELCIS have administered the Children’s Care and Protection Data Community of Practice Scotland Knowledge Hub site. The site is open to all people interested in children’s data. The Hub will facilitate a more co-ordinated strategic approach to sharing learning and to help inform local planning and service development.

The Scottish Government last met with the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Sustainable Funding Project Board on 14 November 2024.

The items discussed were the Delivering Equally Safe Fund, the next steps for consideration of the funding recommendations from the Independent Review of Funding and Commissioning of VAWG Services and the future of the Project Board.

Following the meeting, the VAWG Sustainable Funding Project Board was stood down and a short-life working group established to oversee the development of a VAWG Needs Assessment Tool.

Regular updates on progress are provided to the Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board, the advisory and oversight body for the Equally Safe strategy, which is co-chaired by the Equalities Minister and the COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing.

We are developing a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Needs Assessment Tool which will help build a robust picture of the specific needs of women, children and young people experiencing VAWG in the different local authority areas across Scotland. This follows discussions with a range of specialist stakeholders about the importance of understanding the extent of need for VAWG services across Scotland.

The tool is seen as an important aide in bringing together partners from across different services and policy areas to raise awareness of everyone’s role, help identify opportunities to drive forward improvements and maximise the safety and wellbeing of women, children and young people.

The Needs Assessment Tool is entering a testing phase, supported by £350,000 of Scottish Government investment in 2025-26.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the specialist third sector services that provide crucial support to survivors of violence against women and girls.

That is why the Delivering Equally Safe Fund has been extended into 2025-26, allowing for the continuation of vital support to survivors of violence against women and girls across Scotland. The fund has benefited from a £2.4 million increase, bringing the total investment in the Delivering Equally Safe Fund to £21.6 million for 2025-26.

Our Equally Safe Delivery Plan commits to the development of a flexible and stable funding model that reflects the ambitions of Equally Safe.

I meet regularly with the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), where we discuss a range of issues which affect their members. At our meeting on 19 December 2024, the SPF raised concerns about the condition of buildings in the Police Scotland estate, and we discussed the Police Scotland Estates Masterplan.

Management of the Police Scotland estate, including assessments of the condition of its buildings, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. The Scottish Government supports the work undertaken by Police Scotland to address the issue of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which has been identified in four locations across the Police Scotland estate, and Police Scotland’s commitment to providing a safe environment for officers, staff and the public.

We are investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26. This includes £70 million of capital funding for investment in police assets, including the police estate.

Every child has the right to play under the United Nations Conventions of the Rights of the Child. The Scottish Government wants every child to be able to play across all stages and aspects of their life to support their social development, resilience, language and communication development, health, physical and mental wellbeing.

In May 2023, we introduced regulations regarding Play Sufficiency Assessments which require planning authorities to assess and provide statements as regards to the quality, quantity and accessibility of both formal and informal play spaces for children in their areas. Considerations should be given to equality of access and inclusion. A planning guidance was published in December 2023 to support the implementation of the PSA Regulations.

Additionally, on 24 March 2025 we published our Play Vision Statement and Action Plan 2025-2030, which recognises girls as one of the groups of children whose right to play are most at risk. In collaboration with our key partners in local authorities and the third sector we are leading on an action to share effective practice on maintenance and development of free, accessible and inclusive public spaces by the end of 2026. This will include principles for the design and maintenance of public spaces to create an environment where girls feel safe and welcome in public play spaces.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39915 on 3 September 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The deployment and management of Police Officers are matters for the Chief Constable. However, I am aware that the cancellation of rest days can be due to a number of reasons, including attendance at court and the policing of events.

The Scottish Government is supporting its justice partners in achieving the outcomes described in the Vision for Justice in Scotland by taking forward a programme to drive key areas of reform, including criminal justice efficiency.

One element of this is the Summary Case Management currently being rolled out across Scotland. This initiative aims to improve the management of summary criminal cases in Scotland and reduce the number of unnecessary hearings. A pilot evaluation report published in September shows a significant reduction in the volume of witness citations being issued, this relates to police officers, victims and witnesses. The impact on police witnesses has been positive with a reduction of citations for domestic cases by up to 34% in all pilot courts. This equates to around 5000 citations not being served on operational officers in pilot areas.

Police Scotland are also progressing work to reduce the impact policing of events on officers such as the Force Mobilisation Model.