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The right to demonstrate and protest are fundamental human rights which the Scottish Government is committed to upholding. Those simply going about their business should be able to do so without the fear of any form of abusive behaviour. Where such behaviour occurs it should be reported to the police to allow them to take action.

The Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland to take appropriate and proportionate action to safeguard public safety including at protests. Police Scotland has powers to tackle any behaviour which is antisocial or criminal, as well as public order powers to impose directions or conditions on, or disperse, public assemblies where this is deemed necessary.

Current procurement legislation and guidance enables multi-year contracts for social care services. Scottish Government is working with procurement professionals and providers to consider how national procurement guidance can be updated to deliver on the Feeley Review recommendations which includes consideration of longer term contracts for providers, including not for profit providers. Scottish Government does not hold contracts for delivery of social care services. Local Government are the contract holders for social care services and will make decisions on contract terms including length.

Given the short amount of time left in this Parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. This is a complex area of policy and law, and it would be necessary that any Bill which brought misogyny into criminal law contained clear and unambiguous provisions in regard to the circumstances in which they apply. This would include the policy implications of the recent Supreme Court judgment.

We want new legal protections for women and girls to be in place, and the hate crime model presents an opportunity to do so. On Thursday, 28 August 2025, we laid in draft an SSI to add the characteristic of sex to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. If passed, it will make it an offence for a person to stir up hatred against women and girls, and where an offender is motivated by, or demonstrates, malice and ill-will towards women and girls in committing a criminal offence, that offence will be aggravated by prejudice relating to the characteristic of sex.

Further, we continue to take forward a range of actions in schools to address gender based violence and sexual harassment. Our Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Scotland Programme is working to tackle gender stereotyping and attitudes that condone violence against women and girls, and addresses a range of behaviours including name-calling, sexting, controlling behaviour and harassment. We have also published a national framework for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence. Rape Crisis Scotland also provide a national sexual violence prevention programme to local authority secondary schools across Scotland. The programme aims to provide consistency in approaches to the prevention of sexual violence and contributes to Equally Safe (our strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls). Since the programme started in 2016, it has reached over 48,000 pupils.

Dundee City Council have submitted an application to Tier 2 of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund for design funding to develop active travel options for the Western Gateway development area. These include a segregated cycle route, speed limit reduction measures, pedestrian and cycle crossings, modal filters, a cycle-friendly road project, and shared use paths.

Successful Active Travel Infrastructure Fund applications for 2025-26 for design are yet to be awarded.

Between January 2021 and July 2025 a total of £2,463,260.88 of Payment Adjustment Factors (PAFs) have been applied to our Trunk Road Maintenance Contracts. The table below provides and annual summary and totals.

My officials have engaged with all health boards to understand what provision they have in place to deliver adult neurodevelopmental assessments. In relation to NHS Ayrshire and Arran, we are exploring how to address current issues that may be limiting access to assessments for all adults who may seek them. Our understanding is that neurodivergent adults in Ayrshire and Arran can be referred for neurodevelopmental assessments where they have been diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health condition.

The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which is currently supporting NHS Ayrshire and Arran to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. We continue to scope the work required to improve Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways nationally, understanding that a stepped care model is needed to reduce waiting times for adult neurodevelopmental assessments and ensure a consistent approach across Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s universal Baby Box programme, the only one in the UK, opened for registration on 15 June 2017 and nationwide delivery of Baby Boxes began on 15 August 2017. Every baby born and resident in Scotland is eligible for a Baby Box.

To receive a Baby Box parents have to opt in to receive a Baby Box through the registration process via their midwife.

The following table details the number of births registered each year, the number of Baby Box registrations and the number of families who did not register for a Baby Box.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting communities across Scotland to access land for growing food. While there is no dedicated national funding stream specifically for community established allotments, given the cross-cutting benefits delivered by community growing projects, communities may be able to access support through broader programmes that promote community-led regeneration and increased access to nutritious food.

We continue to work with partners to promote good practice and facilitate access to resources that support community growing. Communities are encouraged to engage with their local authority and explore opportunities through existing regeneration and community development programmes.

In addition to this, since 2021 we have awarded over £491,000 to enable Green Action Trust to deliver the Growing Food Together Fund. The fund is hugely popular and enables community groups to expand their growing area and season with new and improved infrastructure including new raised beds, polytunnels etc. This year a further 14 eligible community groups across Scotland were successful and have been awarded a share of £100,000. This brings the total number of community organisations and projects supported over the last five rounds to 55.

Part 9 of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015, which updated and simplified allotment legislation, placed a number of duties on local authorities in relation to allotments including a duty to prepare a Food Growing Strategy and annual allotment reports. Part 9 came into force on 1 April 2018.

To date, the Scottish Government has not collated the data contained from the published annual allotment reports as there is neither a statutory obligation for local authorities to update Scottish Ministers on the publication of their annual allotment plans or for the Scottish Government to collect these data. The data is not held in a consistent format to allow for monitoring at a national level.

Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold historic data on allotment provision or waiting lists.

Since the start of the Baby Box Programme in 2017 up to 22 August 2025, 352,165 Baby Boxes have been delivered to families across Scotland. The Baby Box Managing agent, APS Group (Scotland), have received 190 reports of faulty or damaged items, below is the breakdown of this figure: