Chamber and committees

XL Bully owners in Scotland had from 1 April 2024 to 31 July 2024 to apply to the Scottish Government for a Certificate of Exemption for their XL Bully dog, to allow them to legally keep their dog. Under the relevant legislation that set these dates, the time period for applications for a Certificate of Exemption to keep an XL Bully dog has closed.

The only means by which an exemption can be granted now is as follows.

The XL Bully dog is on the list of prohibited dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Following the passing of the Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Act 1997, it continued to be the case that it is a criminal offence to own a prohibited type of dog, but following a conviction the court has discretion in sentencing so that a dog of this type is not always required to be destroyed where an owner was found to have kept a dog in breach of the legislation.

The court can, as an alternative to ordering the destruction of the dog, authorise a person owning such a dog to be able to apply to place the dog on the Index of the Exempted Dogs. Only courts can direct that an owner can be authorised to apply for a dog to be placed on the Index of Exempted Dogs.

The Scottish Government does not have any role to play in the decision making of the independent court when it considers how to dispose of cases, but will of course consider any application for exemption on the back of any court direction that would permit the owner of an XL Bully dog to apply to Scottish Ministers to seek a Certificate of Exemption.

The National Specification includes requirements for Boards to fully engage with children, young people and families and to gather outcome data against these standards, including experience of service, and to report performance, quality and governance.

While there are no current plans to carry out a specific evaluation, we are working closely with all NHS Boards to support implementation of the CAMHS specification and to improve the service provided to children, young people and families, as well as improve performance across CAMHS. We remain committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We continue to provide enhanced support to those Boards not on track to meet the standard, providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation.

Dogs need to be over 8 weeks old to be microchipped.

Where an XL Bully dog was too young – under 8 weeks – as at the date of application for exemption to be microchipped, the owner was given additional time to provide evidence of microchipping having occurred.

There are also exemptions for those dogs deemed unfit for a microchip to be fitted. A dog is unfit to be microchipped if a veterinary surgeon has issued a certificate indicating a dog is unfit to be microchipped under the Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016.

Further information about microchipping can be found on the mygov.scot website:

Exemptions - mygov.scot.

There is no provision for the interim liberation of a prohibited type dog in Scotland as there is no interim exemption scheme available that would permit such dogs to be released pending the consideration and outcome of court proceedings.

The Regional Land Us Frameworks (RLUFs) developed as part of the Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUPs) pilot programme have captured a range of land use priorities for each region including, but not limited to, native woodland expansion, flood mitigation and community wealth building. More information on these is available on the respective RLUP websites:

• South of Scotland region: Delivery & Strategies | South of Scotland Regional Economic Partnership (southofscotlandrep.com)
• North West Highland region: Land+ Project | NORTHWEST2045
• Cairngorms National Park region: Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan 2022-27 - Cairngorms National Park Authority
• Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park region: Read The Plan - Here. Now. All of us. - Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park (lochlomond-trossachs.org)

Further to question S6W-25674, the latest Bikeability Scotland participation statistics are as follows:

The Scottish Government committed to publishing a summary of discussions and action points from the working groups which can be found in the published minutes of the group on https://www.gov.scot/groups/creative-industries-leadership-group/ However, due to the interest from the member, the reports, and the Scottish Government response, will be published in full as soon as possible.

Our rural economies will be hit by the proposed changes to Inheritance Tax’s Agricultural Property Relief.

We continue to make progress on this consultation. As well as the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership, it will cover a wide range of areas: extending simplified divorce and dissolution procedures; qualifying requirements for religious and belief bodies when they solemnise marriage or register civil partnership; a Scottish Law Commission report on cohabitant's rights following separation; and some points arising on financial provision when one cohabitant dies.

We are also preparing impact assessments in relation to this consultation. We are planning to issue it within the next few months.

It is the Scottish Government’s view that delay in child contact proceedings will usually not be in the best interests of the child.

The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the 1995 Act) is the key legislation in relation to child contact and residence. In deciding whether to make a contact order under section 11 of the 1995 Act, the welfare of the child must be the court’s paramount consideration.

The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 will reform the 1995 Act and a key aim is to ensure that the child’s best interests are at the centre of any contact or residence case. Section 30(2), once in force, will require the court to have regard to any risk of prejudice to the child’s welfare that delay in proceedings would pose.

The Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council developed new case management rules: Act of Sederunt (Ordinary Cause Rules 1993 Amendment) (Case Management of Defended Family and Civil Partnership Actions) 2022 (scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk) covering family actions in the sheriff court. The new rules came into effect on 25 September 2023 and are intended to help prevent undue delay in proceedings relating to the welfare of children.