search

Committee reports Date published: 22 April 2024

Stage 1 report on the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill - Annex A: Oral and written evidence

Annex A: Oral and written evidence Committee meetings The Committee took oral evidence on the Bill at the following committee meetings- 6th Committee meeting, 2024 (Session 6) Tuesday 27 February 2024 Agenda Minutes Official Report 7th Committee meeting, 2024 (Session 6) Tuesday 5 March 2024 Agenda Minutes Official Report 8th Committee meeting, 2024 (Session 6) Tuesday 12 March 2024 Agenda Minutes Official Report 9th Committee meeting, 2024 (Session 6) Tuesday 19 March 2024 Agenda Minutes Official Report Informal engagement The Committee undertook informal engagement with those who may be directly affected by the Bill, including individuals who support, and individuals who oppose, the introduction of safe access zones. 26...

SPICe briefings Date published: 21 September 2022

SPICe Bill Summaries - Session 5 - Budget (Scotland) Bill

Budget (Scotland) Bill Bill Number: SP Bill 4 Introduced on: 26 January 2017 Introduced by: Derek Mackay MSP (Government Bill) Passed: 23 February 2017 Royal Assent: 31 March 2017 Passage of the Bill The Budget (Scotland) Bill [SP Bill 4] was introduced on 26 January 2017.

Committee reports Date published: 1 April 2020

Subordinate Legislation Considered by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee on 1 April 2020 - Instruments drawn to the attention of the Lead Committee

Committee Consideration The instrument was laid before the Parliament on 26 March 2020 and comes into force on 31 March 2020.

Committee reports Date published: 27 February 2019

Subordinate legislation considered by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee on 26 February 2019 - Introduction

Technical scrutiny of instruments The Committee agreed to draw to the attention of the Parliament the following instruments- Environment (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2019 (SSI 2019/26) Equine Animal (Identification) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 (SSI 2019/30) Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 201...

Committee reports Date published: 21 September 2018

Legislative Consent Memorandum- Ivory Bill - Scrutiny of the Legislative Consent Memorandum

The Committee considered the LCM on 26 June 2018 and subsequently wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform on 26 June, indicating that the Committee may wish her to appear before the Committee, but that this was dependent on her response to the Committee's questions.

Last updated: 10 June 2025

SPBill17BS062025

Care homes 40 Visits to or by care home residents (1) The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 is modified as follows. 25 (2A) After section 78 insert— “Regulations under section 78: visits to and by adult care home residents 78A Identification of Essential Care Supporter (1) The Scottish Ministers must exercise the power under section 78(2) to impose a duty on providers of care home services for adults to— 30 (a) identify for every resident of accommodation provided by the care home service at least one individual as an Essential Care Supporter, unless— (i) doing so would be contrary to the resident’s wishes, or (ii) nobody can be identified who is able and willing to be the resident’s Essential Care Supporter, and 35 (b) maintain a record of the Essential Care Supporters identified. 10 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care (2) The Scottish Ministers must set out in regulations under section 78(2)— (a) the criteria to be applied in determining who a resident’s Essential Care Supporter is, and (b) the consultative process with the resident and others by which that 5 determination is to be made. (3) The duty described by subsection (1) must be framed so that a provider of a care home service must have regard to the code published under section 78C in carrying out the duty. 78B Right to visits: care home residents 10 (1) The Scottish Ministers must exercise the power under section 78(2) to impose 1 a duty on providers of care home services for adults to facilitate visits— (a) to residents of accommodation provided by the care home service (“internal visits”), (b) by residents of accommodation provided by the care home service 15 (“external visits”). (2) The duty must be framed so that a provider of a care home service may only suspend visits (specifically or generally) if the provider has reasonable cause to believe that it is essential to do so to prevent a serious risk to the life, health or wellbeing of— 20 (a) in the case of internal visits, persons at the accommodation, (b) in the case of external visits (either or both)— (i) persons at the accommodation, or (ii) persons at the place where the visit would take place, but for the suspension. 25 (3) The duty must also be framed so that, where a provider of a care home service has suspended visits due to a serious risk of a kind described in subsection (2), the provider must take all reasonable steps to eliminate or substantially mitigate the risk so that the suspension of visits can be lifted as soon as practicable. 30 (4) The duty must also be framed so that, even in cases where a provider of a care home service has reasonable cause to believe that suspending visits is essential to prevent a serious risk, the provider must continue to facilitate visits to or by a resident if— (a) either— 35 (i) the provider has reasonable cause to believe that, before the suspension of visits is lifted, the resident will have— (A) died, or (B) undergone, or begun to undergo, a significant deterioration in physical or mental condition, or 11 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care (ii) the provider has reasonable cause to believe that— (A) the suspension of visits is causing, or is likely to cause, serious harm to the resident’s health or wellbeing, and (B) that harm outweighs the serious risk, and 5 (b) the resident and the person visiting, or being visited by, the resident agree to take any action or precaution that the provider reasonably considers would mitigate the serious risk to any extent (other than a negligible one). (5) The duty must also be framed so as to create a presumption that the suspension 10 of visits to a resident by the resident’s Essential Care Supporter is likely to 1 cause serious harm to the resident’s health or wellbeing. (6) Subsection (4) does not preclude the duty from being framed so as to include other circumstances in which visits to or by a resident must continue to be facilitated. 15 (7) The duty must also be framed so that a provider of a care home service must have regard to the code published under section 78C in carrying out the duty. (8) Facilitating external visits, as mentioned in subsection (1), does not entail a provider of a care home service— (a) taking, or accompanying, a resident somewhere outwith accommodation 20 provided by the care home service, or (b) arranging or paying for someone else to do so. 78BA Further provision to be made in connection with sections 78A and 78B (1) The Scottish Ministers must exercise the power under section 78(2) to impose a duty on the providers of care home services for adults to— 25 (a) review, following a valid request, its decision about the suspension of internal or external visits, (b) notify SCSWIS when the provider suspends internal or external visits. (2) The duties described by subsection (1) must be framed— (a) to define what constitutes a valid request to a provider for the purposes 30 of the duty, (b) so that a provider of a care home service must have regard to the code published under section 78C in carrying out the duties. (3) Subsection (1)(b) does not preclude the duty from being framed so as to create exceptions to the requirement to notify SCSWIS in relation to the suspension 35 of internal or external visits. (4) In this section— (a) references to internal and external visits are to be construed in accordance with section 78B(1), (b) references to suspending them cover doing so specifically or generally. 12 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care 78C Code of practice on care home residents’ right to visits (1) The Scottish Ministers must prepare a code of practice providing guidance on fulfilling the duties imposed in accordance with sections 78A(1), 78B(1) and 78BA(1). 5 (2) The code must provide that in fulfilling those duties the following are to be treated as paramount considerations— (a) the importance to residents of visits in— (i) promoting their dignity, (ii) promoting their physical and mental health and emotional 10 wellbeing, and 1 (iii) realising their human rights, (b) the importance of recognising and supporting the vital role that people who are not care home staff (for example close relatives and friends) play, alongside staff, in providing their loved ones with regular care 15 (including companionship, personal support and advocacy). (3) The code may— (a) provide guidance on how to— (i) implement an effective visiting policy, (ii) adapt personal care plans to include residents’ visiting preferences 20 or requirements, (iii) communicate timeously in writing with those affected about any change to visiting arrangements including the reasons for the change, (b) set out what the Scottish Ministers consider constitutes best practice in— 25 (i) facilitating visits, (ii) care home staff working collaboratively with residents and their friends and families to facilitate visits in the way that best supports residents’ needs, (c) give examples of— 30 (i) the means which providers could use to eliminate or mitigate a serious risk of a kind described in section 78B(2), (ii) factors which may be taken into account in making an assessment about whether the harm caused to a resident in suspending visits outweighs the risk, 35 (d) any other guidance relating to fulfilling the duties mentioned in subsection (1) that the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate. (4) The Scottish Ministers must— (a) publish the code in a manner that is accessible to the public within the period of one year beginning with the day on which this section comes 40 into force, 13 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care (b) review and, if they consider it appropriate, prepare and publish a new version of the code in such manner as they consider appropriate by the end of each review period, and (c) take such steps as they consider appropriate to promote awareness of 5 the code to providers of care home services for adults. (4A) In carrying out a review of the code, the Scottish Ministers must— (a) have particular regard to any representations that have been made to them about the most recent version of the code by— (i) providers of care home services for adults and their staff, 10 (ii) the residents of accommodation provided by those services, 1 (iii) those residents’ family, friends and other visitors, and (b) invite, and take into account, views from SCSWIS on— (i) whether, since the most recent version of the code was published— (A) any trends have emerged in the suspension of internal or 15 external visits (see section 78B(1)), (B) it has identified any areas of concern, or examples of good practice, in relation to the discharge of the duties imposed in accordance with sections 78A(1), 78B(1) and 78BA(1), (C) meaningful regard is being had to the code by the providers 20 of adult care home services, (ii) what changes to the code would be appropriate. (5) Before publishing any version of the code, the Scottish Ministers must consult— (a) SCSWIS, (b) Public Health Scotland, 25 (c) such persons, or groups of persons, who they consider represent the interests of— (i) providers of care home services for adults, (ii) the residents of accommodation provided by such care home services, and 30 (iii) the families of such residents. (5A) When the Scottish Ministers publish a version of the code, they must also publish an adaptation of that version of the code designed to be understood by people with learning difficulties or other conditions affecting how they process information. 35 (6) In this section, “review period” means the period of 5 years beginning with which the latest version of the code was published. the day on 78D Interpretation of sections 78A to 78C In sections 78A to 78C— “care home service for adults” has the meaning given in section 82F, 14 Care Reform (Scotland) Bill Part 3—Reforms connected to delivery and regulation of care “Essential Care Supporter”, in relation to a resident of accommodation provided by a care home service, means the individual recorded as the resident’s Essential Care Supporter in fulfilment of the duty imposed in accordance with section 78A(1), 5 “provider”, in relation to a care home service, is to be construed in accordance with the definition of “provide” in section 105. 78E Review of operation of duties imposed in accordance with sections 78A to 78BA (1) The Scottish Ministers must prepare, and make publicly available, a report on 10 the operation of the duties imposed on providers of care home services for 1 adults in accordance with sections 78A(1), 78B(1) and 78BA(1). (2) The duty under subsection (1) must be fulfilled within 2 years of this section coming into force.”.

Questions and Answers Date answered: 18 December 2024

S6W-32114

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it will provide to the grassroots music venue industry regarding its plans for business rates relief in the years beyond the draft Budget for 2025-26. Decisions on non-domestic rates for 2026-27 will be considered in the context of the Scottish Budget 2026-27.The Scottish Budget 2025-26 announced a new 40% relief for hospitality premises, including grassroots music venues with a capacity of up to 1,500, which have a rateable value of up to £51,000, capped at £51,000 per business.

Committees Last updated: 25 March 2026

The Scottish Parliament’s Gender Sensitive Audit

It began its consideration of the recommendations in March 2023 and held an evidence session on 26 October 2023 with Susan Duffy, the parliamentary official who led on the Audit, and from Professor Sarah Childs and Meryl Kenny who were expert advisers on the Board overseeing the Audit.

Committees Last updated: 12 March 2026

Financial sustainability and taxes

This trend is set to continue. For example, in 2025/26 alone, the Scottish Government expects to raise up to £1.7 billion from Scottish Income Tax through its policy choices, yet the Scottish Budget is only projected to benefit by £616 million.

Cross-Party Groups Last updated: 5 March 2026

Rural Policy

Next meeting. The final Group meeting of 2025-26 will take place on Monday 9 March 2026.

Election 2026

Search

Refine your search

Need a specific search?

Can't find what you're looking for?