Chamber and committees

I fully appreciate the need to get bookings released in good time so that businesses and individuals can plan ahead. The Northern Isles Ferry Services contract stipulates that the May CPI rate, which is normally published in June, is used as the basis for the following year’s fares increase together with any other cost pressures such as energy and staff wage increase. We will aim to confirm fares as soon as possible thereafter to allow bookings to be opened as early as possible.

The latest Graduate Apprenticeship statistics are available on the Skills Development Scotland website covering the 2021-22 academic year - https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/graduate-apprenticeships

Information broken down by age can be found within the publication in Table 4.

Prior qualification by SCQF level is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or included in the above publication.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35689 on 27 March 2025. 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 does not have any plans to review the legal status of first-cousin marriages in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the disruption a homeless household can experience when placed in temporary accommodation, and is aware of the problems that can arise if accommodation is located too far from the household’s employment, education and health services.

The Unsuitable Accommodation Order states that accommodation is unsuitable if it is not in the locality of facilities and services for the purposes of health and education which are being used, or might reasonably be expected to be used, by members of the household. The exception to this is if those facilities are reasonably accessible from the accommodation, taking into account the distance of travel by public transport or transport provided by a local authority.

It can be challenging for local authorities to place homeless households close to existing family and social networks due to the location of available properties and the high demand in particular areas. The risk assessment conducted as part of the housing support service and allocation process informs the offers of accommodation made.

Local authorities make efforts to accommodate homeless households so they can access the same services or types of services they have previously used. While it is preferable for households to continue to access the same facilities as they have in the past, this is not always possible. The Scottish Government’s code of guidance on homelessness makes clear that it is acceptable for local authorities to offer households access to similar facilities.

The service standards in the temporary accommodation standards framework states that local authorities should assess the needs of all members of the household. Assessments should be followed up with referrals and support to enable the household to engage with the relevant housing, health, education, social care service and independent advice services.

The temporary accommodation standards framework also states that local authorities should offer support to enable households to access information and appropriate services, including counselling, substance use, mental health, domestic abuse, medical, dental, optical and money/welfare advice services.

The Scottish Government is clear that temporary accommodation should be of a high standard and households living there should receive good quality support services that meet their needs. That is why the Scottish Government published the temporary accommodation standards framework in 2023. The framework sets out the physical, location, service and management standards to ensure that temporary accommodation is of good quality and is safe, warm and affordable.

Most households with children are placed in suitable temporary accommodation in the social rented sector. However, the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO) was extended in 2020 to ensure that no homeless household has to stay in unsuitable accommodation, such as hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, for more than seven days.

The numbers of households and time spent in temporary accommodation is too high, particularly for households with children, and the Scottish Government is taking decisive action to increase housing supply. We have provided funding of £80 million over this year and next, 80 per cent of which has been targeted to five local authorities with the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures. This funding is to increase the supply of social homes of the right type and size – including larger properties suitable for families – where the need is greatest. To date, this has supported local authorities to bring 1,000 homes back into use through acquisitions and to reduce the number of empty social homes.

The Scottish Government's Marine Directorate operates a 24hr on-call cadre of Spill Response Duty Officers (MD-DOs). The role coordinates the environmental and public health response to any pollution event, or potential pollution event, in Scottish marine waters. Duty Officers are contacted regularly about incidents in Scottish and wider UK waters through the circulation of POLREPS (Pollution Reports) and SITREPS (Situation Reports). On Monday 10 March 2025, The MD-DO was included in the circulation of a SITREP from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, detailing the initial circumstances of the allision between the vessels MV Solong and the MV Stena Immaculate. The MD-DO was informed at an early stage that there was little or no risk of pollution in or close to Scottish waters and that information was passed to Ministers. Further updates were circulated from the UK Government's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and also shared with Ministers. The final update was shared on 13 March 2025, when the incident had stabilised and the emergency response was well established.

The Budget has established the total operating cost for the next financial year and workforce plans will be adjusted accordingly, with an expectation that there will be reductions in the workforce.

The core Scottish Government has grown its workforce in the last decade in order to respond to newly devolved powers, such as Social Security, the impact of exiting the European Union, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since March 2022 the core Scottish Government has enhanced its recruitment controls and has been reducing its total workforce. This has decreased in each financial year, including the current financial year to date, with the reduction reaching 4% for the period from March 2022 to December 2024. In this period the workforce has been deployed to new priorities such as the establishment of ScotWind and to respond to the conflict in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.

The Scottish Government reviews the workforce size routinely in governance forums, alongside information on the delivery of the organisation and the financial position both of the portfolio and more specifically the operating cost. The delivery reviewed is both in terms of progressing the Programme for Government, as well as activities such as responding to Freedom of Information requests. It also includes the delivery of corporate services that are resourced from the core Scottish Government, and provided to many different public bodies.

These regular reviews ensures that there is an ongoing assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the workforce.