Chamber and committees

On 9 April, the Minister for Business and Employment met the vice president of PetroChina and the China National Petroleum Cooperation to discuss our shared ambitions for the future of the Grangemouth refinery site. It was agreed that the Scottish Government and PetroChina will continue to explore all routes to deployment of new industrial and employment opportunities at Grangemouth.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as local authorities are the employer of school staff. Local authorities may hold this information.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS have proactively shared the data analysis for those released early in 2024, and the full breakdown can be accessed on our website here Data, Research and Evidence | Scottish Prison Service.

The offence categories analysed were in line with the Index Offence Derivation which does not include crimes against women. Further information on recognised offence categories can be found here CellWise Data Construction - Scottish prison population statistics technical manual - gov.scot.

Details of the remuneration and pension benefits of Board members of Ferguson Marine are published annually in the Remuneration and Staff Report section of the Annual Report and Financial Statements of Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Holdings Ltd, which is available from the Companies House website.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS have proactively shared the data analysis for those released under the early release scheme between February and March 2025, and the full breakdown can be accessed on our website here Data, Research and Evidence | Scottish Prison Service.

The offence categories analysed were in line with Scottish Governments official Index Offence statistics. There were 152 individuals released during this process with offences within the Nonsexual crimes of violence category.

The Scottish Government recognises the governance challenges highlighted in Audit Scotland’s NHS in Scotland: Spotlight on Governance report and is committed to a continuous improvement approach to strengthening Board effectiveness, transparency and accountability. This includes for example, a refreshed Model Framework and strengthened national oversight mechanisms.

We are also embedding the principles of the NHS Scotland Service Renewal Framework and the Population Health Framework to support more joined-up, preventative, and locally accountable decision-making. These measures aim to ensure NHS Boards are equipped to lead transformational change and deliver improved outcomes for patients and communities.

The Scottish Government acknowledges Audit Scotland’s observation and is committed to ensuring that the governance framework for NHS Boards enables effective planning and delivery of reform. The recently published NHS Scotland Service Renewal Framework and Population Health Framework are key to supporting Boards to take a longer-term, whole-system view, with a greater focus on prevention, place-based care, and service redesign. These frameworks alongside our Operational Improvement Plan and are designed to reduce duplication, support local flexibility and strengthen alignment between national priorities and local delivery.

We continue to work closely with NHS Boards to identify and remove barriers to strategic decision-making that improves outcomes for patients and communities in Scotland.

Scottish Development International prioritised 26 international markets as set out in our export strategy, A Trading Nation, which is available on the gov.scot website. At the time of publication in 2019, these 26 markets account for 80% of strongest export growth opportunities.

The Scottish Government remain deeply concerned about the current financial pressures facing the social care sector. We fully recognise the anxiety and growing concerns within the social care sector in light of the increasing financial viability pressures.

These pressures have been caused by recent policy decisions made by the UK Government, including the rise in employer National Insurance Contributions, increases in salary threshold levels and adjustments to the social care visa system, all of which have direct and significant implications for the sector’s workforce and financial sustainability.

The Scottish Government has been pressing the UK Government at every opportunity to reverse these decisions, which are potentially catastrophic for the social care sector in Scotland. Despite the lack of engagement from the UK Government, Scottish Government officials have undertaken a significant programme of work to consider how to respond to the current financial viability pressures in the sector, and to understand the impact that these challenges will have. The Scottish Government initially established the eNICS Working Group in February 2025, which has since developed into the Financial Viability Response Group (FVRG).

The FVRG includes representatives from COSLA, from Health and Social Care Partnerships, SOLACE, Scottish Care, CCPS and the SSSC and it meets weekly, subject to progress.

This includes ongoing engagement with local leaders through the Collaborative Response and Assurance Group (CRAG), alongside regular monthly roundtable discussions involving Scottish Ministers, COSLA, and other key partners. In addition, we are continuing to evaluate both the immediate and longer-term impacts of these changes on care providers, service delivery, and the social care workforce.

Our shared goal is to identify, understand and manage the immediate risks effectively, while also laying the groundwork for a more resilient and sustainable social care system in Scotland. This will be an ongoing process with a number of options under consideration, and we value the collaboration and insight of all stakeholders as we navigate these complex challenges together.

While we will continue to provide as much support as possible to the sector, we are also confident in the ability of our local partners to ensure that appropriate contingency planning is being undertaken effectively and to respond to both national and local level pressures.

Local Authorities, Integration Authorities, and NHS Boards each play a key role in developing contingency plans at the local level. As Category One Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act, they undertake significant and robust planning and preparation, in order to fully respond effectively to a range of scenarios.

The figures published by Scottish Government on 5 June (available here: Key points - Scotland’s cladding remediation estimates: June 2025 - gov.scot) are estimates of the number of residential buildings in Scotland 11 metres or more in height, across all forms of residential ownership, which may require work to bring the building to a tolerable level of risk. As noted in the publication, data quality and the assumptions used could overstate or understate the actual numbers. They represent our current best estimates, and will be subject to change as more information becomes available. They are not based on a specific list of buildings that have been identified as needing work.

The Cladding Remediation Programme is our response to this challenge. Following the coming into effect of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 at the start of this year, we published on 25 March a Plan of Action setting how we would increase the pace and breadth of that programme. On the same day we launched the first stage of the Single Open Call (SOC), backed by £10m funding, to support building owners in commissioning assessments of their buildings. There has been a positive response to this scheme. We will shortly be launching the second stage of this scheme, supporting mitigation and remediation, and publishing a report on progress and an updated Plan of Action.

We have also sought information from Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords about the status of buildings within their ownership, and encouraging them to apply to the Single Open Call where required. We are following up on this information to seek assurance that appropriate action is being taken. In relation to those properties for which developers are responsible, we are seeking an early conclusion to negotiations on a Developer Remediation Contract, to enable those developers to take forward necessary works.