Chamber and committees

Due to the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the privacy policy agreed by applicants to the LEZ Support Fund, we are unable to disclose personal details of the funds recipients.

However, I can advise that in the Aberdeen area 197 households received grants with a total value of £464,688, 65 microbusinesses in the area received a further £140,000 for the disposal of a non-compliant vehicle and 2 microbusinesses received grants totalling £14,066 to retrofit vehicles to meet LEZ standards.

In the Dundee area 247 households received grants with a total value of £562,471 and 49 microbusinesses in the area received a total of £107,500 for the disposal of a non-compliant vehicle. No retrofit grants have been issued in the Dundee area.

In the Edinburgh area 794 households received grants with a total value of £1,879,604, 412 microbusinesses in the area received a total of £948,631 for the disposal of a non-compliant vehicle and 142 microbusinesses received grants totalling £1,118,852 to retrofit vehicles to meet LEZ standards.

In the Glasgow area 2048 households received grants with a total value of £4,777,931, 708 microbusinesses in the area received a further £1,597,350 for the disposal of a non-compliant vehicle and 411 microbusinesses received grants totalling £3,345,089 to retrofit vehicles to meet LEZ standards.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has now entered into committee stage in the House of Lords. Following the conclusion of the Bill’s passage through Westminster, we expect to consult on the extension of restrictions on smoke-free places.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-37322 on 19 May 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The following table represents the total budget allocated to Food Standards Scotland (FSS) for each financial year from 2020-21.

Financial year FSS baseline Total Fiscal Resource budget £m

2020-21 15.6

2021-22 19.0

2022-23 22.6

2023-24 22.6

2024-25 22.6

2025-26 22.6

There was an uplift in the financial years 21-22 of £3.4 million and in year 22-23 of £3.6 million totalling £7 million. These uplifts were to fund additional responsibilities FSS were required to take on following the EU Exit.

The Full time equivalent (FTE) annual employee count was:

2020-21 - 262

2021-22 - 314

2022-23 - 295

2023-24 - 281

2024-25 - 277

The increase to 314 FTE is associated with increased funding to deal with the consequence of EU Exit.

Food businesses inspected by an Environmental Health Officer or Food Safety Officer.

2020 – 9,041

2021 – 9,674

2022 – 20,745

2023 – 20,409

2024 – 19,466

2025* – 6,722

*01-01-25 to 12-05-25

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure that support services are in place to provide people with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time. Decisions on how best to deliver services to local communities, are ultimately for local partners to make.

We continue to protect and prioritise additional investment into social care, despite an extremely challenging Budget settlement. This includes almost £2.2 billion for social care and integration – exceeding our commitment to increase funding by 25% by almost £350 million.

We would encourage all partners to work together to find solutions that put the needs of local people and those impacted by the decision, particularly those who are most vulnerable, at the centre.

Statutory responsibility for decisions about the learning estate, including mothballing, rest with local authorities. The Scottish Government issues guidance to support local authorities’ implementation of their statutory responsibilities.

As the First Minister stated on 24 April, we are reviewing current guidance on the mothballing of schools and nurseries to provide greater clarity on whether it is an appropriate action to take. Scottish Government officials have regular engagement with local authorities and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including mothballing, and Ministers are considering a range of local government and stakeholder views on mothballing through the review process.

We will update Parliament further on this work in due course. While the review is underway, the existing guidance on mothballing (which is included in the Statutory Guidance on the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 200) remains in place.

Statutory responsibility for decisions about the learning estate, including mothballing, rest with local authorities. The Scottish Government issues guidance to support local authorities’ implementation of their statutory responsibilities.

As the First Minister stated on 24 April, we are reviewing current guidance on the mothballing of schools and nurseries to provide greater clarity on whether it is an appropriate action to take. Scottish Government officials have regular engagement with local authorities and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including mothballing, and Ministers are considering a range of local government and stakeholder views on mothballing through the review process.

We will update Parliament further on this work in due course. While the review is underway, the existing guidance on mothballing (which is included in the Statutory Guidance on the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 200) remains in place.

This is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland, which established the national Long Covid Strategic Network and requested that Health Improvement Scotland perform the evidence review.