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The 2021-22 Programme for Government included a commitment to invest £4 million until March 2024 to support public services to consistently uphold children's rights. The financial memorandum that accompanied the original UNCRC Bill set out how that would be spent and included commitments to invest in: accessible guidance and training; awareness-raising to support children and young people to be human rights defenders; a sustainable approach to the strategic participation of children and young people in decision-making; a social marketing campaign to raise the profile and support for children’s rights across Scottish society; and support for public services and senior leaders to progressively realise the rights of children.

While the social media campaign could not be progressed due to the delay to the UNCRC Bill, all of the other support is either in place or in development.

Our investment in supporting the implementation of a children’s human rights approach has been £4,117,974 in 2021-22, £5,022,545 in 2022-23 and is currently forecast to be £5,121,064 in 2023-24. This includes the cost of:

• work to progress the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill and develop supporting guidance;
• grant funding of organisations that are supporting public authorities to take a children’s human rights approach (Scottish Youth Parliament, Children’s Parliament, Together, Young Scot and the Improvement Service)
• grant funding of organisation that help children and young people to seek redress for rights issues (Clan Childlaw and Scottish Child Law Centre);
• grant funding of organisations delivering on children’s rights through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund
• national funding of Unicef’s Rights Respecting School Award;
• the development of a child-friendly complaints process in partnership with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman;
• the UNCRC innovation fund that is funding 8 local authorities and their partners to embed children’s rights; and
• the development of a national children’s rights skills and knowledge framework.

Last month concluded a series of summits I held with a wide range of stakeholders on behaviour in schools. Members are aware that September’s summit on relationships and behaviour in schools focused on recording and monitoring incidents. My aim from the summit process was to identify practical actions we need to make progress, including to create a culture where staff are empowered to record incidents. Local data must then be used to ensure schools both have an oversight of issues and are responding effectively.

I was clear in my statement to Parliament on 29 November that I encourage, in the strongest possible terms, more accurate recording of all incidents of inappropriate, abusive or violent behaviour in our schools.

Our national guidance on recording and monitoring bullying incidents makes clear that all schools and local authorities are expected to record all incidents of violent behaviour. Recording and monitoring plays an essential role in helping schools identify recurring patterns of behaviour and ensure early intervention and appropriate support. It is up to schools to decide how children and young people can report incidents based on local needs and circumstances, which may include anonymised reporting.

The Scottish Government is currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan which we expect to be published early in the new year. I will update parliament on the action plan in due course.

Grampian Regional Equality Council receives funding from the Scottish Government’s Equality & Human Rights Fund (EHRF). High-level EHRF outcomes are set out in Grant Offer Letters, and are as follows:

• People with protected characteristics have increased influence in decisions that affect them;

• the Scottish Government has better access to data and depth of information about the experiences of people with protected characteristics;

• the experience of people with protected characteristics is increasingly used to inform the policy and practice of public bodies; and

• public services increasingly embed equality and human rights in their strategic planning and their day-to-day functions.

Inspiring Scotland are the fund managers for the EHRF, acting on behalf of the Scottish Government. Inspiring Scotland engage with organisations directly to agree on workplans and set specific objectives and outcomes.

The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) reports on the Scottish local authority areas that have benefitted from its investments through its annual Impact Report. The Impact Report 2023, setting out the impacts of the Bank’s investment to the close of 2022, showed that 20 of Scotland’s local authority areas had benefitted from the Bank’s investments. An update will be published in the Bank’s Impact Report 2024.

Furthermore, the Bank provides a representative map of its investment portfolio on the Bank’s portfolio webpage. However, it is important to note that although a Bank’s investee may be headquartered in a single location, the impact the investment is having can be further widespread.

In line with the principles of the Verity House Agreement, the Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with COSLA, as the representative of local government, to seek their views on proposed amendments for the Members’ Bill.

There has been no such discussions between the Scottish Government and BTP. It is within the British Transport Police Authority’s (BTPA) remit to determine the budget of the BTP force and to allocate resources to individual departments, to ensure services are financed as required to keep railways safe for all passengers and staff.

The Scottish Government does not provide any direct financial support. British Transport Police Authority (BTPA), as an independent body, is responsible for ensuring that BTP force is efficient and effective in its work to keep railways in Scotland safe.

I was invited to attend the November meeting of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme Board. I did attend, and met with Programme Board members, commending the work they have undertaken to date and reiterating that there is no place for discrimination or prejudice in our schools.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting learning hours in Scottish schools. We are carefully considering the responses to the consultation on learning hours that closed earlier this year. We will publish our analysis of the consultation and engage further with stakeholders, including COSLA, on next steps in due course.

No payments or funding was provided to the Royal Scottish Forestry Society in 2022.