Meeting of the Parliament

Time for Reflection Rt Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland followed by Topical Questions Sarah Boyack S6T-01932 1. To ask the Scottish Government what potential impact the proposed Berwick Bank offshore windfarm not being included in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 will have on achieving Scotland’s climate targets. Stuart McMillan S6T-01937 2. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported statistics indicating that wet wipes contribute to up to 94% of sewer blockages, what assessment it has made of the potential impact on Scottish Water of the planned ban on wet wipes containing plastic, including whether water and sewerage charges will be reduced in the future as a result of the ban. Meghan Gallacher S6T-01938 3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the LGBT Youth Scotland pilot programme to introduce youth clubs in schools. followed by Ministerial Statement: Gender Identity Healthcare for Young People Stage 1 Debate: Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill Angela Constance S6M-12922 That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill. followed by Financial Resolution: Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill Shona Robison S6M-12560 That the Parliament, for the purposes of any Act of the Scottish Parliament resulting from the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, agrees to any expenditure of a kind referred to in Rule 9.12.3A of the Parliament’s Standing Orders arising in consequence of the Act. followed by Appointment of Members of the Standards Commission for Scotland Maggie Chapman S6M-12910 That the Parliament agrees, under section 8 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, to appoint Morag Ferguson and Lezley Stewart as Members of the Standards Commission for Scotland. followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-12841 Clare Haughey: Seventh Anniversary of the Two-child Benefit Cap That the Parliament regrets to mark the seventh anniversary of the introduction by the UK Government of the two-child benefit cap, and the associated so-called rape clause; notes with alarm reports that over 87,000 children across Scotland are affected by the cap, including 3,610 in South Lanarkshire; further notes the work of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which reports that the poverty rate for children in families with three or more children was almost twice as high as the poverty rate for children in one- or two-child families in 2021-22, at 43% compared with 23% and 22% respectively, as a result of UK welfare policies such as the two-child benefit limit; highlights what it considers to be the contrast between the inhumane practices of the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions and the compassionate approach of the Scottish Government’s Social Security Scotland; understands that the Scottish Government has already spent more than £733 million over the last five financial years to mitigate UK Government welfare policies, despite what it sees as a remarkably challenging financial environment and the fiscal limitations of devolution; notes that the Scottish Child Payment and other devolved policies are forecast to keep up to 100,000 children in Scotland out of relative poverty in this financial year; further notes the view that Scotland should continue to build a social security system that is founded on dignity, fairness and respect, and notes the calls urging the UK Government to reverse the two-child benefit cap and what it regards as the other abhorrent and ineffective welfare reforms that have been implemented over more than a decade of austerity.