Chamber and committees

Age restrictions for non-surgical cosmetic procedures are one of a number of issues that are being considered as part of our wider consultation on how best to further regulate non-surgical cosmetics procedures in Scotland.

In addition to the consultation, we will prepare a Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment in accordance with section 17 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 15 (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024. This will reflect feedback on how to best put in place protections whilst still respecting the competence of young people.

We will continue to review the need for any further engagement as we consider the evidence gathered to date.

We will publish the analysis and announce next steps which I have committed to doing before the Scottish Parliament’s summer recess in late June.

The Scottish Government has set out its commitment to giving people information about independence. Across the Scottish Government, a range of civil servants provide input to developing and communicating this information. We do not routinely record details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on research and compilation, as there is no business need to do this.

As already stated, the Scottish Government will publish further material on independence to give the people of Scotland the information they need to make an informed choice about their constitutional future.

No. This information is not proactively published. Information on running costs for Scottish Government buildings has been previously provided, under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The table below show the occupancy levels at Scottish Government (SG) core office buildings for which there is an available data set. The average daily desk occupancy rate has been calculated by dividing the number of unique building pass users recorded over a 24 hour sample period by the number of available desks. A sample is taken on one day of each week and totalled together with the other sample days in the year then divided by how many weeks occurred.

The Scottish Government estate is under review to allow us to plan for affordable, inclusive, accessible, modern, secure, energy efficient buildings of the right size to meet our changing needs and net zero ambitions, as well as to ensure best value for taxpayers’ money.

The Scottish Government established a small team of civil servants in the months following the publication of the 2019 Programme for Government until 18 March 2020 which had work to update Scotland’s Future as part of its remit. We cannot provide you with a specific figure on the costs of that work as a full financial year was not completed.

The staffing costs of the Constitutional Futures Division (CFD), for the years that a full financial period was completed, have previously been published in response to an FOI request and in response to question S6W-22623:

2022/23 - Written question and answer: S6W-22623 | Scottish Parliament Website

2023/24 - Various questions relating to Independence: FOI release - gov.scot

The CFD disbanded on 17th January 2025 and therefore, as advised above, we are unable to provide details of staffing costs as a full financial year was not completed.

We do not want to see the closure of good quality care homes and we understand the concern this causes for residents and their families, as well as for the wider community. Of course, when a home closes this can have a knock-on impact to the local economy, this particularly is felt in rural and remote areas of the country.

The economic impact on families and communities can go beyond traditional economic measures and can be greatly influenced by individual’s own circumstances and their reactions to any such changes.

We know that Scotland’s Adult Social Care sector is a significant contributor towards the Economy, adding multiple billions in Gross Value Added and employing tens-of-thousands of people. Whilst challenging to estimate we do note recent reports, commissioned by the Skills for Care and Development Alliance, which provides some indication of the potential scale of the economic value of social care in Scotland (Economic and social value of the UK adult social care sector: Scotland).

Additionally, I would highlight that although we have overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, the statutory responsibility for delivering, commissioning, providing appropriate social care capacity at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS boards and integrated Health and Social Care Partnerships. This includes the responsibility for these local authorities to develop contingency plans for each service they commission or provide, to have robust plans in place should a service close, as well as risk assessments to determine potential impacts on the local social care sector, wider system and economy.

While I recognise the seriousness of the risks faced by the social care sector, the projections from partners such as Scottish Care are the worst-case scenario. Investment by the Scottish Government into the social care sector has increased quite substantially, during a period in which pressures on public finances have been most acute

We do understand the anxiety and growing concerns within the care home and wider social care sectors regarding the current pressures on the financial viability of the sectors. Pressures that have been significantly added to by decisions taken by the UK Government, such as the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions, changes to the social care visa system and salary threshold levels.

Scottish Government officials are undertaking a programme of work to understand and respond to the current financial viability pressures in the sector and the impact that this change will have. That work remains ongoing and will continue to work with partners across social care to help manage the current risks and move towards a more sustainable future for social care within the country.

We are providing this information as at 31 December 2024 using data from the most recent official publication of the Scottish Government's workforce statistics. As at that date, the total number of staff employed within SG Core was 9,349.

As at that date, 115 Scottish Government staff were registered as taxpayers elsewhere in the UK and earning over £50,000 (inclusive of any pay allowances). This represents 1.2% of staff and includes staff who are based in Scotland House, London; are in overseas postings; or are in off-shore Marine seafaring roles (where it is a feature of that labour market for the workforce to be resident in a range of different countries).

This information has been compiled with reference to address information held on our HR systems as at December 2024. It is therefore a snapshot as at that date and does not, for example, reflect where individuals may have since relocated to Scotland following their appointment to the Scottish Government or where a revised tax code is awaited from HMRC.

We are providing this information as at 31 December 2024 using data from the most recent official publication of the Scottish Government's workforce statistics. As at that date, the total number of staff employed within SG Core was 9,349. Of these staff, 8 were Senior Civil Servants who were registered as taxpayers elsewhere in the UK which represents less than 0.1% of staff and includes staff who are based in Scotland House, London or in overseas postings.

There is an expectation that individuals will relocate to live in Scotland if they are employed by us, however this is not a legal requirement unless there is an occupational reason to reside within a certain travelling distance of the workplace. Employees are required to attend their contractual work location in Scotland as required for business need.

This information has been compiled with reference to address information held on our HR systems as at December 2024. It is therefore a snapshot as at that date and does not, for example, reflect where individuals may have since relocated to Scotland following their appointment to the Scottish Government or where a revised tax code is awaited from HMRC.