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In April, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, former Minister for Climate Action, made a statement to Parliament that set out the Scottish Government’s plans to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill later this session. He outlined that the Bill would include provisions for all buildings to end their use of polluting heat by 2045 (where reasonable / practicable), provisions designed to boost the growth of heat networks and powers to make regulations introducing minimum energy efficiency standards across owner-occupied and non-domestic buildings.

We recognise it may be more challenging for some homes and buildings to decarbonise, especially those in a rural or island setting. We will work with stakeholders to develop approaches and solutions that allow homes in Scotland to transition to greater energy efficiency and cleaner heating systems. Any legislation will be accompanied by the required impact assessments and designed in a way that is fair, proportionate and considers the requirements of buildings in rural and island areas.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service meet on a regular basis to discuss the data that SCTS publish monthly in terms of court business. The current publication is showing the number of outstanding scheduled trials at the end of May 2025 is 18,355.

In 2023 we published a Heat in Buildings Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Heat in buildings monitoring and evaluation Framework - gov.scot). This described the different elements that need to come together to enable us to deliver the heat transition and indicators to track progress in each of these areas.

Our annual Heat in Buildings Progress Reports (last published on 10 October 2024: Heat in Buildings: progress report 2024 - gov.scot), reported against the indicators described in the Framework and described the action we are taking to support delivery.

We are continuing to work in partnership with the sector and with installers to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned locally with business needs and future demands.

Our proposed Heat in Buildings Bill will provide clarity and confidence to boost consumer demand for clean heat and build market confidence.

Emissions in the buildings sector have decreased 31% since 1990 - mainly due to heating system and energy efficiency improvements. However, we know we need to go further and faster. That is why we will introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill this year which sets a target for decarbonising heat by 2045.

The Bill will result in a blueprint for the transition to clean heating and better energy efficiency, based on collective measures as well as individual action. Our plan sets out a positive and fair approach that supports a just transition and keeps us on track to deliver the heat transition.

In the meantime, our schemes continue to support the public to access funding to decarbonise their homes. It is also down to the UK Government to ensure that the transition to clean heat is attractive to consumers by taking action on energy prices.

The Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill seeks to make permanent a number of measures introduced over five years ago through emergency legislation designed to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This includes the greater use of virtual attendance at criminal courts which has made our criminal justice system more modern, responsive and accessible. The Scottish Government has consulted extensively on the continued use of virtual attendance since 2020 including through the pre-legislative consultation on the Bill.

Since the conclusion of the Stage 1 debate, the Scottish Government has engaged further with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Lord Justice General and the Law Society of Scotland on the provisions relating to virtual attendance

The data for 2024-25 is not yet available; the Mental Welfare Commission is currently in the process of extracting and validating this data. It will be included in the Commission’s Mental Health Act Monitoring report 2024-25 which is due to be published this Autumn.

The Mental Welfare Commission publishes percentage of all place of safety orders under 18 but not the numbers.

In addition, the Commission does not publish numbers that small: as a rule it suppresses any figures equal to and under 5 and in some cases it uses secondary suppression to ensure that there is no statistical disclosure.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland continues to work collaboratively with Police Scotland to understand why a proportion of data is missing and to resolve this issue.

The total cost of work considering and progressing misogyny legislation by the Scottish Government was £143,668.13. This includes:

• The fee paid to Baroness Helena Kennedy KC in her role as Chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland;
• Costs associated with Working Group;
• Publication of the Scottish Government consultation paper on draft legislation to implement the Working Group’s recommendations;
• Analysis of the responses received to the consultation; and
• Publication of consultation analysis.

This does not include the cost of time spent by Scottish Government civil servants as the work was carried out by staff working on a range of different areas including but not limited to misogyny legislative policy. As such, it is not possible to quantify the cost of staff time involved.

The data for 2024-25 is not yet available; the Mental Welfare Commission is currently in the process of extracting and validating this data. It will be included in the Commission’s Mental Health Act Monitoring report 2024-25 which is due to be published this Autumn.