Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to consulting on whether we should legislate to raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 from 16. We will also consult on whether to legislate to extend the existing forced marriage or forced civil partnership offence so that any conduct with the intention of causing a person under 18 to marry or enter a civil partnership would be a criminal offence, including where there is no evidence of coercion.

The consultation will also seek views on other aspects of family and succession law, as set out in the answer to question S6W-23651 on 7 December 2023.

We anticipate the consultation will be published later this year.

The consultation will be accompanied by a range of relevant draft impact assessments, including draft Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments and draft Equality Impact Assessments.

As part of our considerations on the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership, we have engaged with a wide range of organisations and interested individuals in order to gather views and evidence. I refer the member to the answers to S6W-16048 on 5 April 2023 and S6W-19070 on 29 June 2023 for further information on who we have met with.

We will consider the consultation responses as we reach decisions on our next steps on the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership.

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.

Scotland has a strong record in attracting foreign direct investment and our Inward Investment Plan (IIP) plays a central role in supporting this by targeting key sectors such as high-value manufacturing and energy transition.

Responsibility for measuring Scotland’s inward investment performance, which includes planned jobs and supply chain impacts for involved projects, rests with Scottish Enterprise. The independent EY Attractiveness Survey and the DBT annual inward investment results provide an additional performance indicator for inward investment. Collectively the results, though based on different methodologies and published at different intervals during the year, help the Scottish Government build a broader understanding of Scotland’s inward investment performance.

Whilst the Scottish Government nor Scottish Enterprise holds specific data on manufacturing jobs created through inward investment at local authority level, information on how Scotland has performed in terms of attracting investment in key sectors is available via the EY attractiveness survey (the latest results can be found here: ey-uk-attractiveness-survey-scotland-06-2025.pdf and the Department for Business and Trade Inward Investment Results (the latest results can be found here: DBT inward investment results 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK). Scottish Enterprise results will be published in the Autumn.

Protecting children from harm is a key priority for the Scottish Government. I welcome the findings of Baroness Casey’s Audit. We are working at pace with partners including Police Scotland to assess its findings and recommendations to understand how they might apply in Scotland.

Police Scotland has advised that there are no current investigations in Scotland involving offences against children which would mirror the investigations described in Baroness Casey’s audit as being perpetrated by “grooming gangs”. However, there is absolutely no place for complacency. That is why Police Scotland are carrying out their deep dive into previous investigations of the type referred to in the Baroness Casey audit. This is expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.

It should also be noted, that as a single force, with one vulnerability database feeding local and national child protection procedures, and a National Intelligence database, Police Scotland is well placed to address the information and intelligence sharing challenges highlighted in Baroness Casey’s Audit. Police Scotland will work closely with the UK National Police Chiefs’ Council leads in Child Protection to ensure mutual sharing of best practice and learning on this issue.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry currently taking place is one of the widest ranging ever undertaken in Scotland, and includes an extensive review of child protection policy and practice in Scotland. Baroness Casey’s report specifically highlights the vulnerability of children in care to sexual exploitation and is likely to be a further source of evidence for the Scottish Inquiry to draw on.

Baroness Casey’s audit will also be considered by the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, members of which include Police Scotland and Professor Alexis Jay, as it considers opportunities to improve our response to child sexual abuse and exploitation in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with UK Government counterparts to identify opportunities for improved collaboration. We are committed to working in partnership with UK Ministers to tackle child abuse and exploitation.

Tariffs for any new member of the World Trade Organization are a matter for negotiation with existing WTO member countries. The Scottish Government has held no discussions of this kind.

The Scottish Government accepts the UK Supreme Court judgment in the appeal brought forward by For Women Scotland against Scottish Ministers, which has confirmed the meaning of woman under the Equality Act 2010. As the Equality and Human Rights Commission are the body responsible for regulating and enforcing the mainly reserved Equality Act 2010, we await their updated Code of Practice while we consider our next steps. The consultation on the draft Code of Practice launched on 20 May 2025 and can be accessed here: Code of practice for services, public functions and associations: consultation 2025 | EHRC

However, the Scottish Government is also taking action now in preparation for the updated Code of Practice. Our internal Short Life Working Group is assessing implications of the Supreme Court judgment in areas such as legislation, guidance and policies . This work will position us towards a state of readiness to take all necessary steps when the EHRC’s Code of Practice is published.

We have also issued a note to all public bodies outlining the steps the Scottish Government’s has taken since the judgment. This note can be found here: UK Supreme Court ruling on meaning of sex in Equality Act: update - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government makes decisions in relation to local government funding as part of the annual Scottish Budget process. For 2024-25, Ministers provided £147 million to fund the Council Tax freeze - equivalent to the income from a 5% increase - and every local authority in Scotland accepted that offer.

The Scottish Government is focused on delivering for people across the country and making the case for taking decisions in Scotland for Scotland with independence.

The Scottish Government will publish further material on independence to give the people of Scotland the information they need to make an informed choice about their constitutional future. We are not planning an independence convention this summer.

On the 4 December as part of the Budget, The Scottish Government published a borrowing memorandum (Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026: Scottish Government borrowing - gov.scot), which included the outcome of the initial phase of Due Diligence on the work towards an inaugural Scottish Government Bond. The second phase of Due Diligence on Bonds issuance is currently ongoing, and the Government will continue to update Parliament over the course of the year as this work progresses