Chamber and committees

Given the changes in the Scottish Government’s devolved powers over the last decade, it is not possible to apply direct like with like comparisons in Scottish Government funding levels over the past decade, notably due to the addition of around £5.6 billion of funding for devolved social security benefits.

As with the answer to S6W-34511 on 6 March 2025, I will update parliament at the appropriate time on the work towards a future credit rating and bond issuance during the course of the 2025-26 financial year.

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 has undertaken an extensive range of work in pursuit of reforming the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regime in Scotland.

This has included three recent consultations to scope and refine the approach to EPC reform.

Domestic Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) reform: consultation - gov.scot

(23 July 2021)

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform: consultation - gov.scot (25 July 2023)

Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register Lodgement Fees and Penalty Charges - Questions - Energy Performance Certificate reform – lodgement fees and penalty charges: technical consultation - gov.scot (12 February 2025)

These consultation documents have been complemented by public events and workshops.

More generally, the Scottish Government has, and continues to, engage intensively with all major stakeholders in EPCs, seeking their views in taking forward our reforms. The Scottish Government regularly convenes a Strategic Advisory sub-Group and an External Reference Group focused on EPC reform. Stakeholders include representatives of Approved Organisations, local authorities (in their enforcement role), consumer groups; EPC assessors; surveyors; the UK Government; the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland; private letting agencies; and many others. We have also engaged with other European countries including Denmark and the Republic of Ireland.

In taking forward our reform of EPCs, we have been receiving advice from the Climate Change Committee, the UK’s statutory adviser on tackling climate change, and other advisory bodies including Historic Environment Scotland.

In relation to the EPC’s appraisal of cavity walls and associated insulation measures, and other energy efficiency improvement recommendations, we acknowledge concerns raised over the ability of the EPC to identify when such measures are technically suitable. In response, we are creating a short term industry group to advise on how the reformed EPC will select measures for potential improvement. We are also carrying out further user testing on how best to present this information on the certificate, in particular ensuring that it signposts the need to have detailed technical advice before installing any measures. In parallel, we are currently scoping the development of a methodology to assess the technical suitability of measures as a step beyond the EPC.

The highest salary currently paid is £240,000 for the Chief Executive of the Scottish National Investment Bank. This is also the figure published in the Bank’s Annual Report 2024. Senior salary information can be found for individual public body’s on their websites. You can find links to each body’s website at National public bodies: directory.

The Scottish Government published its response to Dr Colin Church’s second and final report on 5 May 2023, which focused on options to decarbonise residual waste infrastructure in Scotland.

We welcomed the report’s recommendations in supporting the continued reduction of emissions associated with waste, whilst also recognising Dr Church’s observation that “properly regulated incineration has an important role to play as part of the waste hierarchy in managing Scotland’s unavoidable, unrecyclable residual waste in a sanitary manner”.

We acknowledge of course that the residual waste sector is a complex system and, in accordance with Dr Church’s Recommendation 1, our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map (published in December 2024) sets out a series of ongoing and future policy commitments to achieve Dr Church’s Recommendation 1 (i.e. “rapidly seek further reductions in the proportion of recyclable materials in the residual waste stream”).

This includes policies such as banning single use plastic items, the implementation of the packaging extended producer responsibility scheme and a new co-designed statutory Code of Practice for household waste and recycling.

In its May 2023 response, the Scottish Government accepted Recommendation 17 in principle. While the Scottish Government agrees that phasing out the incineration of plastic waste is key to decarbonisation, our approach must be balanced, as banning it outright could lead to an increase in inappropriate disposal.

Our Route Map commitments will help to deliver increased reuse and recycling in accordance with our Circular Economy goals and help drive the reduction in fossil-based plastics going to incineration.

The proposed ETS expansion is part of a whole-system approach set out in the final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, making incineration a less attractive waste treatment method while limiting the production of plastic upstream and increasing its removal from the waste stream prior to incineration.

Supporting policies include the ban on certain Single Use Plastic Items, implementation of an Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme this year and the commitment to require kerbside collection of plastic film and flexible packaging.

The Scottish Government is aware that the best way to mitigate ETS costs is to produce less waste and we will continue to work to put policies in place that reduce fossil-based waste in the residual waste stream.

That is why the primary focus of the Scottish Government continues to be on transitioning to a circular economy and preventing waste from occurring in the first place.

Tables responding to this request have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under the bib number 65672.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission is aiming to publish its report on the welfare of cleaner fish used in the Scottish salmon industry by the summer. It had been hoped that the report would be ready by the end of 2024, but research has taken longer than originally anticipated.

In 1999 there were 2,293 primary schools and in 2024 there were 1,978 primary schools.

In 1999 there were 389 secondary schools and in 2024 there were 360 secondary schools.

In 1999 there were 195 special schools and in 2024 there were 107 special schools. However, since 2018 special schools with no pupils on the roll have no longer been included in the figure, which at the time resulted in a reduction of 21 schools.

The latest data by local authority (and nationally) is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/.Table 5.1 shows the data overall, Table 6.1 shows the data for Primary schools, Table 7.1 shows the data for Secondary schools and Table 8.1 shows the data for Special schools.

More detailed information about school openings, closures, mergers and instances where a school has been mothballed can be found on the school contact details spreadsheet in the 'Schools opened or closed' tab: School contact details - gov.scot, but recording of this data is only available from 2007 onwards.

I undertake regular engagement with Scotland’s national education bodies and teaching professional associations at Chief Executive/General Secretary and official level. Details of these engagements are published on the Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts register.