Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is absolutely clear that there is no excuse for domestic abuse, regardless of the sex of the victim or perpetrator. That is why legislative changes adopted to address the issue, such as the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, provide equal protection for both female and male victims. We also continue to fund services that support male survivors of domestic abuse.

Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls, acknowledges that men and boys can experience domestic abuse, while recognising that it disproportionately affects women and girls. This approach is informed by a range of sources, including police recorded crime statistics, findings from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, academic research, voices of lived experience and professional expertise, and international human rights frameworks.

It is the Scottish Government’s view that both parents should be involved in their child’s life, provided this is practical and in the child’s best interests. We recognise how distressing it can be for a parent if they are not seeing their child. The Scottish Government provides funding to Shared Parenting Scotland who provide advice, assistance and other support to parents experiencing difficulties in having contact with their children. They also run courses for separated parents, including Love, Loss & Living: Managing the Emotions of Being Separated From Your Child.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a specific piece of work to assess the relationship between substance use and men’s experiences of domestic abuse. However, we recognise that research shows that experiences of trauma can be an important factor in the development of substance use issues and can affect an individual's recovery journey.

Suicide prevention is a priority for the Scottish Government. Together with COSLA, we are driving forward Creating Hope Together, Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Strategy and accompanying Action Plan (2026-29). We recognise that factors such as domestic abuse, substance use and involvement with the justice system can increase the risk of poor mental health and suicide. The strategy includes a focus on reaching people who may be at higher risk as a result of these experiences.

We encourage anyone experiencing symptoms of poor mental health to contact their GP to discuss their wellbeing. Further support is available from services such as Samaritans and Breathing Space, as well as the Suicide Prevention Scotland website which has further information and resources.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with local authorities on the powers available to tackle antisocial behaviour, including through the legislative review of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 which was announced in December 2025 and is being taken forward in close consultation with local authorities, Police Scotland and other delivery partners. Closure orders under Part 4 of that Act, including the question of which bodies may initiate them, are within the scope of the review.

The recommendation from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, in their April 2026 report Hidden in Plain Sight, that local authorities in Scotland be given the power to initiate closure orders has been noted as part of the evidence the review is considering. Officials have written to both the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland and Police Scotland seeking their views on the report.

Local authorities already hold enforcement powers in relation to the sale of age-restricted products to children. This includes the power to apply to the sheriff for a banning order under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 where a retailer has repeatedly committed offences, including the sale of tobacco or vaping products to under 18s.

The Scottish Government does not operate an application process for Element 1 of the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) Programme. Funding is allocated annually to all Children's Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) via local authorities.

Recognising that local needs and circumstances vary across Scotland, the Programme does not prescribe a specific delivery model. Instead, CSPPs assess their local family support system, identify gaps and opportunities, and determine how funding should be deployed to improve local delivery of holistic whole family support. Any local commissioning and procurement, application processes, or distribution arrangements are therefore determined by individual CSPPs in line with local priorities and needs.

Table 1 shows the number of domestic abuse incidents recorded by police, where information was known, showed that the incident involved a male victim and female suspected perpetrator broken down by local authority from
2020-21 to 2024-25.

Table 1: Number of domestic abuse incidents recorded by police involving a male victim and female suspected perpetrator, where information was known, by local authority 2020-21 to 2024-25

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01643 on 29 July 2026. 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 Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) Programme aims to create the enabling conditions for local areas to transform their delivery of holistic whole family support. As such, system change outcomes are the key focus of the Programme evaluation, with the long-term outcomes being improvements in the wellbeing of children, young people and families.

WFWF has been independently evaluated since 2022. This is done on a national basis, informed by CSPP reporting and more in-depth case studies. Report findings show that Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) value the flexibility of the funding to respond to local needs, have strengthened the delivery of early family support, and are supporting more families to access services. Evaluations have also found evidence of improvements in service quality, informed by feedback from families, with many families reporting support that is delivered without stigma or judgement. CSPPs continue to report positive partnership working and have made further progress against programme recommendations identified in earlier evaluations available from Year 1 and Year 2. The Year 3 activity review also highlights continued progress against earlier recommendations.

We are continuing to evaluate the WFWF programme and have commissioned IPSOS to carry out the Year 3-4 evaluation. This will cover the period April 2024 to March 2026, with publication planned for early 2027.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to amend the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 in this way. Closure orders under Part 4 of the Act, including which bodies may initiate the closure process and the grounds on which a sheriff may close premises, are within the scope of the legislative review of the Act announced in December 2025. The review is being taken forward in close consultation with local authorities, Police Scotland and other delivery partners, and its evidence base includes the operation of the equivalent powers in England and Wales under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Decisions on whether legislative change is needed will be informed by the review's findings.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01665 on 29 July 2026. 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 Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) Programme was established to create the enabling conditions for local areas to transform their delivery of holistic whole family support. Decisions on how WFWF resources are deployed to support this system change are the responsibility of local Children's Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs), based on local priorities, needs and long-term plans.

The Scottish Government’s criteria around the spend is based on ensuring that the funding is not used to support business as usual activity, or replace funding already in the system, but rather is used as additional resource to support the transformation of the system in line with the National Principles of Holistic Family Support. This includes funding new posts to support system change, testing and implementing new approaches, leadership development and workforce skills, as well as scaling approaches that have a clear pathway to sustainable integration within local CSPP plans.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of people diagnosed annually with dementia, but Public Health Scotland (PHS) does publish information on the number of people in different health settings with a diagnosis of dementia. This doesn’t necessarily reflect when a person would have been first diagnosed with dementia.

The Scottish Government works with HM Revenue & Customs and other partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, including the National Crime Agency and Border Force, to disrupt all aspects of organised criminality including the production, distribution and sale of counterfeit and illicit goods.

The Scottish Government also supports the Scottish Anti Illicit Trade Group which was re-launched in March 2025 bringing together a wide range of agencies, including HMRC, and brand representatives to identify and develop interventions and tactics that improve the combined effectiveness of enforcement activity.