Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally. Education Authorities should hold this information locally, given that the statutory responsibility for the delivery of Education rests with Local Authorities.

The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on average current spend on play per child in Scotland and does not hold such data for England or Wales.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children across Scotland can access high quality play opportunities in a range of settings that will aid their growth, development and wellbeing. In March 2025 we published Scotland’s Play Vision Statement and Action Plan 2025-2030 that builds on our 2013 play strategy and emphasises our commitment to play and our vision for the future of play in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is also making the following investments in programmes that support play opportunities for children across Scotland:

• £60 million to renew play parks during the course of this Parliamentary term;
• £500,000 in 2025/26 for the Outdoor Community Play Fund to increase play opportunities for children and families in disadvantaged communities;
• £1.8 million funding to Scottish Book Trust to deliver the Bookbug Programme in 2025-26;
• £645,000 funding to Smart Play Network for the delivery of PlayTalkRead programme in 2025-2026;
• £250,000 funding to Actify, Inspiring Scotland and partners to explore how the reach and impact of Active Play can be extended across Scotland;
• Through the CYPFEI & ALEC and CYPFAL third sector funds we fund organisations that promote play, such as Starcatchers (£157,500), Play Scotland (£210,000), Outside the Box (£34,125), Learning through Landscapes (£52,500) and the Yard (£94,500);
• In a joint initiative with the Scottish Football Association, £5.5 million to fund the ‘Extra Time Programme’ in 2025-2026, supporting local football clubs and trusts to provide before, after school and holiday clubs to targeted primary school children from low-income families.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

From 1 January to 19 October 2025 inclusive, there were 34 Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) application results where the processing time took longer than eight weeks.

Note 1: Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) applications from 1 April 2025 onwards, with the implementation of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020, represents: Level 2 PVG scheme disclosure (Join), Level 2 PVG scheme disclosure (Existing), Confirmation of PVG scheme membership (Join) and Confirmation of PVG scheme membership (Existing). Prior to 1 April 2025, PVG applications represents: Scheme Record Disclosure, Short Scheme Record Disclosure, Existing Scheme Record Disclosure and Statements of Scheme Membership.

Note 2: This figure relates to PVG applications completed between 1 January and 19 October 2025 inclusive, with a processing time greater than 56 days.

Note 3: The processing time for a completed application incorporates all time between an application being received by Disclosure Scotland, through to completion with a disclosure issued to the applicant. Disclosure Scotland deducts any time which the application was suspended on our system, such as being suspended for customer contact. Weekend days are included in the number of processing days for applications, but national holidays and Scottish Government public and privilege holidays are excluded.

The Scottish Government recognises that delays in securing permanence or adoption can negatively impact on children’s wellbeing.

We continue to work with organisations in Scotland to consider data and research on permanence, to understand where challenges remain, and what interventions are required to support positive change.

To promote consistent and effective practice in permanency, the Scottish Government commissioned the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA) Scotland to develop three national good practice guides on permanence in kinship care, foster care and adoption. These will be available in early 2026.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland received 25 formal complaints regarding errors in Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) disclosures in the period since 2021.

Children’s Hearings Scotland is responsible for the recruitment, training and retention of children’s hearings panel members and is assigned funding through the grant-in-aid process. It is a matter for the National Convener to allocate resource to the training of panel members. Grant-in-aid funding is detailed in CHS' annual report.

The Scottish Government values the commitment that adoptive families and practitioners make to providing safe, loving, nurturing homes for children and young people across Scotland.

We have awarded the following total funding since 2020 to the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA) Scotland; Adoption UK Scotland; St Andrew’s Children’s Society; Health In Mind; and Birthlink, who deliver services and support to adoptive families and practitioners:

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

15.8% of Disclosure Scotland’s total workforce is made up of agency or temporary employees. This is based on September full-time equivalent work figures and includes IT contractors as temporary employees.

There are currently 12 civil servants assigned to the core Promise team. Work to keep The Promise is cross portfolio and officials across Scottish Government are actively engaged in work to support delivery of the recommendations set out in The Promise.