Chamber and committees

Under the Free Fees Initiative of the Irish Government, Scottish-domiciled students may be eligible for free tuition fee funding for approved full-time undergraduate courses at higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland. Students still incur the cost of the annual student contribution charge.

The student contribution charge is not a tuition fee but is an additional charge to cover general costs such as student services, libraries, registration and examination fees at a higher education institution in the Republic of Ireland. Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) covers the student contribution fee on behalf of eligible Scottish-domiciled students undertaking an approved first-degree course at specified higher education institutions under a long-standing historical arrangement.

Scottish-domiciled students studying in the rest of the UK are required to pay the fees set by the UK Government. The Scottish Government has had to make a difficult decision therefore, that in order to continue free tuition in Scotland for Scottish-domiciled students, and as the majority of Scottish-domiciled students choose to study in Scotland, tuition fee loans will be offered to Scottish students who study in the rest of the UK.

All engagement with the CMA has been at official level as noted in the answer to question S7W-02577 on 11 September 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

As of 24 September 2026, over £8 million has been allocated to commercial developments, including £1.5 million for MiAlgae and £6.2 million for Celtic Renewables to establish and expand operations within the Grangemouth industrial cluster.

Funding allocated to community and third sector activity includes £90,000 to Forth Valley College to deliver the Future Skills: Pathways to Employment programme for people in the Grangemouth area. The programme provided accredited training, employability support, industry engagement and personal development opportunities.

The Grangemouth Just Transition Fund is a multi-year fund, and funding remains available within this year's budget for suitable commercial and community projects.

The Scottish Government anticipates the Scottish Building Safety Levy will raise £450 million over 15 years.

The Scottish Government has not made a specific assessment of the sector’s future role in skills development.

We recognise that apprenticeships play a vital role in giving young people a pathway into a rewarding career and providing a way for employers to invest in their workforce and we are committed to expanding our modern and graduate apprenticeship offer.

Engineering and energy-related frameworks accounted for 7.5% of new apprenticeship starts and 15.7% of all Modern Apprenticeships in training during 2025–26.

The Scottish Government provided around £198 million to support around 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeships (MA), 5,000 new Foundation Apprenticeships and 1,500 new Graduate Apprenticeships in 2024-25. We have also committed to supporting more than 150,000 apprenticeship opportunities over the course of this Parliament and to introducing an Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant.

On 1 September, the Programme for Government 2026-31 was published, focused on eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency, delivering high quality and sustainable public services. This set out our commitment to ‘produce a single national skills plan for Scotland by Spring 2027, aligning skills investment with economic need and opportunities, supporting the green and digital transitions, boosting productivity and creating clearer pathways into well paid and sustainable jobs.’

We want to enable people at all stages of their lives to have the opportunity and means to develop the skills, knowledge and attributes to realise their potential and to make a meaningful contribution to society and the economy. The plan will provide a strategic framework to align skills provision with economic need, strengthen employer engagement, support people throughout their working lives, towards ensuring Scotland has the required skills base for our future economy.

We have not held specific discussions with industry about the future of the workforce at Dounreay.

The final amount spent on working together towards a LDAN Bill - current proposals for potential Bill provisions' published in March 2026 was £7,203.01.

The Scottish Government is committed to the Just Transition of the Grangemouth cluster and surrounding community. Given the scale and complexity of the industrial cluster, Scottish Enterprise is currently procuring a consultant to deliver the Grangemouth Strategic Spatial Framework. This commission is intended to provide a practical, infrastructure-led and investment-focused tool to support decision-making around land, infrastructure, sequencing and investment readiness.

Whilst the potential to recover industrial waste heat for heat networks is not a specific focus of this commission, it is one of a number of opportunities that may be informed by the findings of the study.

The management of the police estate - including the operation, capacity and availability of custody and holding cell facilities - is an operational matter for Police Scotland under the direction of the Chief Constable.

Police Scotland is undertaking work to assess custody demand and capacity requirements across its estate, to ensure facilities continue to support the effective and safe delivery of policing services. This is part of a strategic transformation initiative which aligns with the Estate Strategy Vision for an estate that is effective, sustainable, accessible and inclusive, as well as the wider 2030 Vision.