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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

129
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2,354,908
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1999–2026
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Showing 41 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
Tess White Con Committee
25 Nov 2025
Human Rights, Equalities and Access to Services (Rural Areas)
I ask Anna Densham to address the specific question. I understand from your answer, minister, that you do not collect Scotland-wide data on the nine protected characteristics and that you leave that to the individual areas. Is that correct? There is no recording and data colle...
Tess White Con Committee
24 Feb 2026
Subordinate Legislation
:Before Kevin comes in, I want to point out that I have made freedom of information requests of 160 public sector organisations. Many of them cannot even define sex; they collect data on gender. Some of them could not give me an answer on what actions they have taken on the ni...
Tess White Con Committee
24 Feb 2026
Subordinate Legislation
:If the public sector was collecting data on four core protected characteristics—age, disability, sex and race—you would not be facing what you term “systemic discrimination”. We have just spoken about race, and you could say that race and religion are characteristics to addre...
Tess White Con Committee
24 Feb 2026
Subordinate Legislation
:At the start of this evidence session, you talked about the four priorities, and I noted that one of those key goals, which drive all of the actions, is delivering high-quality, sustainable public services. The fact is that data and its recording matter; you mentioned non-bin...
Tess White Con Committee
13 Jan 2026
Public Sector Equality Duty
That is fine; that is a private sector example. However, there are more than 100 public sector organisations in Scotland, and I would have expected the EHRC to do a gap analysis against the nine protected characteristics, because it is quite clear that many of those public bod...
Tess White Con Committee
06 May 2025
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
That is welcome, particularly bearing in mind that we had a whole session on the public sector equality duty and all nine protected characteristics. You have talked about the protected characteristic of sex. Following the Supreme Court judgment on the definition of “woman”, h...
Tess White Con Committee
09 Sep 2025
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27
My question is a supplementary on the equality and fairer Scotland budget statement. There is a published analysis by protected characteristic. The minister talked about the importance of looking at data by protected characteristic. Let me take breastfeeding as an example o...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
12 Mar 2025
International Women’s Day 2025
I welcome Audrey Nicoll’s members’ business debate to celebrate international women’s day 2025. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, and I would like to highlight the work of some truly fantastic women in the north-east who do so much to support their c...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
09 Mar 2023
Misogyny (Criminal Law Reform)
This week, Wayne Couzens was sentenced to a further 19 months in prison for three offences of indecent exposure. That is on top of a whole-life sentence for the horrendous murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in March 2021. Sarah Everard was simply walking home from a friend’s ...
Tess White Con Committee
18 Mar 2025
Public Sector Equality Duty
Thank you, Jennifer. I interpret that as meaning that it is almost not a hard target in the objectives of chief executives of hospitals or councils. The councils are under financial pressures, the hospitals have huge financial pressures, yet the floodgates will be opened on no...
Tess White Con Committee
06 May 2025
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
My earlier set of questions explored you listening and hearing when incorporating policies. My next question is about rights-based budgeting but, before I ask that, I want to go back to something that you said in relation to a question from my colleague Pam Gosal. You talked ...
Tess White Con Committee
25 Nov 2025
Human Rights, Equalities and Access to Services (Rural Areas)
That’s fine, convener. I was making a comment before asking a question. The SHRC’s spotlight report on the Highlands and Islands was particularly valuable to the committee. It is a shame that it could not look more widely across other rural areas. My first question, minister...
Tess White Con Chamber
02 Dec 2025
Violence against Women and Girls
The Scottish Government’s definition of violence against women and girls views gender inequality as a root cause of such violence. Does the Scottish Government mean sex—biological sex—or gender? The two are completely different. The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice C...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
15 Jan 2026
General Question Time · Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 (Addition of Sex Characteristic)
The minister says that the SSI will be laid “in due course”, but we do not know when that will be. Only this Tuesday, at the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, the Minister for Equalities informed us that she had not met the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and...
Tess White Con Committee
13 Jan 2026
Public Sector Equality Duty
But the Supreme Court judgment was just a clarification of the law. The legislation has been in place since 2010. Under the Equality Act 2010, there are nine protected characteristics.I have given three examples: one in Angus, which relates to changing facilities for schoolchi...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
02 Jun 2021
Economic Recovery
Thank you for the introduction, Presiding Officer, and I congratulate you on your new role. I also congratulate the cabinet secretary on her wider role. I thank Douglas Ross for appointing me as the shadow minister for just transition, employment and fair work. I am also hono...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
01 Oct 2024
Safe and Fair Sport for Women and Girls
I am delighted to lead the debate during Scottish women and girls in sport week 2024. I thank all members who have supported my motion, which addresses the importance of safe and fair sport for women and girls. Above all, it calls for single-sex categories for women in sport t...
Tess White Con Committee
18 Mar 2025
Public Sector Equality Duty
You could include education, health, and prisons in that. I will quote your letter, dated February 2025, to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. In the letter, you highlighted the importance of single-sex spaces and for public sector providers to design “policie...
Tess White Con Committee
18 Mar 2025
Public Sector Equality Duty
We are talking about the whole thing. You said last month that the policies have not taken “into account the rights of all affected protected characteristic groups”. That is a very powerful statement to have made, so I want you to elaborate on which protected characteristics...
Tess White Con Committee
29 Apr 2025
Motion to Remove a Member of the Committee
I have heard what members have said, and I thank Paul O’Kane for his words and for actually stating that we do have a solemn duty to respect the rule of law. To go back to what Marie McNair MSP said, I respectfully disagree. We can represent the voices of our constituents, bu...
Tess White Con Committee
25 Nov 2025
Human Rights, Equalities and Access to Services (Rural Areas)
On waiting lists, Councillor Geva Blackett has said that, under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful to discriminate because of certain characteristics when you are being provided with a public service, such as health or social care. She said that the very first of those prot...
Tess White Con Committee
24 Feb 2026
Subordinate Legislation
:To address the most basic point, there is a cross-party group on changing places, and very little progress has been made on the issue. I acknowledge that there is a fund, but the number of toilets and changing places is decreasing in local areas—there is only one in the north...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
08 Mar 2022
International Women’s Day 2022
International women’s day has been observed for more than a century. In many parts of the world, much has changed for women since the early 1900s, from enfranchisement to the #MeToo movement. In other parts, progress has slowed significantly or has even reversed, sometimes dra...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
08 Feb 2023
Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2023
I thank Ruth Maguire for securing the parliamentary time for such an important debate. Tragically, cancer is a major cause of death in Scotland. All of us have likely been touched in some way by its impact, and I know that all of us long for the day when it is eliminated for g...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
06 Sep 2023
Save Our Pools
I, too, thank Liz Smith for securing the time for this evening’s debate. Earlier this year, I was involved in the fight to save Bucksburn swimming pool after Sport Aberdeen’s devastating decision to close it. That decision, which was a result of funding cuts by Aberdeen City ...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
21 Feb 2024
National Health Service Dentistry
Shocking new figures that were released yesterday have revealed the scale of the crisis in Scottish dentistry. In December last year, the number of patients who were able to see an NHS dentist fell by an astonishing 38 per cent. Gillian Mackay talked about regular check-ups no...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
13 Mar 2024
National Health Service Waiting Lists
Audit Scotland hit the nail on the head when it said: “There has been no unified vision” for the NHS since 2013 under the SNP Government. A decade later, patients and front-line staff are paying the price for the SNP’s mismanagement of the NHS. Only the SNP-Green Government ...
Tess White Con Committee
27 May 2025
Civil Legal Aid Inquiry
My second question is about the pool of solicitors. There seems to be a systemic problem in that there are not enough solicitors to do the work. In the nine years that you have been chief executive of SLAB, have you sat down with the Law Society to discuss that systemic issue?
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Committee
30 Sep 2025
Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I have two questions and will address my first one to Professor O’Hagan. You have just talked about the intent of the bill and Dr Hill talked about the lack of a scoping exercise. We looked at three local authorities and our data shows that, of 700,000 pupils, 143 pupils withd...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
25 Nov 2021
Violence against Women
We have heard some powerful speeches in the debate. Each year, as we mark the international day for the elimination of violence against women, we agree that more must be done to create an equally safe society in Scotland and around the world, but progress to protect the physic...
Tess White Con Chamber
01 Nov 2023
Flooding (Support for Communities)
Thank you for that question. I will come to Stonehaven and the huge difference between what happened in Stonehaven and what happened in Brechin later in my speech. I also refer to Ms Forbes’s comment; if the water rises 2 feet, the flood defence needs to be 3 feet, so I challe...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
28 Nov 2023
Female Participation in Sport and Physical Activity
I am delighted to contribute. During the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s inquiry into female participation in sport, MSPs visited the Fighting Chance Project (Scotland) in Dunfermline. That project, which inspires young people to make positive changes in their lives ...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Committee
28 May 2024
Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
I would like Labour and everybody else to reconsider for the sake of clarity. Amendment 51 is important for clarity and enforcement. If there is no proper signage, it will be very difficult to enforce, and leaving it up to the health boards is not good enough. The financial m...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
12 Jun 2024
Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
At stage 2, I lodged an amendment on reporting on and reviewing the act in order to facilitate post-legislative scrutiny as a means of implementing the recommendations of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s stage 1 report. I agreed with the minister and Gillian Macka...
Tess White Con Chamber
09 Jan 2025
Migration System
The SNP has spent years agitating for independence, but as Scotland is part of the UK, the Scottish Government’s budget is protected from population decline. That point was not made by me; it was made by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It is no surprise that, instead of usin...
Tess White Con Chamber
25 Feb 2025
Topical Question Time · Public Bodies (Equality Act 2010)
The EHRC was clear in its correspondence that the Scottish Government—we are talking about the Scottish Government—has a role in ensuring that NHS Scotland and other public bodies are meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. I am glad that the cabinet secre...
Tess White Con Committee
18 Mar 2025
Public Sector Equality Duty
What about balance and prioritising one protected characteristic over another?
Tess White Con Committee
18 Mar 2025
Public Sector Equality Duty
If there is a lack of leadership at the top of the Scottish Government and you, as the regulator, are saying that “all affected protected characteristic groups” need to be factored in, this complete muddle and fudge that is created further down the line is a result of a lack...
Tess White Con Chamber
19 Jun 2025
National Advisory Council on Women and Girls Equality Recommendations
Ms Mackay might like to listen to my speech—if she does, she will find out. Meanwhile, the SNP’s proposed misogyny bill is just the latest in a litany of paused, ditched or botched Sturgeon-era policies. The bill was supposed to improve protections for women against misogynis...
Tess White Con Chamber
09 Dec 2025
Urgent Question · Employment Tribunal Decision (Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife)
NHS Fife was found to have harassed a nurse of 30 years just for standing up for her rights to privacy and dignity. Her sex-based rights under the Equality Act 2010 were not protected. Too many female nurses are operating in a climate of fear in a two-class system. National he...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con Chamber
07 Jan 2026
Flood Defences
More than two years have now passed since storm Babet devastated Brechin, but far too many families have still not returned home. What should have been a period of recovery has instead become a case study in delay, deflection and abandonment by the SNP Government. Eighty-five...
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Committee

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee 25 November 2025

25 Nov 2025 · S6 · Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Item of business
Human Rights, Equalities and Access to Services (Rural Areas)
White, Tess Con North East Scotland Watch on SPTV

I ask Anna Densham to address the specific question. I understand from your answer, minister, that you do not collect Scotland-wide data on the nine protected characteristics and that you leave that to the individual areas. Is that correct? There is no recording and data collection against the nine protected characteristics, particularly age.

Seriously—it is either yes or no. As a committee, it helps us to know that there is a data gap. When we look at public sector equality duties, we will know that we need to look at age because, as the spotlight report indicates, that is a huge issue in rural areas. The answer is yes and no: yes, it is important, but, no, you do not collect the nine protected characteristics—age being number 1—across Scotland.

In the same item of business

The Convener SNP
Our second agenda item is an evidence-taking session for our inquiry into human rights, equalities and access to services in rural areas of Scotland. This is...
The Minister for Equalities (Kaukab Stewart) SNP
We are grateful to the committee for the invitation to give evidence as part of the short inquiry into human rights in rural Scotland. I begin by acknowledgi...
The Convener SNP
Thank you, minister. We will now move to questions, and I will kick off. It would be helpful for members of the committee to understand, given the vastness o...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
That is a good question. I have said on the record to the committee previously that I take seriously my responsibilities as Minister for Equalities to promot...
The Convener SNP
You touched on the SHRC’s report. Has the Scottish Government responded to it and, if so, how?
Kaukab Stewart SNP
Our response to the SHRC was issued in May. We appreciate the work that the SHRC does and welcome its spotlight approach in raising the issues. The report cl...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con) Con
Good morning, minister. It is good to hear that your meeting with the cabinet secretary for health went well and that you discussed a number of cross-cutting...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
I am sorry, Ms White, but I missed something there. Did you name a particular cabinet secretary?
Tess White Con
Yes—the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray. You said that your meeting with him had gone very well and that you discussed a number of cr...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
From memory, we discussed waiting lists, access to maternity services and local hospital provision—those are some of the issues that have been raised with me...
Tess White Con
On waiting lists, Councillor Geva Blackett has said that, under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful to discriminate because of certain characteristics when...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
It was both. Part of my responsibility is to remind, support and challenge regarding the Equality Act 2010 and our public sector equality duty. We were able ...
Tess White Con
Thank you.
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green) Green
Good morning. Thank you for joining us this morning. Minister, you spoke earlier of the importance of engaging further with the SHRC and with other stakehol...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
Meaningful engagement with rural stakeholders and communities at an early stage of policy development is absolutely vital. We continue to encourage engagemen...
Anna Densham (Scottish Government)
I will touch again on the role of the islands community impact assessment and the rural assessment toolkit that we have brought in. It is a form of rural pro...
Maggie Chapman Green
Thank you both. Minister, you talked about the support and stability that are required by the third sector. The frustrations around single-year funding will ...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
Thank you for that. I agree and I am very sympathetic, as we all are in Government. It must be most frustrating. It is equally frustrating for us, because ou...
Maggie Chapman Green
That is helpful, but can I check your figures? You mentioned a total contribution of over £1 billion and you said that the pilot involves funding of £130 mil...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
I might have to bring in my colleagues for more technical detail on the pilot.
Anna Densham
I do not have the answer for you here. I understand the concern and it is a concern that we are aware of every year. Particularly for small organisations, th...
Paul McLennan (East Lothian) (SNP) SNP
I want to build on that line of questioning. When we visited Blairgowrie a month ago, a key issue that came up was that of how local delivery was. The counci...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
In my opening remarks, I acknowledged that organisations that are based in their communities, such as local councils, know what the local issues are. Those i...
Paul McLennan SNP
Looking forward, if we are still sitting here in five years’ time, before the end of the next parliamentary session, how will we measure success? I totally u...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
The most important voice for measuring success is always the people’s voice. I have always said that a good model to follow is to triangulate everything with...
Anna Densham
Paul McLennan asks a very good question, to which the answer is necessarily broad. For island and rural areas in particular, we have been building up a more ...
Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con) Con
Good morning, and thank you for the information that you have provided so far. It was clear from last week’s evidence session that not all rural areas are t...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
It is important that people work across portfolios. I recognise that there are challenges, and I agree that one size does not and cannot fit all. I have visi...
Pam Gosal Con
Do the two plans that you mentioned identify the issues that I spoke of, and are they addressing them? You also mentioned that one size does not fit all. You...
Kaukab Stewart SNP
You make a good point and, as I have said, I share your frustration. I can assure the committee that cross-portfolio and collaborative working is happening, ...