Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s national guidance on mobile phones in schools supports schools and local authorities to put in place approaches that best meet the needs of their pupils and communities.

Decisions on whether to introduce measures such as lockable pouches remain a matter for individual schools and local authorities. Restrictions currently vary across Scotland, and the use of lockable pouches is one option that can be considered by local authorities as part of their wider engagement and assessment work.

Transport Scotland is committed to undertaking a complete procurement via the Restricted Procedure. Due attention is being given to the cost to the public purse as the specification is being developed, the impact of which will be limited by an effective tender process. There are expected to be time and resource savings through the use of the Restricted Procedure.

The Scottish Government does not intend to prepare a public sector bid for the Northern Isles Ferry Services 4 contract. Candidates invited to submit a tender will be selected using the Single Procurement Document process in accordance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

RSHP education is designed to help children and young people build positive relationships as they grow older and should present facts in an objective, balanced and sensitive manner within the framework of curricular values and an awareness of the law. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality RSHP education, which is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the curriculum. Revised statutory RSHP teaching guidance was published in February 2026 which reinforces age and stage appropriate content and learning.

Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is the national approach to learning and teaching for young people aged 3 to 18 and is underpinned by the values of wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity. CfE provides learners with a range of personalised learning experiences based on internationally agreed standards and research evidence on age appropriate education which children and young people need as they grow and develop into adolescence and young adulthood. Education Scotland has been leading on development and delivery of the new Curriculum Improvement Cycle, a planned and systemic approach to strengthening the curriculum to ensure it remains forward looking and supports more consistent teaching and learning experiences and improved attainment and achievement of our children and young people.

This universal design principle directly applies to RSHP lessons where teachers must ensure learning is accessible for all while accommodating diverse communication styles, processing speeds, and sensory profiles. Education Scotland’s neurodiversity resources published on their website provide teachers with help to support neurodivergent learners.

Breakfasts in Scotland are currently being delivered through a range of provisions, including Scottish Government, Local Authority and schools funded services as well as private and third sector services. Mapping carried out by the Improvement Service in 2024 demonstrates that almost 50% of primary schools in Scotland already deliver a breakfast offer.

This builds on our Programme for Government 2021 commitment to “develop plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children and to start pilot provision.

The school age childcare Programme has invested in delivery of funded breakfast clubs, after school clubs, and holiday clubs across this Parliamentary term to learn and understand what parents need to support work, and what children need to thrive with a strong focus on tackling poverty.

In 2025-26, we invested £3 million in our Bright Start Breakfasts fund which is currently supporting 20,000 children access breakfast across 490 clubs. In our 2026-27 Scottish Budget, we confirmed that we will continue to invest in the Bright Start Breakfasts Fund for delivery across the 2026-27 academic year.

As part of that delivery we will provide an additional £15 million in 2026-27 to expand breakfast club provision and help schools, councils and third sector partners prepare for the introduction of a national breakfast club offer. Further, from 2027-28, we will invest £44 million each year to ensure that there is a free breakfast club universally available to all children in primary and special schools across Scotland from August 2027.

The following tables provide the number of injury road collisions on the A77 with the requested breakdowns.

Please note that figures for 2025 and 2026 are provisional, as they are based on monthly returns received thus far from Police Scotland, with the most recent returns being received on 11 March 2026. This may be an incomplete picture of casualties due to a slight lag between collisions occurring and the data being processed and shared by Police Scotland. These figures are also subject to change due to subsequent corrections and late records.

Personal Injury collisions on the A77

I have consistently said that this Government was prepared to give every consideration to an Inquiry in Scotland if we felt it necessary. We now feel it is and this conclusion was reached after careful consideration.

I have had significant engagement over the past few months with MSPs, Police Scotland, Alexis Jay, and survivors on this important issue.

A statutory inquiry will offer further independent scrutiny that is both substantive and visibly distinct. I believe that this visibility is now critical to maintaining public confidence and encouraging openness and participation from victims and survivors.

In addition, engaging survivors in the development of child sexual abuse and exploitation policy and practice is a key priority. We have already announced work to be taken forward with survivors, and the creation of a Truth Project will build on that through a meaningful process.

The Scottish Government is aware of the decision made by the proprietors to close Fernhill School, and recognises the impact this has for pupils, families, staff, and the wider school community.

The Registrar for Independent Schools has been in contact with the school, which will remain open until the end of this academic session, and has received assurance that relevant local authorities have been notified of the closure and that the school is supporting pupils and families in making arrangements for next year.

Qualifications Scotland has also been engaging with Fernhill School to ensure that young people undertaking their qualifications are being appropriately supported, and the Registrar and HM Inspectors will continue to engage with the school to provide advice and support as necessary.

The Scottish Government takes matters of food security and resilience very seriously. Work is underway on the inaugural food security statement which will have regard to the recently published Rural Support Plan. That statement will build on the package of measures we are already taking to support food production including maintaining direct support for farmers and crofters in stark contrast to policies in other parts of the UK.

The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 (the 2024 Act) requires Scottish Ministers to make a statement on food security at least every three years, from the Act’s entry into force on 16 June 2025.

The Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools Guidance provides a range of non-statutory guidance in relation to policy, practice and legal requirements which education authorities and schools may wish to consider, in fulfilling their responsibilities to support Transgender pupils, as part of their duties to provide education and support pupils within their school communities. The policy position on support for pupils, including Transgender pupils, is already clearly set out within the guidance document. The guidance was reviewed between April and September 2025 with revised guidance being published in September 2025. There are no plans to review the guidance at this time.