Chamber and committees

Replacement of the Marine Evacuation System is scheduled to begin in May 2025.

Since 2016, the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) Group has been coordinating new entrant opportunities on publicly owned land in Scotland. FONE Group membership includes, but is not limited to, Forestry and Land Scotland, the Crown Estate Scotland, the Scottish Ministers’ Estate and Scottish Water.

Through the FONE group, over 80 new entrant opportunities have been provided across more than 8,000 hectares of publicly owned land.

Additionally, in December 2024, I wrote out to all Local Authority Leaders and Chief Executives asking that they engage with the Programme for Government commitment to maximise the opportunities on their land for agricultural new entrants.

I have called on all Scottish public bodies, with land, to a Landowner’s Conference in March to showcase and emphasise the importance of leasing public land to new entrant farmers and crofters.

Since 2016, the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) Group has helped facilitate entry to over 80 new entrants across more than 8,000 hectares of publicly owned land in Scotland.

Instigated by the FONE Group and funded by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS) provides a platform for opportunities for the next generation of farmers and crofters, by engaging with those seeking or offering joint venture arrangements in relation to land and facilities. To date the SLMS has facilitated over 300 individuals and formally matched over 50 joint-ventures, some of which includes publicly owned land.

The Scottish Government has created a notable amount of opportunities for new entrants into farming and crofting on publicly owned land. This has been spearheaded by the coordinating efforts of the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) Group. The FONE Group membership has key public body representatives including Forestry and Land Scotland, Scottish Ministers’ Estate, Scottish Water and Crown Estate Scotland to name a few.

One of its core functions is to get public bodies around the table to explore what opportunities they can offer new entrants. FONE Group members publicise opportunities where they can and promote the positive impact of new entrant stories to the likes of private estates and owner occupiers in Scotland.

More than 80 new entrants have been given opportunities on over 8,000 hectares of publicly owned land, due to the efforts of the FONE Group.

Also, the Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS), has facilitated over 300 individuals and formally matched over 50 joint-ventures, some of which includes publicly owned land.

From the date of the charter to 30 September 2024, the Scottish Government has provided funding to CalMac of £16.2m. Under the Clyde and Hebrides Contract Extension, the costs were included as part of the overall funding and therefore were not paid separately.

Discussions regarding a further extension between CalMac and Pentland Ferries are currently ongoing therefore final costings have yet to be received.

The Scottish Government committed through the Programme for Government 2023 – 24, published on 5 September 2023, to improving miscarriage care, including the provision of separate private spaces in hospitals with maternity wards for women experiencing pregnancy and baby loss.

The Delivery Framework for Miscarriage Care, published on 6 February 2025, sets out that those experiencing miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy should be seen in a separate private space appropriate for bereavement. This action carries a priority category of “N” which means this should be implemented within 6 months from 1 April 2025.

As set out in the answers to questions S6W-35253 and S6W-35256 on 11 March 2025, as part of the NHS Scotland Board Annual Review process, the feedback obtained from Area Partnership forums highlighted safety related concerns from a wide range of Agenda for Change colleagues on any reduction to the working week in 2025.

Extensive research was undertaken on the impact of the first 30 minute reduction of the working week for Agenda for Change staff. This included its impact on maintaining system performance, meeting legislative requirements around safe staffing and the delivery of planned initiatives to support service recovery.

On review of this research it was clear that, to avoid unacceptable levels of risk to service resilience and patient safety, introducing the remaining hour on 1 April 2026 would be the most appropriate option. This also upholds the Scottish Government commitment made in the 2023-24 Agenda for Change pay deal.

It was always the intention to use the initial 30 minute reduction in April 2024 as an opportunity to learn and assess how best to move forward with any further reduction in the working week.

The Scottish Government is therefore committed to fully implementing the remaining 60 minute reduction in the working week for all Agenda for Change staff on 1 April 2026. This will facilitate patient and staff safety, support the continued recovery of services and avoid any extra burden for our workforce.

This implementation date of 1 April 2026 remains fully in line with the commitment made as part of the 2023-24 Agenda for Change pay settlement and the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government.

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

All teachers undertake additional support needs (ASN) training during Initial Teacher Education (ITE), which is a requirement to meet the Professional Standards for registration with the General Teaching Council of Scotland.

We have asked the Scottish Council of Deans for Education (SCDE), through their Scottish Universities Inclusion Group, to undertake an analysis of the way ASN are addressed in ITE. We expect to receive an update from SCDE on the progress of this work shortly.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-35253 on 11 March 2025, to confirm, there is no delay in the implementation of the reduction of the working week to 36 hours for Agenda for Change staff. It was always the intention to use the initial 30 minute reduction in April 2024 as an opportunity to learn and assess how best to move forward with any further reduction in the working week.

The Scottish Government is therefore committed to fully implementing the remaining 60 minute reduction in the working week for all Agenda for Change staff on 1 April 2026. This will facilitate patient and staff safety, support the continued recovery of services and avoid any extra burden for our workforce.

As there is no delay in the implementation of the final hour reduction of the working week for Agenda for Change staff, there is no requirement for any financial compensation.

This implementation date of 1 April 2026 remains fully in line with the commitment made as part of the 2023-24 Agenda for Change pay settlement and the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government.

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

Following our annual teacher workforce planning process, which included detailed statistical modelling, and advice from the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group, we wrote to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in February 2025, with recommendations for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) intakes for the 2025-26 academic year.

Recommendations included a reduction in intakes to primary programmes, with further consideration to be given to the level of any further reductions for the 2026-27 academic year.

This advice to the SFC will assist in the setting of intakes to ITE programmes for individual higher education institutions. These will be shown in SFC’s final funding allocations for 2025-26, due to be published at the end of May 2025.