We must conduct an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) at the earliest stages of developing new policies or revising existing ones. This includes strategies, legislation, guidance, frameworks, training, funding, reviews, and any other activities that affect people. The EQIA process requires evidence gathering to understand and assess the potential impact of policy decisions. This evidence gathering can include public consultations and lived experience discussions with those organisations and members of the public to understand and assess any potential impacts.

Regulation 5 of these Scottish Specific Duties is particularly relevant to EQIAs, as it requires the assessment of all new and revised policies and practices for their impact on the three Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) needs, as well as the publication of these assessment results within a reasonable timeframe and in an easily accessible manner.

The Scottish Government welcomes this report and will fully consider the Action Against Stalking report recommendations and will work in partnership to consider current policy and how recommendations may be taken forward.

The Scottish Government can only comment on the funding we provide, rather than all ‘public money’. Any funding issued by the Scottish Government is done so in line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, and Grant Offer Letters to all third sector organisations clearly set out the conditions for which the funding can be used.

Charities must act in accordance with the requirements of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, which sets out that a charity cannot be set up to advance a political party. Any breach of obligations under charity law is for OSCR, who are independent of Scottish Ministers, to determine.

However, charities can and do undertake campaigning activity. The Scottish Government fully support the right of charities to campaign on behalf of those they represent and influence changes in policy.

Safety is paramount in the delivery of all energy infrastructure, including Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

Where the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) receives information about a proposed BESS site, they refer those duty holders (site operators) responsible for the plant to the National Fire Chief Council's (NFCC) Grid Scale Planning Guidance for FRS. These guidelines detail, amongst other elements, minimum standards for fire safety systems and design features, water requirements for firefighting and access requirements.

Under reserved legislation, BESS sites also fall under process fire regulations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 due to the equipment being used to collect, store and release electricity as required.

No decisions on the future regulation of gene edited crops have been taken at this stage, and we will ensure that any future position is both informed by the evidence base and is in Scotland’s national interests.

We are both closely monitoring developments on gene editing in the EU, and liaising with Scottish stakeholders, and will decide whether or not to allow gene edited crops to be grown, or food using gene editing techniques to be produced, based on what is in the best interests and needs of the Scottish people.

The 5-year Recycling Improvement Fund will conclude at the end of 2025-26, at which point the Scottish Government will review the overall Project.

The Scottish Government continues to make progress in delivering its legislative programme in this parliamentary session with 38 Government Bills already passed since 2021. I have set out below the 14 Government Bills which parliament is currently scrutinising and we will set out the Bills which will be included in our Year 5 programme as part of the next Programme for Government. There are two Scottish Government Bills from the Year 4 programme which will be introduced before summer recess which are the Building Safety Levy Bill and the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Bill.

In addition, the Government remains committed to taking action in a number of policy areas but will not be in a position to bring forward three Bills in this parliamentary session. The reasons for that are set out below.

The Scottish Government consulted between July and October 2024 on proposed changes to the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, with more than 160 responses received. During that engagement, risks relating to European Convention on Human Rights non-compliance in relation to deprivation of liberty cases emerged. As a result, there is the need for a more detailed approach to be developed to ensure we can bring forward a solution consistent with ECHR legislation.

We will therefore establish an Adults with Incapacity Expert Working Group to work with government on the additional policy and operational development required. The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport will also chair an Adults with Incapacity Ministerial Oversight Group to ensure that pace and progress is maintained, with a view to bringing forward a future Bill early in the next parliamentary term. I expect invites for both groups to be issued in June 2025, with initial meetings to take place in September 2025.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring people are protected from misogynistic abuse and we had previously committed to the introduction of a Misogyny Bill. This is a complex area of policy and law, and it would be necessary that any Bill which brought misogyny into criminal law contained clear and unambiguous provisions in regard to the circumstances in which they apply. This would include the implications of the recent Supreme Court Judgment. Given the short time left in this parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Bill to be finalised and introduced in this session, therefore the Scottish Government has decided not to proceed with this Bill in this parliamentary session.

To ensure there are protections for women and girls in law, we will therefore lay an SSI by September to add the protected characteristic of sex to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 so that they have the same protections as other groups protected by that Act. This SSI is subject to super affirmative process and will therefore be subject to consultation.

We recognise the gendered nature of the harm caused to women and girls and will also take forward further work and engagement on the harms caused by misogyny including what more could be done to tackle the underlying attitudes that lead to misogyny and gender based abuse.

The Scottish Government is committed to ending conversion practices. We will continue to develop our draft legislation and policy towards ending these harmful practices in Scotland. Engagement will continue with the UK government for a Bill covering England, Wales and Scotland. However, if this approach cannot be agreed, then we commit to publishing our own Bill in Year 1 of the next Parliamentary session.

Scottish Government Bills currently in Parliament

• Care Reform
• Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty)
• Community Wealth Building
• Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews
• Education
• Housing
• Land Reform
• Leases (Automatic Continuation etc.)
• Natural Environment
• Regulation of Legal Services
• Scottish Languages
• Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance)
• UEFA European Championship
• Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform

Scottish Government Bills passed this session

• Aggregates Tax and Devolved Taxes Administration
• Agricultural and Rural Communities
• Bail and Release from Custody
• Bankruptcy and Diligence
• Budget
• Budget (No.2)
• Budget (No.3)
• Budget (No.4)
• Carer’s Allowance Supplement
• Charities (Regulation and Administration)
• Children (Care and Justice)
• Circular Economy
• Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets)
• Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-isolation)
• Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry)
• Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform)
• Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)
• Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles
• Gender Recognition Reform
• Gender Representation on Public Boards (Amendment)
• Good Food Nation
• Housing (Cladding Remediation)
• Hunting with Dogs
• Judicial Factors
• Miners' Strike (Pardons)
• Moveable Transactions
• Non-Domestic Rates (Coronavirus)
• Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland
• Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny)
• Post Office (Horizon System) Offences
• Prisoners (Early Release)
• Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform)
• Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals)
• Social Security (Amendment)
• Transvaginal Mesh Removal Cost Reimbursement
• Trusts and Succession
• Visitor Levy
• Wildlife Management and Muirburn

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a just transition to net zero in the region. That is why we are launching a new 2025-26 open bidding round of £8.5 million for projects for the North East and Moray Just Transition Fund. Applications will open on 6 May 2025.

This is a capital Fund and forms part of our ongoing delivery of a 10-year programme of support. Since 2022, the Just Transition Fund has allocated over £75 million to create jobs, support innovation, empower communities, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future. We have recently undertaken an independent evaluation of the Fund that is nearing completion and will be published shortly. Its findings point to the real impact of the Fund in providing momentum to just transition in the region during its first two years of operation, especially in leveraging additional investment.

For the Fund’s second open bidding round, we will focus on projects that particularly support jobs, skills, and economic opportunities. This reflects our mission to ensure the Fund is responsive to the identified needs of the region and continues to maximise the impact of our investment for business and communities.

We will also be continuing delivery of projects currently supported through the Fund. This includes our annual commitment to £1 million for community projects through Just Transition Participatory Budgeting, giving communities a direct say on where money is spent in their area. It will also include the continuation of the Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund delivered through ETZ Ltd, which is primarily aimed at SMEs and awards grant funding to accelerate innovation and market entry, support business growth, create new jobs, and increase turnover.

In total £15.9 million will be delivered through the Fund over the next year, sending a clear signal of our ongoing commitment to a just transition for both the North East and Moray.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a just transition to net zero in the region. That is why we are launching a new 2025-26 open bidding round of
£8.5 million for projects for the North East and Moray Just Transition Fund. Applications will open on 6 May 2025.

This is a capital Fund and forms part of our ongoing delivery of a 10-year programme of support. Since 2022, the Just Transition Fund has allocated over £75 million to create jobs, support innovation, empower communities, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future. We have recently undertaken an independent evaluation of the Fund that is nearing completion and will be published shortly. Its findings point to the real impact of the Fund in providing momentum to just transition in the region during its first two years of operation, especially in leveraging additional investment.

For the Fund’s second open bidding round, we will focus on projects that particularly support jobs, skills, and economic opportunities. This reflects our mission to ensure the Fund is responsive to the identified needs of the region and continues to maximise the impact of our investment for business and communities.

We will also be continuing delivery of projects currently supported through the Fund. This includes our annual commitment to £1 million for community projects through Just Transition Participatory Budgeting, giving communities a direct say on where money is spent in their area. It will also include the continuation of the Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund delivered through ETZ Ltd, which is primarily aimed at SMEs and awards grant funding to accelerate innovation and market entry, support business growth, create new jobs, and increase turnover.

In total £15.9 million will be delivered through the Fund over the next year, sending a clear signal of our ongoing commitment to a just transition for both the North East and Moray.

NHS Boards have exceeded the commitment to deliver 64,000 appointments and procedures in 2024-25, funded through our additional investment of £30 million to drive action to address the longest waits.

In 2024-25, Boards were required to provide regular management information to the Scottish Government on activity being delivered as a result of additional funding provided. Boards have reported delivery of 105,500 appointments and procedures, as follows:

Over 15,800 new outpatient appointments;

almost 10,700 surgeries; and

almost 79,000 diagnostic procedures delivered.

This total is around 30,000 more than reported to the end of January in the answer to question S6W-35115 on 20 February 2025.

Funding was targeted in specialties including Diagnostics, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Urology, and Cancer. Since April 2024, Scottish Government has been closely monitoring progress and impact. The volume of diagnostic procedures is almost double those originally planned for.

Across Scotland, the latest published data in the PHS Stage of Treatment Statistics show that, between October 2024 and December 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, there has been an 2.0% increase in activity for inpatient/daycase procedures and 1.6% increase for new outpatients appointments. Additionally, in relation to diagnostics, at the end of December 2024, the diagnostic waiting list had reduced by over 18,000 compared to end of April 2024. Since December 2022 the diagnostic waiting list has reduced by over 14,870. While changes to overall activity and waiting times cannot be solely attributed to the £30 million additional investment, we are confident that it has supported increased throughput.

At Board level, we have seen reductions in waiting times across a number of specialities where funding has been targeted, as set out in the following table:

The first table shows instances where local authorities are not able to fulfil their legal duties in offering temporary accommodation to households who make a homelessness application, annually for 2019-20 to 2023-24, and for the most recent six months April to September 2024.