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The Scottish Government is leading efforts to put communities at the heart of Scotland’s energy transition. In 2024, renewables developers offered around £30 million in community benefits, supporting local priorities and inclusive growth under our Good Practice Principles.

On 22 October, we published consultation responses and analysis on community benefits from net zero energy developments. This evidence will inform refreshed guidance to strengthen delivery, ensure meaningful outcomes, and support a just transition. We continue to engage stakeholders ahead of publishing updated guidance in the second half of 2026.

While community benefits remain voluntary, we continue to press the UK Government to introduce a mandatory scheme for mature technologies and a robust GB-wide voluntary framework for emerging technologies to ensure communities share in the wealth of Scotland’s natural resources.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41171 on 27 October 2025. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41110 on 27 October 2025. 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.

Scottish legislation relating to sexual offences is used to prosecute both online and offline harm, including grooming, sexual communication, making or sharing indecent imagery or sexual exploitation. It is an operational police matter to investigate alleged offences and for independent prosecutors to decide what action to take upon receiving reports of crimes being committed. In cases that are prosecuted, it is for the independent court to sentence upon conviction within the legal framework.

The Scottish Government is committed to preventing all types of harmful sexual behaviour involving children and young people. We recognise that children and young people displaying harmful sexual behaviour are a complex group with diverse needs which cannot be addressed by a ‘one size fits all’ model of service provision.

To inform our response, Scottish Government set up a Harmful Sexual Behaviour Delivery Group which carried out work to deliver on the recommendations made by the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual offending Involving Children and Young People in 2020.

As part of this work the group developed a detailed guidance document, published in 2024: Working with children and young people who have displayed Harmful Sexual Behaviour: Evidence based guidance for professionals working with children and young people, which focuses on contextual safeguarding, assessment and intervention. The guidance provides professionals with the information and tools to identify what sexual behaviour in children and young people is harmful, steps they should take if they identify harmful behaviour, and what approaches can help to support prevention of this behaviour. The guidance also includes practical case studies with examples of behaviours and steps taken to mitigate harm when a child has presented behaviour which could be harmful to another child.

The Scottish Government also fund the Lucy Faithfull Foundation Scotland and the Children and Young People's Centre for Justice to run a regular forum for practitioners working with children and young people, to support them to identify and intervene when children and young people display harmful sexual behaviour.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that children and young people in Scotland are safe and supported in their online lives. We recognise the significant risks posed by harmful online content and the importance of robust regulation to protect children from exploitation, abuse, and exposure to inappropriate material.

It is important to note that regulation of the internet is a reserved matter to the UK Government, however we have previously successfully engaged on its Online Safety Act to strengthen protections for young people.

We welcome the strengthened regulatory framework introduced through the Online Safety Act, which empowers Ofcom to enforce new safety standards on digital platforms.

Ministers met Ofcom in August last year to emphasise the responsibility of tech firms to deliver effective safeguards for young people online, and in June this year to discuss ongoing implementation and regulation of the Online Safety Act and possible further action. The Scottish Government has also responded directly to a number of Ofcom consultations associated with implementation of the Online Safety Act, including on Codes of Practice on Illegal Harms and Protection of Children.

We will continue to engage with the UK Government and Ofcom on the implementation of this important piece of legislation and to press for stronger protections to help keep children and young people in Scotland safe online, while allowing them to benefit from all the opportunities afforded by the online world.

All material considerations raised in representations and submitted by members of the public are carefully considered before reaching a decision on the application.

This is the case whether or not a representation has been created using template-based text, submitted individually or collectively, generated with the use of Artificial Intelligence, or is close to identical to other representations.

The submission of representations is the most effective means for communities to provide their views on an application, and helps to promote transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41110 on 27 October 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41171 on 27 October 2025. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41110 on 27 October 2025. 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.