Assumed council tax revenues are a key element of the needs-based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities each year.

An Assumed Council Tax of £911 at Band D has been included in the calculation of the 85% funding floor since the 85% Floor was introduced in the 2012-13 Settlement (see Annex I of Local Government Finance Circular 11/2011).

Local Government Finance officials would be happy to meet with you to discuss the assumed council tax calculation in more detail, if required.

The 85% funding floor is a key element of the needs-based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities each year.

To apply the 85% funding floor, the Scottish Government first calculates the total funding in the Local Government Finance settlement, per person, for each local authority and for Scotland as a whole. The total funding includes General Revenue Grant, Non-Domestic Rates, Specific Grants, and an Assumed Council Tax level of £911 at Band D.

Funding for all local authorities in Scotland is included in the calculation of the 85% Floor although the contribution of the three island councils and Argyll and Bute to the average calculation, is capped at 115%.

The capping adjustment has no effect on funding actually provided to those four authorities and it only applies for the purpose of calculating the average, in part to mitigate the risk that the Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) has a distortive impact on the calculation.

The weighted average including these adjusted figures is then calculated to obtain a new Scotland average. As the local authorities with more than 115% of the Scotland total are small, the capping adjustment does not have a significant impact on the calculated average.

If any local authorities’ per-head support is less than 85% of this adjusted average, additional funding is provided to lift that local authority up to the 85% floor.

Local Government Finance officials would be happy to meet with you to discuss the calculation in more detail, if required.

NatureScot has discussed training and the challenges of ensuring that all those who need to be trained can undertake training ahead of the next muirburn season with the Muirburn Code Working Group. The Group, which is made up wide-range of relevant stakeholders, also includes training providers.

For the first year of muirburn licences, only the online knowledge-based training will be required. The intention is that practical elements will be required before a licence is issued in future years. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as this develops.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information because the statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining the school estate rests with local authorities.

However, through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with substantial funding support to modernise their school estate, and also includes replacements for schools which were significantly damaged by deliberate fires. For example, we will provide funding support of £25.8m for a replacement Peebles High School in the Scottish Borders, and £40.2m for the new Greenfield Academy in Dundee which will replace Braeview Academy and Craigie High School.

NHS Education for Scotland provide a range of resources and training programmes for GPs and the current GP curriculum comprehensively covers gastrointestinal issues.

A new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched on 30 April 2024 in NHS Scotland, supported by NES. Gateway C provides innovative and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making. This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.

We have also funded the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) with a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) care, which is being taken forward through the MPPP’s National Gastroenterology Speciality Delivery Group (SDG). They have developed a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland which was published in January 2025: inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd-pathway.pdf. The Gastroenterology SDG is also developing a lower gastrointestinal pathway which will provide primary care guidance about testing and diagnosis for people with IBD and Coeliac Disease in Scotland.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer have also been developed to support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist. A clinical refresh of these guidance is underway to help ensure the right person is on the right pathway at the right time and includes updated guidance for colorectal and Upper GI cancers.

NatureScot is not planning to remove the practical element from the muirburn training. Practical training is an important part of muirburn training and the Scottish Government encourage all practitioners to undertake this as soon as they are able. However, we also recognise that it is possible that everyone who needs to undertake the practical training may not be able to do so before the end of the current muirburn season. This is because of limited training capacity, possible adverse weather and numbers of individuals requiring training.

NatureScot therefore propose to introduce a transitional period during 2025-26 and allow the granting of a licence on the completion of the knowledge-based training, with a requirement for the practitioner to complete the practical element within a specified period. In future years NatureScot will require completion of the practical element before a licence is granted.

The first year of muirburn licencing will be a transitional year, which will require only online knowledge-based training. This prevents any delays as a result of access to training.

Requiring the knowledge-based online training will help enforce current standards, clarify where it is appropriate burn and how to do so safely. A grace period would mean that muirburn could be carried out in the 2025 season by people with no training whatsoever. The transitional approach we are proposing means that all practitioners must have completed the knowledge-based element and a large proportion will have completed the practical element also. By the 2026 season all practitioners will have to have completed both elements of the training.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living with gastrointestinal conditions and symptoms in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Information and guidance on gastrointestinal conditions and symptoms such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease including crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is already widely available to the public via the NHS Inform website: Scottish health information you can trust | NHS inform and we have no plans to commit to a campaign at this time.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study on infant formula and follow-on formula. Parents need to be able to make fully informed infant feeding choices. Where a family chooses to formula feed, the cost of essential food for babies should not be out of reach.

Scottish Government will work with UK partners to consider the Competition and Markets Authority’s recommendations, including how they relate to Scotland.

a) Scottish Government has not made any budget provision in this or future years to underwrite private investment in nature restoration.

b) No capital allocation has been made in the 2025-26 budget to pilot blended finance models in nature recovery. Any payments associated with it will not finalised until the pilot progresses. Resource to take forward the pilot will be from within existing staff time.

There may be contingent liability implications to the agreements entered into as a part piloting blended finance models for nature restoration and these will be managed in line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual.