The Scottish Government remains committed to the current GP contract that was agreed with the Scottish GP Committee (SGPC) of the British Medical Association in 2018, and to ensuring the stability and sustainability of general practice. We continue to regularly discuss the contract with SGPC and other stakeholders.

The Scottish Government published its response to Dr Colin Church’s second and final report on 5 May 2023, which focused on options to decarbonise residual waste infrastructure in Scotland.

We welcomed the report’s recommendations in supporting the continued reduction of emissions associated with waste, whilst also recognising Dr Church’s observation that “properly regulated incineration has an important role to play as part of the waste hierarchy in managing Scotland’s unavoidable, unrecyclable residual waste in a sanitary manner”.

We acknowledge of course that the residual waste sector is a complex system and, in accordance with Dr Church’s Recommendation 1, our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map (published in December 2024) sets out a series of ongoing and future policy commitments to achieve Dr Church’s Recommendation 1 (i.e. “rapidly seek further reductions in the proportion of recyclable materials in the residual waste stream”).

This includes policies such as banning single use plastic items, the implementation of the packaging extended producer responsibility scheme and a new co-designed statutory Code of Practice for household waste and recycling.

In its May 2023 response, the Scottish Government accepted Recommendation 17 in principle. While the Scottish Government agrees that phasing out the incineration of plastic waste is key to decarbonisation, our approach must be balanced, as banning it outright could lead to an increase in inappropriate disposal.

Our Route Map commitments will help to deliver increased reuse and recycling in accordance with our Circular Economy goals and help drive the reduction in fossil-based plastics going to incineration.

The proposed ETS expansion is part of a whole-system approach set out in the final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, making incineration a less attractive waste treatment method while limiting the production of plastic upstream and increasing its removal from the waste stream prior to incineration.

Supporting policies include the ban on certain Single Use Plastic Items, implementation of an Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme this year and the commitment to require kerbside collection of plastic film and flexible packaging.

The Scottish Government is aware that the best way to mitigate ETS costs is to produce less waste and we will continue to work to put policies in place that reduce fossil-based waste in the residual waste stream.

That is why the primary focus of the Scottish Government continues to be on transitioning to a circular economy and preventing waste from occurring in the first place.

The SPCB’s approach to partnerships and accreditations is governed by our Diversity and Inclusion commitments and aims. The SPCB assesses accreditations having regard to issues such as budget and resource implications (including staff time to achieve the accreditation), alignment with the SPCB’s purpose and values, and the extent to which the accreditation supports the delivery of strategic aims and alignment with our policies, practices and procedures. While the SPCB does not intend to apply for Period Positive Workplace certification at this time, the SPCB is confident, having reviewed the Period Positive Workplace implementation plan, that it already has arrangements in place which are recognised as best practice for an inclusive, period positive workplace. This includes providing free period products in all toilets within Holyrood, a Period and Menopause policy and guidance for managers in supporting their staff. In order to ensure that this continues to be the case, the SPCB is committed to reviewing its Period and Menopause Policy so that it continues to meet the needs of its staff.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission is aiming to publish its report on the welfare of cleaner fish used in the Scottish salmon industry by the summer. It had been hoped that the report would be ready by the end of 2024, but research has taken longer than originally anticipated.

I undertake regular engagement with Scotland’s national education bodies and teaching professional associations at Chief Executive/General Secretary and official level. Details of these engagements are published on the Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts register.

Progress with investment plans is included in my regular discussions with the Scottish Rail Holdings Group of companies and I met with ScotRail representatives on 27 February 2025. Transport Scotland officials meet regularly with ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper and Scottish Rail Holdings to discuss any plans to replace existing rolling stock.

In 1999 there were 2,293 primary schools and in 2024 there were 1,978 primary schools.

In 1999 there were 389 secondary schools and in 2024 there were 360 secondary schools.

In 1999 there were 195 special schools and in 2024 there were 107 special schools. However, since 2018 special schools with no pupils on the roll have no longer been included in the figure, which at the time resulted in a reduction of 21 schools.

The latest data by local authority (and nationally) is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/.Table 5.1 shows the data overall, Table 6.1 shows the data for Primary schools, Table 7.1 shows the data for Secondary schools and Table 8.1 shows the data for Special schools.

More detailed information about school openings, closures, mergers and instances where a school has been mothballed can be found on the school contact details spreadsheet in the 'Schools opened or closed' tab: School contact details - gov.scot, but recording of this data is only available from 2007 onwards.

This information is not held centrally.

The UK ETS is jointly governed by the UK ETS Authority (‘the Authority'), comprising Scottish, UK and Welsh Governments and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.

The Authority is currently in the process of analysing the results from a recent consultation and developing policy positions. Following this period of analysis, an Authority response will be published in due course, which will provide further details on the outcome of the consultation and policy positions for all Scottish partners.

We are aware that Scottish local authorities (LAs) are in a different position to the rest of the UK, given the introduction of the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste, due to come into force on 31 December 2025. This differing position for Scottish partners is foremost in our consideration of related policies in this area.

In order to reflect this, a provisional analysis set out in the analytical annex of the recent consultation noted that if all household waste that currently goes to landfill in Scotland was to be redirected to incineration because of the landfill ban, total costs for all Scottish LAs could increase to £40million.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to working with COSLA on future ETS cost projections. We continue to work closely with Local Authorities, through our SG-LG group, on circular economy related issues.