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Any legislation that comes with resource requirements poses a challenge in so far as we have to find that resource. However, we are committed to making sure that, where we take the act forward, it will be adequately resourced. We are bringing forward statutory instruments to further implement the provisions of the act; where resource is required, we will identify and deploy that.

Simon, do you want to say anything else?

I will defer to Simon Stockwell, as he knows more about how the bairns’ hoose model is working in practice.

Yes, I do. I could point to our statute book and make the point that, overall, where Parliament has decided to act and legislate, and where it is incumbent on the Government to take forward that legislation, across the board, that is what we seek to do. Sometimes, we face specific challenges, which we try to deal with. Although it may take a bit longer, we need to ensure that we address the challenges, too.

I think that I responded to that. There has been a result, which is that there are acts of the Parliament, and the consultation that took place in advance of the bills being laid before the Parliament informed the legislation. I thank those who took part in the consultation processes, as their efforts informed our consideration.

On one of the three acts that we are discussing today, the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, a substantial amount has already been enacted and put into effect. The consultation was an important part of the process. I make the point again that that work has not been wasted. It has informed the legislation and our on-going engagement with the stakeholders will continue to inform how we take forward the work as we seek to implement the act.

To respond to that point, I am not directly involved in the sense of having policy responsibility in that area. However, as I have been invited to the committee, I will pay particular attention to the implementation of the act.

What do you mean, “It just so happens”?

The Scottish Government is not responsible for taking forward prosecutions. That would ultimately be a question for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; it is not one that the Scottish Government can answer. The Scottish Government does not take forward prosecutions.

That remains the case. Covid-19 has had a substantial impact on the progression of a range of governmental activity, because people were required, as I think everyone would understand, to divert their attention to the immediate response to the pandemic. In that regard, there is a degree to which the Government has to play catch-up. There are capacity issues within the team delivering the implementation of the act. Nonetheless, work continues in that regard.

Clearly, we want to avoid any delay. The task at hand is to ensure that we take forward the provisions of the act. Resources have been mapped out for the implementation of the act and we hope to be able to fully implement it by spring 2026, but that will obviously require a lot of activity between now and then.

I do not know whether Nel has anything to add in that regard.

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First, we are talking about three specific pieces of legislation on which people have communicated with the committee. They are understandably concerned, and it is incumbent on us to respond to those concerns. However, I do not think that there is a general issue or trend across the piece of non-implementation of legislation. If you look across the statute book, you will see that, in most areas where Parliament has decided to pass an act, we get on with the legislation and implement it, but sometimes we find that there are challenges.

We are talking about three acts. I have already made the point that a substantial amount of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 has been put into effect. Going back to the point that I have just made, we have gone through that process. We have made sure that a substantial number of the provisions are in place. I have referred to—Simon Stockwell picked up on this, too—our plans to implement more of the legislation through statutory instruments that we will introduce next year. Of course, we understand the concerns that have been expressed by stakeholders, and it is incumbent on us to respond to them in so far as they relate to the specifics of the act.

We also need to respond to the overall concerns, which we can do in other ways. With regard to the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 and the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Act 2020, an awful lot of work goes on through our equally safe strategy, which is backed by a significant amount of resource from the Scottish Government. In that respect, £19 million of annual funding has been provided to 100 organisations to support 119 projects. So, yes, we must respond to concerns about the implementation of those acts but, equally, we also have to get on with dealing with some of the fundamental challenges that those acts are designed to deal with, in advance of their implementation.