Chamber and committees

There are 1423 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Scotland, the majority of which have one or more private owners. 88.2% of all SSSIs cover the properties of one or more private owners.

Through the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, NatureScot can enter into Management Agreements to compensate land owners for stopping or not adopting management practices which would damage nature on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Positive Management Agreements can also be agreed to support specialist management for nature which is not available through agri-environment or forestry support mechanisms. The amounts provided each year since 2020-21 are:

The Scottish Government Review of Purpose Built Student Accommodation recommended convening a national roundtable discussion which included representation from all those involved with the provision of purpose-built student accommodation, including developers and the investment community. The first roundtable discussion, chaired by myself, took place on 23 August. A further meeting will be convened later this year.

Through the provisions of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, the scientific justification for a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) can be challenged by owners or managers of a site:

• At notification of the site
• Once every 10 years following notification

The number of challenges since 2019-20 and the outcome is summarised in the following table:

We are committed to gathering evidence on maternity care experiences across Scotland and are currently developing the next iteration of the Maternity Care Survey, which was previously run in 2013, 2015 and 2018. Our intention is for the next survey to take place in 2025. The survey will ask about experiences of antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal maternity care, including questions about person-centred care, trust in healthcare providers, and the provision of advice and support. However this survey is not the right vehicle to ask about pregnancy related trauma, which requires sensitive and responsive inquiry.

In line with NICE guidelines, we would expect Health Professionals to offer advice and support to women who have had a traumatic birth and wish to understand and talk about their experience. We are working with NHS Boards to develop specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health services to provide assessment and care for women with moderate to severe mental illness, including psychological impact following the birth of a baby.

The Scottish Government accepted, in principle, the recommendations set out by the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland and are fully committed to seeing improvement in Audiology services.

Audiology is now being considered as a clinical priority area, and work is being progressed through the National Planning and Delivery Board arrangements led by the Chief Operating Officer – NHS Scotland.

In order to support with long waits, our NHS Recovery Plan sets out our plans for health and social care over the course of this parliament. The plan will support an increase in inpatient, day case, and outpatient activity to address the backlogs of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.

The Scottish Government are committed to the eradication of violence against women and girls (VAWG), and this is why we are implementing the Equally Safe Strategy.

However, the Scottish Government are not responsible for the training of justice system staff. As independent organisations, they are responsible for their own learning and development.

The Scottish Government often provides additional funding for training to support the implementation of new legislation and initiatives, for example, additional funding of £825k was provided to Police Scotland to support officers and staff respond to and investigate the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 offence.

Justice organisations are subscribed to the Equally Safe Strategy and are included in the membership of the Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board who are responsible for driving change in relation to the aims and priorities of the Equally Safe Strategy and its implementation. Our Equally Safe delivery plan, which was published in August 2024, contains a commitment to develop a streamlined approach to trauma-informed workplace practices that promote and enhance VAWG knowledge, skills, and expertise. Partners from the justice system will be engaged in the development of this approach.

The Vision for Justice in Scotland (2022) prioritises women and children and reiterates a commitment to make improvements to the justice system which benefit and empower women. The Justice Board, which represents many of the key national justice organisations, overseas the implementation of the delivery plan. The Vision ensures that Equally Safe is a key component in the route to a transformed justice system and commits to working across boundaries to improve outcomes for individuals to address causes of crime and reduce offending.

Although the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, the statutory responsibility for delivering and commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Local authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers and duties are set out in statute and are separate from the Scottish Government. As long as they act lawfully, it is up to each authority to manage its day to day activities, including the planning of services, in accordance with these responsibilities.

Our ambition is for everyone to have a safe, good quality and affordable home that meets their needs in the place where they want to be, including women and families. Since 2007, we have supported the delivery of more than 133,000 affordable homes, over 94,000 of which were for social rent, including over 26,000 council homes. We remain committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 with at least 70% for social rent and 10% in rural and island areas, and between 23 March 2022 and end of June 2024, we have delivered 22,743 affordable homes towards the 110,000 target, of which over 17,000 have been homes for social rent.

We continue to work closely with partners to deliver the right homes in the right places and it is for local authorities through their Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans to identify the type, location, size and tenure of homes required in their areas.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes figures on homes delivered, which can be found online at:

Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Justice agencies are operationally independent of the Scottish Ministers.

However, misogyny and racism should play no part in the operation of the justice system. We will continue to support all justice agencies and bodies who operate within the justice system to eradicate racism and misogyny.

In April 2023, Scottish Government published a landmark summary of data on Ethnicity and Justice. This presents a picture of what is currently known about the experiences of minority ethnic people within Scotland’s justice system and supports the development and delivery of evidence-led actions.

Through our Cross Justice Group on Race Data and Evidence, the Scottish Government continues to improve our understanding of the experiences of minority ethnic people within Scotland’s Justice system. Generally, our approach supports the commitments contained within the Race Equality Framework (2016-2030) and Immediate Priorities Plan (2021-2023).

In relation to policing specifically, in May 2023, the former Chief Constable of Police Scotland declared that it is institutionally racist and discriminatory. This is an important recognition of the work still to do to ensure that policing and justice feel trusted by, and provide the right service to, all our communities. Their Policing Together programme is taking forward a range of actions to move towards this goal.