People needing support with their mental health and wellbeing will get access to help closer to home, including through new walk-in hubs and 24/7 emergency response teams.
Developed in partnership with COSLA, the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan seeks to improve mental health support and services over the next three years.
The plan also responds to pressures on emergency services and a rise in the complexity of cases being presented to mental health professionals and the wider workforce.
Commitments in the plan include:
expanding community-based mental health support including the development of walk-in mental health hubs like SAMH’s ‘The Nook’, giving people access to local support without a referral
increasing the 24/7 mental health support provided by the Mental Health Triage Cars, specialist emergency response vehicles currently operating in Glasgow, Inverness and Dundee, to every region in Scotland
growing Scotland’s NHS 24 Mental Health Hub to include Psychological Therapies reducing pressure on A&E and other emergency services
developing a new approach to support adults with neurodevelopmental needs
Speaking during a visit to a healthy living centre in Wester Hailes, which offers local mental health support, Minister for Mental Wellbeing Maree Todd said the plan fulfilled a Programme for Government commitment.
She added: “Good mental health underpins not just good health outcomes but can make the difference to someone being able to access and keep a job, their ability to focus and do well at school, and shape positive relationships throughout their life.
“This refreshed Delivery Plan is part of wider system reform and represents a joint commitment from national and local government to take action to improve the mental health of our population.
“We need a system that can adapt to meet different needs across a person’s life, regardless of where you live. Key to this is providing support and early intervention, that’s why services offered at places like Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre are so important, giving people somewhere to walk in and get help for common mental wellbeing issues without needing a referral.”
COSLA Health and Social Care Spokesperson, Councillor Paul Kelly said: “Local Government plays an important role in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our communities.
“As we seek to challenge poverty, offer quality housing , greenspace and education for example we can help prevent people becoming, or getting more unwell.
“We also provide a range of services that directly support people with their mental wellbeing. This sits alongside the crucial work of the NHS and the third sector in providing the mental health and wellbeing support and care people need.
“I welcome our new, joint delivery plan, which aims to build on this whole system approach as we work together to help people achieve the best mental health and wellbeing possible.”
Landlords must act fast on damp and mould under new law coming into force next week
Landlords will have strict timescales to investigate any report of damp or mould, provide written findings, and carry out necessary repairs under new legislation which comes into effect next week.
The Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 – also known as Awaab’s Law – comes into force on 6 October.
Guidance for landlords and tenants was published by the Scottish Government ahead of the legislation going live. This outlines:
landlords must ensure reports of damp or mould are investigated promptly – this includes reports made by tenants or issues landlords discover during unrelated visits such as inspections
investigations and repairs must be carried out by someone with relevant skills and experience
necessary repairs must tackle the root cause of the damp or mould, not just treat the symptoms.
Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Everyone deserves the right to live in a warm, safe and secure home, free from disrepair. These regulations mean any reports of damp or mould will be swiftly investigated, with landlords required to appropriately tackle the root cause.
“The vast majority of homes in Scotland are already free from damp and mould, but we’re determined to protect everyone, which is why we’re extending these safeguards to social and private tenants.
“Shaped through close work with tenant and landlord representatives, we have published guidance giving landlords the clarity they need to comply confidently, while ensuring tenants are clear on their rights.
“With the law coming into force next week, it’s vital that both landlords and tenants take the time now to understand their rights and responsibilities. We’ll also be raising awareness of just how important it is for landlords and tenants to work together, so that damp and mould issues are identified early and resolved quickly.”
Young people reveal how adult criminals exploit children to commit crime in Scotland
A new Scotland-wide campaign was launched yesterday warning that adult criminals are grooming and exploiting children to commit crime, enabling them to profit while leaving children to face the risks and consequences.
The campaign, created by Fearless – the youth service of the independent charity Crimestoppers – is shaped by young people with lived experience of crime, exploitation and the justice system. It challenges adults across Scotland to look beyond behaviour and recognise the criminal exploitation of children for what it is: child abuse.
Launching at the Grosvenor Picture Theatre in Glasgow, the campaign includes new films and social media content for young people, parents, carers and professionals, and has been developed with support from Scottish Government, Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce and the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.
Young people told Fearless that exploitation does not always feel like exploitation from the inside. Adults can use trust, friendship, money, status and protection to draw children into criminal activity, particularly when the child feels other options are limited.
But one young person reflected:“You’re not getting paid to carry or sell the drugs. You’re getting paid to take the risk.”
That insight sits at the heart of the new campaign.
The campaign asks children to look more closely at what is really being offered to them. Criminal exploitation often sees adults profiting, while transferring the greatest risks onto children. The arrest, the violence, the debt, the injury, the criminal record and the consequences are carried by the child, while those directing the activity remain further removed from harm.
Over several months, Fearless listened to young people speak openly about criminal exploitation and the realities they see around them. They talked about violence, arrest, drugs, debt, weapons and being deprived of their liberty. They also spoke about what criminal exploitation appeared to offer and why it could feel difficult to walk away from.
The conversations revealed something many adults struggle to understand. Many young people already know the terrible risks they face. What they challenged Fearless to understand is that awareness of risk is not always enough to help them when the alternative feels like being left with nothing.
The campaign also challenges adults to hold two truths at once.
Some children who are victims of criminal exploitation cause harm – sometimes serious harm. But children can cause harm while also being harmed themselves. It’s not about excusing behaviour – it’s about understanding that there can be a wide range of reasons for offending behaviour, including exploitation.
Fearless is urging adults not to stop at what they can see:
To stay curious
To consider who is actually benefiting
And to ask what might be happening behind the behaviour
The campaign also explores why children do not always feel able to leave these situations.
While fear, threats and violence can be part of criminal exploitation, young people told Fearless that leaving is often about more than what they are escaping. Sometimes it is about what they fear being left without.
As one young person explained:“People don’t leave because there’s nothing there for them. What would they be left with?”
If criminal exploitation appears to offer opportunity, belonging, protection or hope, then safer alternatives must feel real enough to compete.
The campaign argues that it is not enough to tell children what to walk away from – communities, services and trusted adults must also give them something worth walking towards.
Children need more than a route away from harm. They need genuine opportunities, meaningful connections, hope for the future and a sense that they matter.
Lyndsay McDade, Fearless Scotland Manager, said:“I am so grateful to the young people who helped develop this campaign. I asked them to be honest with me, and they were. Never have I been more struck by the level of hopelessness some young people are living with, and yet by their determination to help us understand their reality and get this campaign right.
“Young people, children the same age as my own, shared stories that no child should have to live through. What struck me most was the compassion they showed when talking about other children who were being exploited. They could see the circumstances, pressures and lack of choices facing others, yet they rarely afforded themselves the same understanding.
“Many do not recognise that they are being exploited because what they are experiencing feels normal to them. They often see it as simply the choices they have to make to get by. But those choices are frequently being made in a landscape of limited and harmful alternatives, where what feels like survival comes at a terrible cost and where an adult is manipulating a child’s circumstances for their own gain.
“The people exploiting children should never be offering them what can feel like the strongest sense of opportunity, belonging or hope in their lives. Yet for some children, I fear that is the reality.
“Every child deserves a future bigger than the one their exploiters have planned for them. No child should be written off as too difficult, too risky or too far gone.
“If you know who is exploiting young people, you can speak up 100% anonymously to our charity. At fearless.org, we cannot track your IP address or any contact details that could identify you.”
Children and Young People Minister Siobhian Brown said:“The criminal exploitation of children and young people is an abhorrent crime. Those who are exploited must be recognised as victims of child abuse and given the protection and support they need.
“I am pleased that the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and Fearless are jointly funding this important campaign, whose powerful messages have been shaped by the voices and experiences of young people themselves.
“The Scottish Government is working to protect children and young people from this type of harm. Our Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy Delivery Plan includes action to reduce the criminalisation of exploited children and implement new child criminal exploitation and cuckooing offences in the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
“We’re also developing Scotland’s approach to contextual safeguarding to protect children and young people from harms posed to them from outside their homes.”
Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said:“Every child deserves to be safe from harm and exploitation. This campaign is seeking to protect children from manipulation and exploitation by criminals involved in drug dealing, shoplifting and other crime, often leaving them to face the risks and consequences alone.
“Listening to the experiences of young people is vital if we are to understand the pressures and vulnerabilities that can place them at risk. I thank Fearless for amplifying those voices and providing a safe space for children to connect and communicate.
“Police Scotland is committed to working with partners to safeguard children, support those affected by exploitation, and ensure those responsible are identified and held accountable.”
To help parents, carers and professionals access further information and support:
Proposals published to start dialogue with local authorities
A report from an experienced former headteacher on how to improve the way schools are funded and governed has been published.
John Wilson, an Independent Professional Adviser to the Scottish Government, was appointed to identify priorities for reform based on his extensive experience as a secondary headteacher.
His recommendations, which will be considered as part of a three-month dialogue with local authorities, include:
creating Local Schools Authorities to take on statutory responsibility for the delivery of school education
reviewing how schools measure success while making it easier for them to collaborate and share best practice with each other
clearly defining and ring-fencing national funding for education, and improving consistency in the way this funding is recorded by local authorities.
Education Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “We are determined to continuously drive improvement in Scottish education – raising standards, empowering schools and reducing variation across council areas and schools.
“There is a great deal to be proud of already. This year’s exam results showed rising attainment across the board in National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers and the second consecutive narrowing of the poverty related attainment gap.
Recent statistics show the number of young people in work, training or study nine months after leaving school is at a joint record high and record numbers of young people are being accepted into university. This includes a record number from our most deprived backgrounds.
“However, I am also clear-eyed about the need for change and for excellence. As well as developing a new curriculum and creating phone-free learning environments across Scotland, we’re seizing the opportunity provided by the public service reform agenda to address core issues in our education system.
“This report provides an invaluable contribution to this process, and I’m grateful to John Wilson and everyone else who took part. This publication is intended to contribute to a dialogue with councils. I look forward to setting out our response to the recommendations once that process is complete.”
New changes introduced to the sale and placement of foods high in fat, sugar and salt in shops come into effect
Following the passing of regulations by Parliament last year, new restrictions will be introduced from 1 October 2026 in Scotland to support people to make healthier food choices.
Businesses with more than 50 employees will no longer be allowed to display prepackaged junk food such as sugary soft drinks, confectionary, biscuits and breakfast cereals in prominent locations, such as entrances, checkouts and at aisle ends.
Certain price promotions including free refills of sugary soft drinks will also be restricted.
The regulations, which will apply both in-store and online, are intended to create a healthier balance of products on offer, support healthier eating habits and help lower levels of obesity.
Similar restrictions are already in place across England and Wales.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd said: “We want to make it easier for people to live healthier lives. “In Scotland, two out of three adults are overweight or obese, with those living in our poorest areas more likely to be overweight and experience the most harm as a result.
“We know that promotions and the prominent product placement can encourage over-consumption and impulse buying of foods with high levels of calories, fat, sugar and salt.
“By restricting the promotion of less healthy food and drink we can make it easier for people to make healthier choices, improving health and wellbeing and create a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight.
”We have engaged extensively with business and industry extensively in developing this approach.
“These restrictions strike a balance between improving the health of people in Scotland whilst reducing any potential effects on smaller businesses and shops.”
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Deputy Head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Scotland’s retailers are committed to helping consumers make healthier choices. For example, fresh fruit and veg are heavily price promoted and grocers have led the way on reformulating products to reduce salt, sugar, and fat. We’ve pioneered traffic light labelling and signage to help consumers make informed choices.
“We believe these new regulations are proportionate and will enhance the positive work being done by retailers in supporting consumers to make healthier food and drink choices. The choice to implement a consistent model with other UK nations should simplify and reduce the cost of implementation: albeit retailers will still invest around £20 million to deliver the policy.
“We hope this approach, where industry is meaningfully consulted and government acts in a constructive manner, can serve as a model going forward as we work in partnership to make Scotland a healthier and wealthier nation.”
Glasgow City Council has agreed to pause the process of dismissing and re-engaging staff following constructive discussions with the Scottish Government and trade unions yesterday.
Workforce convener Cllr Allan Casey said:”I’m pleased that we’ve reached a position following a meeting with the Scottish Government and the three unions where a pause has been agreed, allowing the ACAS package to be put back on the table and creating the space for further intensive negotiations with the joint trade unions.
“Our goal remains clear: to secure collective agreement on a new pay and grading scheme that is free from discrimination and can be put to the workforce in a ballot.
“Both I and the wider Council leadership remain fully committed to working with trade unions and staff to deliver a fairer and more sustainable pay structure for the future.”
In a statement on behalf of UNITE, UNISON and GMB trade unions, an STUC Spokesperson said: We are pleased at the lifting of the threat of fire and rehire and that meaningful negotiations will take place next week.
“We also welcome the Scottish Government’s clear statement that the practice of fire and rehire’ does not align with the principles and expected practice of Fair Work.”
Equal pay talks between GLasgow Council and trade unions broke down on Thursday.
In a statement then, the council said: “Recent intensive talks between Glasgow City Council and the Joint Trade Unions have broken down without agreement.
There is now no agreed way forward between the council and the joint trade unions. This means that in order to lawfully bring our discriminatory pay and grading structure to an end and replace it with a non-discriminatory scheme we will have to dismiss all of our non teaching staff and issue new contracts. Letters will be sent to staff next week and the new contracts will take effect on January 1st.
“In the last week the Council put forward an offer which would have seen a substantial injection of cash to fund additional back pay and take the possibility of dismissals off the table.
The Council offer was dependant on all three TU’s balloting their members to let them determine whether the offer was acceptable – GMB and UNITE agreed to ballot members and avoid dismissal letters being issued but Unison regrettably withdrew their support on Wed Sept 23. They have made it clear that they are not prepared to ballot their members. They provided no substantive reason for this.
Director of Communications and Corporate Governance Colin Edgar said: “The council has gone as far as it can. The new pay and grading scheme removes unequal pay and sees pay rise or stay the same for 90% of staff – the council’s total pay bill will be substantially higher.
“For those staff who are in detriment our Joint Trade Unions negotiated an increase in pay protection from 6 months to 12 months. Additionally, some Trade Unions are devoting energy to local consultations to mitigate the impact on those colleagues in detriment – focussing on providing specific solutions.
“We acknowledge the joint statement made by GMB and Unite unions earlier today. Officials had hoped to have further talks with UNISON this afternoon to understand why they are not willing to consult their members, but they did not attend a scheduled meeting.
“The offer which has been unilaterally rejected by UNISON would have taken dismissals off the table and seen additional cash for those members of staff, and members of all unions, who are due back pay.
“It beggars belief that they would betray their own members in this way.
“If the Joint Trade Unions ballot their members on these enhanced terms and make a collective agreement we will of course withdraw these notices. If they are unable to do that then staff will be reengaged on the terms set out in the recently agreed City Administration Committee report which do not include the enhancements.
“We understand that issue of dismissal notices, regardless of how much we reassure people that we intend to re-engage, will cause significant concern to our staff which is why we have worked so hard to avoid this necessity. We value our staff and we want their service with us to continue. This is purely precautionary, but it could and should have been avoided.”
Providers of apprenticeship places will see their funding rise 10% in 2027-28, giving greater stability to those that offer training.
Modern Apprenticeship contribution rates support the training and assessment of the next generation of skilled workers, applying to new apprentice starts and apprentices in training from 2027/28.
The £8.8 million uplift applies to all types of apprenticeship frameworks, following phase one of the Scottish Government’s contribution rates review.
Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education, Alyn Smith, said: “Apprenticeship training providers play a profoundly important role in equipping people with the skills they need to have successful careers. In doing so they make a significant contribution to a healthy economy.
“This funding increase demonstrates our commitment to Scotland’s apprenticeship system and to developing our future workforce. It will also provide greater stability for training providers within the context of a challenging financial environment.
“We want to see more high-quality apprenticeships to meet our skills needs and to support our vital public services. We look forward to expanding our modern and graduate apprenticeship offer in the future.”
Alcohol and Drugs Minister Maree Todd has raised concerns about an ‘increasingly toxic and unpredictable drugs supply’ in Scotland and has said the government will continue to prioritise a public health response to drug deaths.
It comes as new figures from National Records of Scotland show there were 1,133 drug use deaths in 2025, an increase of 11% compared with the previous year.
Cocaine was implicated in over half of all drug use deaths in 2025 (52%, or 589 deaths), an increase of 23% compared with 2024. Nitazenes, a group of highly potent synthetic opioids , were implicated in more than one in five drug use deaths (22%, 247 deaths).
Speaking during a visit to In Cahootz, an initiative in Glasgow which supports people affected by substance use through creative activities and building community connections, Ms Todd said: “My heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who has lost a loved one to drug use. Each and every death is a tragedy, and even more so because every life lost to drug harms is preventable.
“Against an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drugs supply, this rise is deeply concerning and unacceptable. The increase in deaths involving cocaine, and the continued threat from dangerous synthetic opioids like nitazenes, must drive more coordinated action across the country.
“We have taken important steps forward, including funding more than 1,100 residential rehabilitation placements last year and widening access to treatment and life-saving naloxone. However, despite these policy interventions, and the actions of our valued frontline workers, it is clear we need to do much more to reduce this tragic loss of life.
“Our new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan will strengthen surveillance, deepen links between treatment, housing and other services, and target support at the communities most at risk. I have also announced today that Scotland’s first local drug-checking service will open in Glasgow this October – building on the UK’s first safer drug consumption facility.
“Whilst we are using every lever available through our devolved powers, it is clearly now vital that the UK Government work with us to transfer the greater powers over drugs policy that we require to treat drug harms fully as a public health issue.”
In Cahootz Creative Director Kate Black said: “The National Mission funding has allowed us to expand the range of activities available through our Creative Citizens Project.
“Taking part in creative activities can increase confidence and give people a sense of purpose and belonging. Building connections and becoming an active part of a community can play an important role in recovery.
“Our project helps people develop those connections and supports them to build a better quality of life.”
THE POVERTY ALLIANCE commented: “In a just Scotland, no-one would lose their life to drug addiction and everyone would have quick and efficient access to addiction treatment that works for them.
‘People living in the most deprived communities in Scotland are around 15 times more likely to experience problem drug use, compared to people in the least deprived communities. Reducing drug deaths means reducing poverty.
‘That means redesigning our economy so that people are able to access decent work, and investing in our social security system and public services, so that people have the income they need to live in dignity and security.
‘Above all, we need to treat people with the dignity, respect, and compassion they deserve.’
As part of recovery month, COSLA’s Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Cllr Paul Kelly, reflects on the key role local authorities play in preventing harms from drugs and alcohol and supporting people to recover:
Across Scotland, unacceptably high levels of drug and alcohol related harms continue to have profound impacts on our communities. Behind each life lost is a person, their family, friends and colleagues. As a small but diverse country, many of us will know personally how the effects of drug use pervade our lives and affect whole communities.
Earlier this year, COSLA Leaders agreed the new Strategic Plan for alcohol and drugs, Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery – the first time Local and Scottish Government have agreed shared ownership over this critical challenge we face as a nation. The Strategic Plan builds on progress made during the National Mission but recognises that we need sustained leadership to tackle ongoing and emerging harms from alcohol and drugs.
While a shared policy direction at a national level is important, ultimately it is the local delivery of support that will make a difference to people’s lives. These solutions will lie in our communities, shaped by people, and delivered through trusted local services.
At the launch of the strategy at a rehabilitation facility in Inverclyde, I met with people in recovery and who told me how important it is to have pathways of care that bridge different services, bringing together specialist care with appropriate housing and ongoing wellbeing support.
Councils are well placed provide wrap-around support for people affected by drugs and alcohol and their families which fosters sustained recovery. Housing, social work and social care and community justice support some of the most vulnerable in our communities. This holistic support, meeting the needs of the whole person, act as the foundations for more specialist care. Meanwhile, our partnership working third sector organisations enable greater reach into communities, including outreach with people who face additional barriers to accessing services.
If we are serious about reducing harm from alcohol and drugs, we need strong local knowledge to understand why communities in Scotland continue to be deeply affected by drugs and alcohol. The stark reality is that the harms are not evenly distributed; rather, they are closely aligned to the prevalence of deprivation. Experiences of poverty and trauma can act as an underlying driver of harms, while drug and alcohol issues can perpetuate deprivation.
COSLA has long championed this preventative approach which tackles these root causes because our councillors witness firsthand how interconnected these inequalities are with wider outcomes. As much as 80% of what determines our mental and physical health comes from outside of health and care services. Our health and wellbeing starts long before a person speaks to their GP. It starts with a warm, safe home, with whole-family support in the critical early years and access to opportunities through high-quality education and secure local jobs.
As set out in the Population Health Framework, these are the wider determinants of health, the underlying social, economic and environmental factors that have a greater impact on our health outcomes that access to health and social care services. The preventative and universal services that councils deliver every day are the embodiment of these determinants: our schools, transport networks, leisure and culture facilities.
Indeed, no other part of the public sector has such depth or breadth in people’s daily lives. Our joint approach to reducing harms from alcohol and drugs rightly places prevention at its heart, maximising these local opportunities to shape healthy, resilient communities.
As the form of government which is closest to people, councils have the local knowledge to understand where services are working well, where gaps exist and how to make the best use of a community’s strengths. Differing demography and geography mean that our communities can vary. Post-industrial communities in the central belt have different challenges and opportunities to remote, rural and island communities. Flexibility in the delivery of services is vital to meet the needs in a range of local contexts.
Key to developing place-based solutions are the insights from people with lived and living experience of drug and alcohol issues, so services are developed with people, not for them. Last year, COSLA Leaders endorsed the Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use which empowers people to know the human rights that belong to them.
Since publication, a range of emerging local practice has focused on meaningful engagement and participation, promoting more inclusive and accessible services, and enabling people to shape services through what matters most to them.
As we move forwards with this preventative, rights-based approach, I recognise the significant pressures that the system is under. Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, which coordinate a range of services to meet local need are often led by very small teams of committed individuals working to tight budgets. The wider workforce is delivering preventative, wrap-around and specialist support in challenging circumstances due to high and complex levels of need in communities.
Many of us continue to feel the effects of drugs and alcohol issues in our communities – in the unacceptably high numbers of lives lost and the families affected, and through the wider impacts of organised crime, including trafficking. New substances, increased toxicity and changing patterns of drug use add further challenges which require expertise and bespoke solutions.
Strong leadership in all parts of the system is essential to recognise the role that we all have to play to promote good health wellbeing and reduce harms. This will involve culture change, tackling stigma and promoting human rights in everything we do. We have already clarified the governance arrangement for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships through the Partnership Delivery Framework. This affirms the importance of a range of statutory services, not just local authorities, but also health boards, police and the prison service. Further work is required to ensure all partners understand their roles and responsibilities.
At a national level, our joint approach with Scottish Government will enable local and national leaders to work together to prioritise action that will make the greatest impact and hold each other to account.
Working with the Minister for Public Health, Mental Wellbeing, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs, I look forward to inviting a diverse range of individuals and organisations, including third sector colleagues, clinicians and people with lived and living experience, to provide advice, insight and challenge to support the delivery of the Strategic Plan.
By combining a shared national ambition with strong local leadership, we can consider drugs and alcohol not in a siloed fashion but across the broad range of services that councils and their partners provide.
We can deepen partnership working, build a culture of learning, listening to those most affected. Through a collective commitment to prevention and wrap-around support, to reducing inequalities and to improving outcomes, we can create resilient communities and support people to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
National roll-out of Nurse Sexual Offence Examiners
Specialist nurses trained to examine survivors of sexual assault will be available across Scotland as part of a national roll-out.
Nurse Sexual Offence Examiners (NSOEs) support and examine survivors of sexual violence, providing trauma-informed care and gathering forensic evidence.
Following a test of change backed by over £700,000 of Scottish Government funding, the Lord Advocate approved the national roll-out of the role in March 2026
The change means specialist nurses will now be able to undertake forensic medical examinations and give opinion evidence in court, subject to continuing review of progress.
The expansion will particularly benefit islands and rural areas, which have previously relied on private forensic doctor services to deliver this care.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd said: “It is crucial for any survivor of rape or another sexual offence to be able to access the support they need, in the way they need it.
“The hours after a sexual assault are some of the most difficult a survivor will face. Expanding this specialist nursing role means more survivors will be cared for by compassionate, highly trained professionals. It also means these specialist nurses will be able to give opinion evidence in court.
“This is a significant milestone for Sexual Assault Response Coordination Services throughout Scotland, and I want to thank everyone involved for their dedication and work to make this possible.”
Sexual Assault Response Coordination Service (SARCS) Network Patient Advocate Kirsty Arnaud said: “Disclosing sexual assault is one of the hardest things a person can do. It takes a considerable amount of courage and strength to attend a SARCS.
“Every survivor who has taken that step deserves timely, compassionate and trauma-informed care. This includes being able to exercise their right to request the preferred sex of the examiner.
“The quality of care a survivor receives post-assault can determine their future mental and physical wellbeing. More survivors should have access to the passionate and dedicated nurses I have been so fortunate to have met during my time as the lived-experience representative for the SARCS Network.
“The role of Nurse SOEs will further enhance this access across SARCS in Scotland. This development reflects the ways the SARCS Network is strengthening its commitment to delivering high-quality support to survivors across Scotland.”
This change will also mean people will be able to exercise their right to be examined by someone of their chosen sex.
COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, Cllr Maureen Chalmers, responded to the Scottish Government’s Homelessness Figures. She said:“Today’s published homelessness figures are disappointing and underline the scale of the housing challenges facing local communities across the country.
“While there are some slight improvements in some measures, too many individuals and families continue to experience homelessness.
“Councils are working tirelessly to prevent homelessness and support those in need, but housing demand continues to outstrip supply in many areas.
“Tackling this challenge requires sustained investment in affordable housing, a strong focus on prevention, and close partnership working across national and local government.
“Everyone deserves access to a safe, secure and affordable home, and councils remains committed to working with partners to make that ambition a reality.”
The number of children waking up without a home in Scotland has reached another record high and more than doubling in the last 10 years, new Scottish Government statistics show.
10,715 children are currently trapped in temporary accommodation, compared to 5,223 in 2015. People are waiting in temporary accommodation for years for a home and more people are sleeping rough. Instances of local authority homelessness services unlawfully breaching people’s housing rights have also significantly increased, up 32% to 21,800 since last year.
The figures show the sheer scale of Scotland’s broken housing system – the result of decades of underinvestment and the failure to build enough social homes, says Shelter Scotland.
The leading housing and homelessness charity says that the situation can be turned around, but only if building more social homes becomes a national mission supported by an exceptional level of funding. Areas that need it most like Glasgow must receive national investment from Scottish and UK Governments.
This new data comes after the First Minister promised to end the use of unsuitable temporary accommodation for children in the recent Programme for Government. The test now is whether real change will be felt by the thousands of families and children without a home.
Gordon Llewellyn-MacRae, Interim Director at Shelter Scotland said:“Scotland’s housing emergency has been decades in the making. Children are growing up in harmful conditions and families don’t know how long they will be stuck in limbo.
“Local authorities are under extreme pressure and are unlawfully turning people away who have a right to housing. That pressure is resulting in housing being weaponised with calls to roll back rights. It is utterly unacceptable.
“We know why it has happened- because we have failed to build enough social homes. The First Minister’s recent pledge to stop children being placed in harmful temporary accommodation is very welcome, showing he has listened to the demands of families. But we won’t celebrate just yet – promises mean nothing without action.
“The situation in Glasgow needs a national response. It needs investment from the Scottish and UK Governments until the asylum backlog declines and we must see the delivery of homes quicker to lift people – especially children – out of temporary accommodation.
“The good news is we know how to end the housing emergency and so do the Government. We need committed investment to deliver the social homes desperately and urgently needed. If the Government focuses More Homes Scotland on social housing, there’s a massive opportunity to change the trajectory.
“Families can’t wait any longer. It’s time to turn the tide and follow through with action, so we don’t allow more children to face the same fate for the next decade.”
Janet Haugh, CEO of Right There, said: “These figures should shock us all. More than 10,700 children are now growing up in temporary accommodation across Scotland, while rough sleeping continues to rise.
“Scotland cannot keep describing this as a housing emergency without responding like it is one.
“We need action, not platitudes. Prevention, affordable housing and early support must move from ambition to action.”
