Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has secured a commitment from the First Minister that his Government will contact Highland Council over domestic abuse services in the Highlands.
Speaking today at First Minister’s Questions Mrs Grant highlighted the uncertainty that remains over the funding of domestic abuse services in the north. The MSP asked the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure the long term financial and operational stability of specialist domestic abuse services in the Highlands.
This comes after Women’s Aid groups in the Highlands have endured months of uncertainty over the funding of their services beyond March.
The First Minister responded that they remain steadfast to their commitment to preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls and have allocated around £1.25m to services in the Highlands through the Delivering Equally Safe fund for the next financial year to enable recipients to continue their work to prevent violence and support survivors.
Mrs Grant continued to advise the First Minister that the Women’s Aid groups in the Highlands have moved from a Service Level Agreement to a procurement process with Highland Council which has left them facing significant cuts. She advised that MARAC and Refuge funding are also at risk and the groups do not have their Scottish Government funding for next year in place. The MSP advised that a cross party group of Highland MSPs have requested an urgent meeting with Highland Council but have had no response. She asked, with domestic abuse on the rise will the First Minister confirm Scottish Government funding for these groups and will he also intervene with Highland Council in order to protect these specialist services?
The First Minister replied that he recognises the significance of the issue Rhoda Grant raises, that the Government is providing funding directly to Women’s Aid, that the issues raised are around programmes and services that are funded by Highland Council, he is aware of the cross party representation to Highland Council on this question and he will ask the relevant Minister to write to the Leader of Highland Council to request engagement with cross party MSPs on that important issue.
Speaking afterwards Rhoda Grant said “I am pleased that the First Minister has agreed that the Scottish Government will intervene and I hope that this will help to resolve the issues that have been going on for some time. Indeed the issue was first raised with me in April 2025.
“I pay tribute to the groups who continue to provide services despite this ongoing uncertainty. It must be incredibly difficult for staff who will also be concerned about their own employment.”
The clip of the FMQ will be available via the following link for 24 hours:- Meeting of the Parliament from 05/02/2026
The Highland MSPs who have asked for the meeting include Edward Mountain MSP, Emma Roddick MSP, Fergus Ewing MSP, Kate Forbes MSP, Ariane Burgess MSP and Maree Todd MSP.