Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s assessment of changes in classroom behaviour since 2020 is primarily informed by the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR), which provides robust, nationally representative evidence on behaviour in Scottish schools.

BISSR is externally commissioned research and has been undertaken in five waves to date: 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2023. This programme of research provides the Scottish Government with a robust evidence base to understand changes in pupil behaviour and to inform the development of policy and practice.

The Scottish Government has provided record funding to local authorities for 2026–27. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on antisocial behaviour, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government complements this with specific national community safety interventions, for example, record funding for Phase 7 of CashBack for Communities, which supports diversionary activities for young people across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on complaints recorded by Police Scotland.

The number of complaints recorded by local authorities concerning antisocial behaviour is also not held by the Scottish Government.

Under section 1 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 local authorities and Police Scotland are under a legal duty to maintain a strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour in their area. This enables a partnership approach that can take account of emerging trends and comparators.

The First Minister has appointed a leaner Cabinet and ministerial team to enable greater co-ordination and effectiveness with a clear focus on long-term outcomes, underpinned by collaboration across Government.

That approach will facilitate joint working between the myself and the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Energy to unlock the economic opportunities that energy brings, accelerate delivery and ensure the people of Scotland benefit.

Following the publication of the Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group’s (LSSILG) strategy in November 2025, the LSSILG published its delivery plan for sprint 1 in March 2026. Activity is underway across a range of priority actions to support delivery of the Strategy’s ambitions. At the end of the 2026/27 financial year, the LSSILG, with input from the Scottish Government, will publish a report setting out the activities delivered and the progress made against the Delivery Plan.

CMAL as the procuring authority, will oversee the design and build processes and have a site team at the yard. It is for the shipyard to ensure that sufficient personnel are assigned to deliver the build in line with the agreed schedule. Guangzhou Shipyard International Co. Ltd has confirmed that there can be 20,000 persons working at the shipyard including sub-contractors across a number of projects at any one time.

The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of the impact of a ferry service between Rosyth and Dunkirk. The decision to introduce an international ferry service is a commercial consideration for the ferry operator and relevant port authorities.

The Scottish Government and its agencies continue to support the wider development of our ports and the potential for new direct freight and passenger ferry services linking Scotland to Europe. We are happy to work with any ferry operator to explore opportunities to promote a new service.

Work is continuing at pace to establish the inquiry. Detailed Terms of Reference are currently being developed, informed by ongoing discussions with Professor Jay, and these will be published in due course.

Professor Jay has made clear her intention to deliver the inquiry at pace, while retaining the necessary flexibility to examine all areas within its remit. The institutions within the scope of the inquiry will be established in discussion with Professor Jay, these will be detailed in the Terms of Reference once finalised.

Scottish Ministers are committed to reforming our public sector to ensure the delivery of excellent public services in a fiscally sustainable manner. Delivering such services is core to the government’s mission. The role of Public Service Reform is to deliver that mission, building confidence that the government is on Scotland’s side and can be trusted to take the next step in our constitutional journey.

Any reform of ferry services will be taken forward as part of this and will involve engagement with stakeholders. Parliament will be updated on any decisions in the normal fashion.

The current challenges affecting the pig sector include complex trade issues which appear to be affecting prices, as opposed to there being evidence of an increase in imports. Trade data indicates that UK pigmeat imports fell by nearly 5% in volume in 2025, and were down nearly 7% between January and March 2026, compared to the same three months in 2025. However, downwards pressure on the EU pig price appears to have distorted the domestic market.

Whilst international trade is reserved, the Scottish Government will continue to engage with the UK Government on trade matters such as these, with a view to preventing market shocks.