Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold data on cyber security training of staff across the public sector organisations.

NHS Dumfries & Galloway and NHS Borders did not have any hospitals where car parking was charged for, therefore their saving since 2008 has been zero.

The estimated saving for patients, visitors and staff who used NHS car parks that previously charged for car parking is over £90 million.

The Scottish Government published economic modelling on 27 March 2025 which estimates the impact of Scottish Government policies on child poverty in Scotland. The report finds that Scottish Government policies will keep an estimated 70,000 children out of relative poverty in 2025-26, including 40,000 through investment in the Scottish Child Payment alone. The impact of Scottish Government policies is estimated to grow over time to keep 100,000 children out of poverty by 2028-29.

As set out in Best Start, Bright Futures, the Scottish Government recognises that a balanced approach is needed to effectively tackle child poverty and to meet the 2030 targets. This includes action focused across the three drivers of child poverty reduction: income from employment, the cost of living and income from social security and benefits in kind. On this basis, the Scottish Government has no current plans to publish economic modelling focused on how the Scottish Child Payment in isolation can meet the 2030 targets.

We know that employment can offer a sustainable route out of poverty for many families, and we remain committed to doing everything within the scope of our powers and budget to support parents to access employment and to increase their earnings. This includes through action focused on ensuring parents have access to the right employability and skills interventions to support them on their journey into and within work, and through action focused on strengthening the labour market and promotion of fair work practices.

The Scottish Government will publish our third child poverty delivery plan by the end of March 2026. We are in the process of consulting with a wide range of stakeholders to inform its development, building on the considerable evidence and action taken to date. We are clear on the scale of the challenge faced to meet the 2030 child poverty targets and the plan will set out action to drive further progress.

Scotland’s universal Baby Box programme opened for registration on 15 June 2017, and delivery of Baby Boxes nationwide began on 15 August 2017 for all babies born and resident in Scotland.

The total number of Baby Boxes issued since the introduction of the Baby Box programme up to 31 March 2025 is 335,775.

The Scottish Government records the number of Baby Boxes distributed by Health Board areas. Since the start of the programme the following number of Baby Boxes have been distributed in NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Borders:

The information requested on how many health visitors have been employed in each local authority area in each year since 1999 is not held centrally.

Scottish Government officials met NHS Lothian on 7 March to discuss all their capital priorities, which includes the East Calder Medical Centre.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all NHS facilities, including mental health units, provide a safe and therapeutic environment that complies with Health and Safety Executive (HSE) standards, though the size, age and complexity of the NHS estate means this is a challenging issue to manage. The Scottish Government believe that current levels of capital and maintenance funding allocated to NHS boards are adequate to meet these essential requirements, as it is allocated on a risk-based approach and is there to support boards in maintaining their existing estate, addressing backlog maintenance, and investing in necessary upgrades and new developments for mental health services.

The Total Operating Cost (TOC) budget for 2025-26 is set at £801.7 million, accounting for 1.3 percent of the overall Scottish Budget, as measured by Total Managed Expenditure.

In 2019-20, a change in approach to operating costs was implemented, which means a comparable figure for 2013 cannot be provided. Previously, costs, including staffing, were held centrally as part of the administration budget and also as part of portfolio budgets for staff who were implementing and delivering specific public services. Since 2019-20, Total Operating Costs have been aligned with the portfolio budgets they support, replacing the dual system where both administration and portfolio budgets funded operating costs.

The 38% previously referred to was the sustainability indicator, as outlined in the Scottish Sustainable Fishing Indicator (SFI). This indicator tracks the status of Scotland’s commercial fish stocks and is based on the estimated percentage of commercial stocks that are fished at sustainable levels. It provides a sliding scale for how sustainable fishing levels are.

An updated version of the SFI will be published in the near future, this will provide up to date sustainability indicators for all available stocks.

The full list of stocks assessed in 1995 are outlined below.

• Anglerfish (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
• Greater silver smelt (Northeast Arctic, North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
• Greater silver smelt (Faroes grounds and west of Scotland)
• Blue ling (Celtic Seas, western Hatton Bank, and Faroes grounds)
• Brill (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, English Channel)
• Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) NW substock
• Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) SO substock
• Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) VK substock
• Spurdog (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
• Greenland halibut (Iceland and Faroes grounds, West of Scotland, North of Azores, East of Greenland)
• Haddock (North Sea, West of Scotland, Skagerrak)
• Haddock (Rockall)
• Herring (the Northeast Atlantic and Arctic Ocean)
• Herring (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, eastern English Channel)
• Hake (Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, northern Bay of Biscay)
• Horse mackerel (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
• Megrim (northern North Sea, West of Scotland)
• Megrim (Rockall)
• Mackerel (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
• Norway lobster (West of Scotland, South Minch)
• Norway lobster (West of Scotland, Firth of Clyde, Sound of Jura)
• Norway lobster (northern North Sea, Fladen Ground)
• Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) i(North Sea) and (Skagerrak)
• Saithe (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
• Pollack (Celtic Seas, English Channel)
• Golden redfish (Iceland and Faroes grounds, West of Scotland, North of Azores, East of Greenland)
• Sole (North Sea)
• Turbot(North Sea)
• Blue whiting (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
• Whiting (North Sea, eastern English Channel)
• Whiting (West of Scotland)
• Witch (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, eastern English Channel)

At 1 December 2023:

• the total number of people registered to vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections was 4,241,800;
• just under 189,500 qualifying foreign nationals resident in Scotland were registered to vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections.

Updated information on the electoral register at 1 December 2024 is due to be published on the National Records of Scotland website: People registered to vote - National Records of Scotland (NRS) at 9.30am on 24 April 2025.