Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government provided funding of over £1.1m from the Equality and Human Rights Fund to organisations working to promote LGBTQI+ equality in Scotland in 2024-25.

This funding provides support for a range of initiatives, including supporting policy development for LGBTQI+ people, research into the lives of the LGBTQI+ community and an LGBT helpline.

Detailed information on funding the Scottish Government has provided LGBTQI+ charities and organisations in the financial year 2024-25 has been published on our website. You can view this at Equality and Human Rights Fund: projects funded - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government has not taken part in any discussions with East Renfrewshire Council in relation to Cross Arthurlie Primary School and subsequent correspondence by the Head Teacher.

This is an operational matter for SEPA however I have contacted the organisation on your behalf. SEPA anticipates that the draft determination will be concluded within the next 2 months, and any draft decision will then be made available for consultation for a minimum of 28 days.

The Scottish Government contributes to attracting and equipping skilled people for rural and Island areas, including funding Lantra Scotland’s 2025-26 workplan to promote the rewarding careers available, and the economic and environmental benefits of investing in skills in the land-based, aquaculture and environment.

We are additionally developing our future approach for the sustainable delivery of skills for rural Scotland, following on from the Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland (SAPRS) in the context of reform across the education and skills system.

Operational decisions, including course provision and staffing, are a matter for individual colleges, who are best placed to respond to emerging trends in skills needs at local and regional level. However, the Scottish Government is committed to introducing a new Scottish Government-led approach to national skills planning, and strengthen regional skills planning, to ensure that post school provision becomes more responsive to Scotland's strategic skills needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the strategic policy direction for NHS Scotland and its workforce. Operational matters, including the staffing of individual services, are the responsibility of each NHS Scotland Health Board.

Workforce statistics, including statistics on certain roles within dermatology services across NHS Scotland, can be found at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

The Scottish Government works with a stakeholder group (which includes NHS Education for Scotland, the British Medical Association, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and various Health Board representatives including regional workforce planners) to undertake annual reviews of the number of specialty training places (for resident doctors) needed across all specialties (including dermatology) in order to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need.

At a local level, the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38980 on 23 July 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 Scottish Government is not planning to undertake a Council Tax revaluation. Any suggestion of a revaluation could only proceed if a broad political consensus in favour existed – no such consensus currently exists.

Any changes to Council Tax must also be informed by robust evidence and wide public consultation. Our joint programme of engagement with COSLA on options for reform is intended to inform that public debate. This process will run for a number of years. Consequently, any substantial reform thereafter, including any suggestion of revaluation, would require a mandate from a Scottish Parliament Election and will not be possible this decade.

The powers relevant are contained within the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and related regulations.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the important contribution Colleges make to both education and the economy, which is why we provided a 2.1% uplift in funding for the sector in this year’s Budget.

The Scottish Government also provided £560,000 in funding to Lantra, the sector skills body for land-based, aquaculture, and environmental conservation sectors. This funds Lantra Scotland’s 2025/26 workplan, that promotes careers in these sectors and highlights the economic and environmental value of investing in skills and supports efforts to attract and train skilled people in rural areas.

Operational decisions, including course provision and staffing, are a matter for individual colleges, who are best placed to respond to emerging trends in skills needs at local and regional level.

The Scottish Funding Council’s final allocations to the college sector for 2025-26 provide a 2.6% sector increase in teaching funding compared to last year. Additionally no college sees a reduction in teaching funding in 2025-26 when compared with 2024-25.

Operational decisions, including course provision and staffing, are a matter for individual colleges, who are best placed to respond to emerging trends in skills needs at local and regional level.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data. The General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) is best placed to advise on how many newly qualified teachers progress each year to meet the Standard for Full Registration, through the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or by the Flexible Route.