Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government works closely with local authorities, third sector partners and all other agencies involved in supporting children and young people involved with the criminal justice system. This includes support for parents and carers. This collaborative approach ensures that a broad range of expertise and resources are brought together to address the needs of young people holistically. By partnering with organisations that provide specialised services such as mental health support, family counselling, and education, the Scottish Government ensures that young people receive the targeted interventions they need to prevent reoffending and to successfully reintegrate into society.

This includes organisations such as Cyrenians and Aberlour, which receive funding through the Cashback for Communities programme. Cyrenians’ Keeping Families Together project works across Scotland in partnership with Scotland’s four secure centres, offering mediation, whole family support and conflict resolution workshops. The approach enables young people and families to improve communication, address underlying issues and build stronger, more positive relationship.

Aberlour’s project, Alternative Routes #CashBack, supports young people aged 10-25 and their families most at risk of being involved in antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending. They use a whole system approach involving the whole family and community, which improves confidence in young people and provides them with opportunities to connect, flourish and achieve at home, school, and in the community.

Includem’s ADAPT project – funded through the Scottish Government’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund – also focuses on young people who are in conflict or at risk of being in conflict with the law. The project works with young people and their families to help them navigate a way out of a variety of difficult circumstances by diverting them from the criminal behaviour and a resultant trajectory into the criminal justice system.

The Scottish Government also funds the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ), who work closely with a number of organisations providing a range of support services to both children and their parents and carers. This includes local authority practitioners, Police Scotland and third sector organisations such as Action for Children, Includem and Barnardos.

As part of their Promise implementation work, CYCJ is leading a project to engage directly with parents of children in conflict with the law. The aim of this is to develop a network of parents who can participate in the development of policy and practice. In order to reach these parents CYCJ is actively engaging with existing parenting networks such as Parenting Across Scotland and Families Outside.

The Scottish Government also ensure that child victims and their families are offered trauma-informed and person-centred support and advocacy through the Victim-Centred Approach Fund and the development of a Bairns’ Hoose model in Scotland.

The Intensive Support Monitoring and Supervision (ISMS) programme is a key component of Scotland’s youth justice system, aimed at providing an alternative to secure care or custody for young people (typically between the ages of 12 and 18) who are at high risk of reoffending or presenting significant risks to themselves or others. ISMS combines electronic monitoring (such as tagging) with intensive support services, including:

• Structured supervision with regular check-ins and monitoring by social workers or case managers.
• Individualised interventions including tailored programmes focusing on addressing offending behaviour, mental health, substance abuse, or other personal challenges.
• Support with education and employment including assistance in engaging with school, vocational training, or employment to foster personal development and reduce reoffending risks.
• Family support with efforts to involve and support the family in the rehabilitation process.

This programme allows young people involved in offending behaviour to remain in their communities under strict conditions, while receiving the support needed to change their behaviour, rather than being placed in a secure unit or prison. ISMS is considered a more rehabilitative and community-based approach to managing serious offending.

Where a child is placed in secure accommodation, centres will utilise a range of interventions, supports and strategies to meet their needs, ensure their safety is maintained and risk is managed. Throughout a child’s stay in secure care they will be supported to participate in education; interventions identified as part of their Child’s Plan; with required health supports and recreational, leisure and social activities.

In terms of direct financial support, the Scottish Government’s policy towards local authority spending is to allow each local authority the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of local authority funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then for individual local authorities to manage their own budgets. They allocate the total financial resources available to them, including support for youth work, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The new Household Recycling Code of Practice will be co-designed with local authorities and other stakeholders to deliver modernised and more consistent waste and recycling services across Scotland.

The co-design process will provide opportunities to consider collection of a range of new items and materials, which may include PET and/or PP plastic plant pots. Our approach to determining changes to the Code of Practice will be evidence-led and take account of different local circumstances and needs.

The Scottish Government has received a total of £52 million from the UK Government for deployment via the R100 contracts.

£17 million of UK Government funding is being deployed via the R100 North contact, £7 million via the Central contract and £28 million via the South contract. These figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds.

The Reaching 100% (R100) programme met its original aim of ensuring everyone could access a superfast broadband connection by the end of 2021. However, as per previous statements, the R100 contracts – which are now providing full-fibre and gigabit-capable connectivity – are expected to deliver connections until 2028.

Scotland’s potential for renewable energy generation is one of our greatest environmental and economic opportunities. The forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will chart a path to a clean, fair and secure energy system.

As part of a just energy transition, the Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to continue to grow a thriving community energy sector. This is evidenced by our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), which has recently awarded funding to 20 projects from 19 community groups across Scotland through the £1.5 million Community Energy Generation Growth Fund. This funding will support these communities to develop their own renewable energy projects.

Our ambition to reach 2GW of community and locally owned energy by 2030 includes different types of community and local ownership to reflect the different needs, requirements and opportunities available to communities across Scotland. The latest Community and Locally Owned Energy statistics show at the end of December 2023, there was an estimated 1,028 MW of community and locally owned renewable energy in Scotland.

Ethical commissioning was defined in the Bill, as introduced, as making arrangements for services in ways which were consistent with the NCS Principles. As a consequence of the agreement reached on shared accountability for the NCS these specific provisions were removed. There will be other requirements placed on relevant bodies to comply with the NCS Principles more widely which will achieve the same intent for ethical considerations to be embedded in commissioning and procurement of NCS services. Therefore the intent within the Bill remains unchanged.

We will carefully consider the responses to the Scottish Parliament’s call for views.

The Scottish Government committed to investing £10 million in Changing Places Toilets over the lifetime of the Parliament. Ultimately, the number of Changing Places Toilets that will be introduced as a result of investment will be determined by the number and quality of funding bids received. The Changing Places Toilets Planning Guide published by the Scottish Government provides information on Changing Places Toilets and guidance to those considering installing one.

Funding allocated to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) is for both alcohol and drug treatment services. In 2024-25, £112.9 million has been made available to ADPs. ADPs decide how this money is spent in their local areas to meet the needs of those who live there and experience drug and/or alcohol harms.

The Scottish Government remains committed to reducing the significant impact of alcohol harm on the nation’s health through a range of measures including the forthcoming increase to Minimum Unit Pricing. However, we also recognise the calls for football fans to have the same opportunities as fans at other sports and events and we will continue to engage with the football authorities, supporters groups and clubs on ways to enhance the fan experience.

As set out in response to S6W-29551, the Scottish Government continues to engage with the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and other international climate initiatives as part of wider ongoing engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders. Ministerial engagements at COP29 will be published in the usual manner in due course.