UK Supreme Court Judgment (For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers): working group minutes: 29 January 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Director General, Education & Justice 
• Communications Manager, DG Corporate
• Unit Head, DG Communities
• Unit Head, DG Communities
• Director General, DG Corporate
• Head of Comms, Social Security Scotland
• Unit Head, DG Exchequer 
• Unit Head, DG Education and Justice
• Deputy Director, DG Corporate 
• Deputy Director, DG Health and Social Care
• Communications Team Lead, DG Corporate
• Unit Head, DG Health and Social Care 
• Deputy Director, Social Security Scotland
• Deputy Director, DG Net Zero
• Deputy Director, DG Education and Justice
• Communications Manager, DG Corporate
• Team Leader, DG Health & Social Care
• Director of Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights, DG Communities
• Deputy Director, DG Corporate 
• Deputy Director, DG Corporate
• Policy Officer, DG Health & Social Care
• Local Government Pay and Workforce Lead, DG Communities
• Director, Economy
• Director, DG Corporate
• Senior Policy Advisor, DG Communities 
• Strategy & Coordination Lead, DG Communities
• Strategy & Coordination Officer, DG Communities

Items and actions

Introduction 

The Chair welcomed members to the group.

Minutes 

Members approved the minutes from last meeting. 
The Chair highlighted that minutes from July to November 2025 have now been published on the website. 

Pre-Election Update

An update was given on the pre‑election period and its potential implications for the group’s work.

Legal update

An update was given on recent developments and activity taking place in the following weeks.  

Update from DG areas 

High level updates were provided by representatives from DGs:

• Health
• Education
• Justice
• Local Government
• Corporate
• Social Security Scotland

Update from Communications 

Communications colleagues provided an overview of upcoming work.

SSI (Scottish Statutory Instrument) Hate Crime Update

A brief update was provided on the SSI to add sex as a characteristic to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 with further information to be circulated to the group.

AOB and Close 

The Chair brought the meeting to a close, thanking members for their contributions.

Actions

• Note to be shared with members on the SSI to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.
• Members reminded to update the pre-election tracker with material that may be impacted by the forthcoming pre-election period.