Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-03096 on 24 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02734 on 24 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.

The Scottish Government expects the same standards of behaviour of all people resident in Scotland.

Violence against women and girls is a fundamental violation of human rights and has no place in our vision for a safe, strong and successful Scotland. Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, recognises that such violence and abuse is not the preserve of one community but exists across Scotland. We must come together to tackle this blight on our society.

Scotland has a long history of welcoming people of all nationalities and faiths, including those seeking refuge and asylum, who enrich our nations fabric and help to make Scotland stronger.

We are committed to supporting New Scots integration into our communities and providing the safety and security they need as they begin to rebuild their lives.

Public procurement rules do not disadvantage domestic suppliers.

As required by international agreements, Scottish public procurement legislation places a duty on contracting authorities to treat bidders from the UK and countries with which a relevant agreement applies equally and without discrimination.

It also explicitly prohibits contracting authorities from awarding contracts on the basis of lowest cost or price only.

Policy decisions on non-domestic rates, including the poundage and any reliefs, are considered in the context of the Scottish Budget and in line with other government priorities.

To support businesses and communities, including the retail sector, the Scottish Budget 2026-27 decreased all three Property Rates for 2026-27, ensuring the lowest Basic Property Rate since 2018-19. This delivered a broadly revenue-neutral revaluation in real terms over the revaluation. In fact, as a result of the decisions in the budget and the additional relief announced at Stage One of the Budget Bill, the revenues raised from non-domestic rates are estimated to be 6% lower in real terms (using GDP) in 2026-27 than pre-COVID, despite the number of non-domestic properties increasing in that time.

Differences in rateable value growth at the 2026 revaluation between Scotland and England mean that it is no longer possible to directly compare tax rates between Scotland and England. By way of example, at the 2026 revaluation shops saw an increase in total rateable value of 6% in Scotland and 10% in England.

This difference in rateable value growth may be partly due to differences in the tone date for revaluation. The tone date is shorter in Scotland (one year before revaluation) than in England (where it is still two years before revaluation) following a recommendation of the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates which reported in 2017. This decision was widely welcomed by business and Parliament at the time. As a result, rateable values in Scotland reflect more up-to-date market conditions than in England.

The Budget also offered a relief package worth almost a billion pounds in 2026-27 including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK. Almost all (96%) of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in Scotland can benefit from some form of rates relief in 2026-27.

We will consider with interest the detail of the UK Government’s business rates policies for 2027-28 once these are announced, and the Deputy First Minister has written to the Finance and Public Administration Committee to confirm she will present the draft Scottish Budget 2027-28 to Parliament on Thursday 3 December 2026.

In November 2025, the Scottish Government published guidance on its Parent Club website, in line with World Health Organisation recommendations, in recognition that excessive screen time in early years can impact children's development, including their ability to concentrate and communicate.

The total spend to increase public awareness of the government’s programme was £102,467.90 of which £22,392 was spent on production and £80,075.90 on paid media.

Media costs are broken down by platform as requested;

Meta                        £43,602.38

Numodo (YouTube) £34,000.00

TikTok                      £2,473.52

Total                        £80,075.90

The largest level increases in the devolved public sector headcount over the year from March 2025 to March 2026 were in the NHS Scotland and Local Government workforces. Our priority is to protect the roles that deliver vital services to the public, focusing on enabling frontline workers to do what they do best, supported by more effective back-office systems and shared services.

Between March 2022 and March 2026, the core Scottish Government workforce reduced by 11.4%, including both directly employed FTE staff and contingent workers, as a result of enhanced recruitment controls being implemented and taking effect. These controls have driven a significant reduction in the size of the core Scottish Government civil service over the past four years and are now being rolled out more widely across public bodies.

Our commitment remains to deliver a managed reduction in the size of the public sector workforce through reform, efficiency and natural attrition, while protecting frontline services. The commitment to reduce headcount by an average of 0.5% per year applies across the five-year period and is not expected to be delivered on a linear basis. This reflects the fact that some workforce changes will require longer-term restructuring, including reforms to public bodies, health boards and local government set out in the Programme for Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-03102 on 24 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 outlined in the answers to questions S7W-01924, NHS Scotland is required to consider recommendations made by the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG). That remains unchanged. It is not for the Scottish Government to consider or accept those recommendations made by the SHTG for NHS Scotland.

NHS Boards are responsible for designing and delivering services to meet the needs of their local populations.

We continue to support NHS Scotland partners to develop their approach to build on these recommendations to inform sustainable, consistent and effective service delivery across Scotland.