Chamber and committees

The aim of the four-day working week public sector pilot is to assess the environmental, health and wellbeing benefits, and efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-36833 on 9 May 2025 and S6W-36835 on 6 May 2025 and S6W-36840 on 6 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 Scottish Government’s Adoption Vision Statement, published in November 2024, highlights the need for continued and lifelong support for all those affected by adoption.

Adoption support should include a range of multi-disciplinary universal and specialist services. Under the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, local authorities have a duty to assess someone’s needs for adoption support services and then provide that support.

In 2024-25, the Scottish Government provided £790,000 to organisations delivering support to those affected by adoption, including adopted children and young people and their families, adult adoptees and those working in the adoption sector. This funding has supported: a national helpline and support for adoptive families; national good practice guides on permanence; support for professionals and practitioners working in the adoption sector, as well as delivery of the Adoption Contact Register. The Adoption Vision Statement makes clear our commitment to work in collaboration with stakeholders to improve the availability and consistency of post-adoption support in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has a statutory duty set out in the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 to secure the coherent provision by the post-16 education bodies (as a whole) of a high quality of fundable further education and fundable higher education.

There are a range of resources available to support teachers to teach about the Holocaust. For example, the Holocaust Educational Trust, which receives funding from Scottish Government, have a range of age-appropriate resources, a link can be found at https://www.het.org.uk/teaching-resources. In addition, Vision Schools Scotland, also funded by Scottish Government aims to promote excellence in Holocaust teaching with the key education resources available here. As part of this aim, Vision Schools Scotland provides in person and online Continued Professional Learning in Holocaust education to teachers, helping them develop confidence and proficiency in Holocaust teaching. In addition, Education Scotland has published a specific resource in relation to the Kindertransport. Educators can use across the broad general education and into senior phase and it can also be used in History National 4 Added Value Units.

The aim of the four-day working week (4DWW) public sector pilot is to enhance collective understanding of the benefits and costs of implementing a 4DWW in the public sector.

Prior to the beginning of the pilot, there was a review of economic literature related to shorter working weeks, and this informed modelling of different scenarios for reduced hours of work across the economy. The modelling demonstrated how the impact of reduced hours could be offset by productivity gains or increased investment, consistent with the economic literature. As such, the pilot has been carefully designed and implemented in order to capture a range of evaluation metrics to assess the environmental, health and wellbeing impacts and efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring.

The pilot will conclude with a report on findings, which will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes statistics related to the No One Left Behind strategic approach including the number of participants supported into employment. This includes a range of Scottish Government funding such as the Parental Employability Support Fund.

Since February 2022, statistics have been reported by totality of all funds and as such, no breakdowns for Parental Employability Support are available.

The most recent statistics for Scottish Government funded employability support by all parents are available at: Scotland's Devolved Employment Services statistics - gov.scot.

The Council Tax (Variation for Unoccupied Dwellings) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023, which came into effect on 1 April 2024, provide local authorities with discretionary powers to apply a Council Tax premium of up to 100% on second homes.

Council Tax is a local tax, and it is for individual councils to determine the appropriate balance of housing in their areas based on local needs. The Regulations give Councils greater fiscal empowerment, in the spirit of the Verity House Agreement. They enable Councils to charge Second Homes anywhere between a 50% discount, and up to a 100% premium. It is for Councils to take decisions about the tax treatment of second homes, including where exclusions may apply.

The Scottish Government is committed to monitoring the impact of these regulations and will consider their effects as more data becomes available. The first set of data reflecting the implementation of the premium was collected in September 2024. This data indicated a 10% decrease (2,455 properties) in the number of second homes compared to the previous year. This decline may be related to the introduction of the 100% Council Tax premium on second homes. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the impact of the Council Tax premium.

The following link sets out the Councils that introduced a second homes premium on 1 April 2024, Second homes and long term empty policies and discounts 2024-25: data

The following link provides the published data on the numbers of second and empty homes as at September 2024, Second homes and empty properties in September 2024 - gov.scot.

The extension of Free Personal Care to people under the age of 65, also known as Frank's Law, came into effect in April 2019.

The Scottish Government do not hold data on how many adults aged 18-64 were paying for or receiving personal care prior to 2019.

The Scottish Government began collecting data on the number of adults receiving Free Personal Care in each local authority from late 2018-19 (prior to the introduction of Frank’s Law). This information is published annually on the Scottish Government website.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37192 on 9 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