- Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many 18- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are not in receipt of out-of-work benefits, including what reasons they give for their NEET status.
Answer
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS) is the main source for Labour Market Indicators more detailed characteristics. The ONS state there are concerns with the quality of the APS estimates for smaller groups of the population. Therefore, it is not possible to produce robust estimates of the number of people aged 18 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training and not receiving out-of-work benefits from this source.
The Annual Participation Measure published by Skills Development Scotland provides estimates for 16 to 19 year olds not participating in education, employment or training by age and reason for not participating. In 2025, the SDS Annual Participation Measure estimates that 6,758 people aged 18 to 19 in Scotland were not participating in education, employment, or training. The status for those not participating in education, employment or training are included in Table 1.1b: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/appbneac/2025-annual-participation-measure-supplementary-tables.xlsx.
- Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) 16- to 17-,
(ii) 18- to 20-, (iii) 21- to 23- and (iv) 24-year-olds are classified as not
being in employment, education or training (NEET).
Answer
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS) is the main source for Labour Market Indicators for detailed characteristics. The ONS state there are concerns with the quality of the APS estimates for smaller groups of the population. Therefore, it is not possible to produce robust estimates of the number of people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training by age group from this source.
The Annual Participation Measure published by Skills Development Scotland provides estimates for 16 to 19 year olds not participating in education, employment or training by age.
In 2025, the SDS Annual Participation Measure estimates that:
- 2,152 people aged 16 to 17 in Scotland were not participating in education, employment, or training (1.8% of 16 to 17 year olds)
- 6,758 people aged 18 to 19 in Scotland were not participating in education, employment, or training (6.1% of 18 to 19 year olds)
- Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support local authorities in improving Scottish timber transportation infrastructure.
Answer
Scottish Forestry operates a Strategic Timber Transport Scheme to support timber transport infrastructure improvements. Most recently, on 10 July, it announced that £900,000 has been allocated to 9 local authority projects this year. These projects are co-funded by the local authorities which include Highland Council, Scottish Borders Council, Argyll and Bute Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Ayrshire Roads Alliance. Another £945,000 this year is supporting the shipping of timber from Argyll to Ayrshire thereby removing approximately 75,000 tonnes from roads in those areas.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many specialist advisers are directly employed to provide advice and support through Cooperative Development Scotland.
Answer
These are operational matters for Scottish Enterprise. I am advised by Scottish Enterprise that it employs two specialists advisors within the Cooperative Development Scotland team; one for employee ownership and one for co-operative models.
- Asked by: Duncan Dunlop, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop national training programmes to support educators to identify and respond to children's needs, and what funding and resources it will provide to ensure that staff across nurseries, schools and colleges receive such training.
Answer
Scotland’s education system is designed to be inclusive for all children and young people, with or without additional support needs(ASNs).
In Early Years provision, the recent National Occupational Standards review is informing the redevelopment of qualifications and associated learning resources to ensure those entering and working within the profession develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to support children's learning, development and wellbeing, including identifying and responding to diverse ASNs.
The Scottish Government also worked with the Scottish Social Services Council to develop an online professional learning portal specifically for childcare professionals.
In schools, every teacher is trained to assist those with ASNs to meet professional registration standards as part of Initial Teacher Education. In addition, teachers and school staff have access to Education Scotland’s Inclusion Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework.
We are investing a further £29 million this year to support ASN staff. This is in addition to the record local authority spend on ASN of nearly £1.1 billion in 2024-25.
The National ASN Data Improvement Programme is focusing on improving the consistency of how additional support needs are identified and recorded across Scotland. As part of this work, the Scottish Government is working with local authorities and national partners to develop and deliver professional learning and guidance to support staff in identifying and responding to additional support needs.
Colleges work closely with schools and other relevant agencies to ensure children accessing further education benefit from an inclusive learning environment that supports the needs of a diverse range of learners. Operational decisions, such as staff training requirements to enable colleges to fulfil legal and wider duties, is the responsibility of individual colleges.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to build on these professional learning opportunities during this parliamentary session.
- Asked by: Duncan Dunlop, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government's plan to set out "evidence informed approaches for educators to identify and support children with additional needs, including for autistic children with a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile", whether it will adopt a similar approach.
Answer
In Scotland, the existing additional support for learning framework is well established and considered the right approach for our children.
Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning)(Scotland) Act 2004 education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional needs of their pupils including those with a Pathological Demand Avoidance profile.
Support should be evidence led and we have worked closely with partners to develop resources for teachers such as the Autism Toolbox. The toolbox provides a range of information and guidance to support the education of autistic learners. We have also created resources to support universities teaching their students about autism and how best to support autistic children and young people in schools. We will continue to work with education partners and the wider autistic community to consider and develop new areas of work to improve the support on offer to autistic children and young people.
An expert review into Additional Support for Learning carried out in 2026 by Professional Education Advisor Janie McManus included a recommendation for a new National Staged Intervention model. This will help set clearer expectations for early intervention and stronger pathways to support across education, health and social care services. I will set out the Scottish Government’s route map for delivering this work in due course.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential economic impact on Scotland and the UK's ongoing trade negotiations with the EU, what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding retaining the UK's ability to set import controls on animal welfare grounds, for example to ban fur imports and sales.
Answer
The Scottish Government has long called for an effective Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Veterinary agreement to achieve some level of return to smoother, pre-Brexit, agri-food trade arrangements.
The Scottish Government welcomed the 19 May 2025 announcements (where the SPS outline agreement was described as part of the wider UK-EU reset summit and in a Common Understanding Document) – with the detail of the agreement yet to be finalized. Scottish Government officials have engaged with UK Government counterparts throughout the process on a range of issues, including animal welfare related matters.
The negotiations had been expected to conclude in advance of the UK-EU Summit, originally scheduled for the end of the month. However, following the resignation of the UK Prime Minister, the Summit has been postponed. Consequently, no further formal rounds of negotiation are expected to take place before September.
- Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to respond to the recommendation in the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission's Exotic Pet Working Group: final report, published on 11 November 2022, to introduce a permitted list of species that can legally be kept as pets in order to address animal welfare issues associated with the trade and keeping of exotic pets.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the growing sales and ownership of non-traditional and so-called exotic pets but that the full details of this are not easily gathered. We are also aware of campaigns by NGOs as well as SAWC’s historical reports, recommending the introduction of a permitted or positive list system for the keeping of pets in Scotland.
While we acknowledge reports of certain negative welfare outcomes associated with exotic pet ownership, we equally acknowledge that with the right owner education, such species can often be kept under good welfare conditions and in certain cases some species may be kept and bred for important conservation purposes.
At this time, we have no plans to introduce a permitted/positive list system, but we will continue to hold discussions with stakeholders and consider any and all relevant information in this area.
- Asked by: Duncan Dunlop, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to revise guidance to local authorities on supporting autistic children with a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile.
Answer
Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional needs of their pupils including those with a Pathological Demand Avoidance profile.
Support should be evidence led and we have worked closely with partners to develop resources for teachers such as the Autism Toolbox. The toolbox provides a range of information and guidance to support the education of autistic learners. We have also created resources to support universities teaching their students about autism and how best to support autistic children and young people in schools. We will continue to work with education partners and the wider autistic community to consider and develop new areas of work to improve the support on offer to autistic children and young people.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses and people have been supported by Cooperative Development Scotland in each year since 2021-22.
Answer
These are operational matters for Scottish Enterprise. I am advised by Scottish Enterprise that, since 2021-22, Cooperative Development Scotland has provided direct support to a total of 199 employee-owned companies and 94 co-operatives.
The following table shows the number of employee-owned companies and co-operatives that received direct support in each financial year:
Year | Direct Support to Employee ownership companies | Direct Support for Co-operatives |
25-26 | 49 | 20 |
24-25 | 26 | 17 |
23-24 | 30 | 18 |
22-23 | 50 | 19 |
21-22 | 44 | 20 |
