Cross Party Group on Men’s Violence against Women and Children th 18 March, 18.00-19.30 via Teams Minute 1 Present MSPs Rona Mackay (RMacK), MSP Beatrice Wishart (BW), MSP Audrey Nicoll (AN), MSP Invited guests Kaukab Stiubhard, MSP/BPA, Minister for Equalities Katy Bletchley, Review of VAWG Funding, Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate Eileen Flanagan, Head of the Women’s Equality Unit Nathan Waldie, Scottish Government Non-MSP Group Members Humara Bashir, Central Advocacy Partners Falkirk Amber Cully, GEMAP Jessica Denniff, SafeLives Nicola Gilbert, Scottish Women’s Aid Elizabeth Gilchrist Sarah Gurney, Rape Crisis Scotland Ann Hayne, NHS Lanarkshire Gender-based Violence Services Carlene McAvoy, Melanie McCarry Leonie McConnell, Close the Gap Susan McKellar, Scottish Women’s Convention Gill McKinna, Community Justice Scotland Fiona McMullen, ASSIST Linda Rodgers, Edinburgh Women’s Aid Marsha Scott, Scottish Women’s Aid Sally Sheail, Church of Scotland Linda Thompson, Women’s Support Project Colette Wormleighton 1 Apologies Rhoda Grant MSP Tess White MSP Dawn Brennan, Wise Women Christine Gray Rebecca Mason, the Young Women’s Movement Chris Ringland, Evangelical Alliance Davy White, White Ribbon Scotland 2 Theme: Improving Funding Processes and Timing: A Discussion with Kaukab Stewart, Minister for Equalities A. • Welcome o MS welcomed the Minister, Katy Bletchley, Eileen Flannagan to the meeting and acknowledged all the work that they and their colleagues, including the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, had done to achieve the DES uplift. o MS observed that the aim of this meeting was to examine the timing of funding decisions, to aid the stability of organisations providing services in the sector. o RMacK then introduced the Minister and her colleagues to the attendees. • The Minister led off with opening remarks: o Minister Kaukab Stewart acknowledged challenges in funding cycles and timing, particularly the impact of the timing of budget approvals, in part, during this past year, due to the knock-on effects of changes in UK budgets on Scottish budgets.