Chamber and committees

Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods applications and payments.

Since the introduction of the School Age Payment in June 2019, 123,140 payments with a combined value of £34,086,106 were paid to eligible clients throughout Scotland by 30 September 2024.

Whilst the latest statistics do not contain the number of payments issued broken down by local authority area, the total value of payments issued to clients in Aberdeen City was £1,065,673 over the same period.

The next Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods publication, covering the period to the end of December 2024, will be published on 25 February 2025.

Since the introduction of Best Start Foods, 107,428 Best Start Foods cards have been issued across Scotland. Of these cards, 3,545 have been issued to clients in Aberdeen City area.

These figures include each new card from August 2019 to the 10 January 2025 and include all cards issued. These include re-issues to the same client if required due to lost, damaged, or expired cards.

Best Start Food card volumes are not featured in our regular Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods publication. These figures have been compiled in response to this request and include dates not yet covered in our latest statistics.

The next Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods publication, covering the period to 31 December 2024, will be published on 25 February 2025.

Ferguson Marine is responsible for its own commercial decision making, including which contract opportunities to pursue. The Scottish Government is working to support the business and secure a sustainable future given the importance of Ferguson Marine to the local economy and commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde.

This Government is committed to continuing to help crofters and their families to live on and work their croft, contributing to the sustainability of our rural and island communities.

*Figures are broken down by the Rural Payments and Inspections Division by area not by local authority area.

The Scottish Government owns two bicycles, and we do not lease any bicycles.

Our bicycles are for use in campaign marketing in respect of Net Zero messages, and are not made available to staff for use on official business.

At present the only existing licence condition applied by NatureScot for Schedule 1 species is for disturbance of any such species where the work is to be undertaken on a National Nature Reserve (NNR). This condition requires prior land owner notification before the work is carried out. No work authorised by this licence may be undertaken on a NNR without the prior permission of the NatureScot NNR Manager.

NatureScot intend to introduce a new condition to schedule 1 disturbance licences that will require prior land owner notification on all land for the forthcoming monitoring season.

Information listing the location and opening hours of all Changing Places facilities, including those within railway stations is available from the Changing Places Toilet website. For Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central stations, this is available on Network Rail’s website.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.

Since March 2021 and each financial year thereafter, the following number of people aged 16-years and over resident in Scotland have registered an opt out decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register:

2021-22 17,539

2022-23 12,264

2023-24 4,558

2024-25* 3,514

*1 April - 29 December 2024

As at 29 December 2024, the total number of people resident in Scotland, aged 16-years and over, who have registered an opt in decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register since its inception is 2,738,077.