Chamber and committees

Transport Scotland provides reimbursement to bus operators in Scotland for providing free bus travel to those eligible through the National Concessionary Travel Schemes (NCTS). Reimbursement is paid to operators at a level which aims to ensure they are left financially no better and no worse off as a result of their participation in the schemes, and is therefore not considered as a subsidy payment.

Details of total operator revenue over the past 10 years, including passenger revenue and concessionary travel reimbursement can be found in Scottish Transport Statistics tables 2.8 and 2.9, available at: Chapter 2 - Bus and Coach travel | Transport Scotland

I have asked Colin Lancaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to respond. His response is as follows:-

The Solicitor Contact Line (SCL) is a team of publicly funded criminal defence lawyers who provide telephone advice and in-person representation to suspects in police custody. The majority of publicly funded advice for those in police custody is provided by solicitors in private practice: SCL assists the around 30% who do not already have a solicitor, mostly by way of telephone advice.

Where SCL identify that in-person representation is needed, this will normally be provided by duty solicitors from either the private sector or the Public Defence Solicitors’ Office. The SCL provides contingency cover which is called upon in a small proportion of cases.

There has been no formal ballot for industrial action and it is unclear whether or when any such a ballot might take place. If the result of any ballot supports action, the form or extent of that action is also unclear. At this stage it is therefore not possible to comment on potential impacts.

Scottish Government fully recognises the vital contribution of all our fishermen, including those that hand dive, who work tirelessly to provide high-quality seafood. Their efforts are vital to the Scottish economy, and for our coastal and island communities in particular, and give Scotland its rightful reputation as a producer of world-class fish and shellfish.

As our national trade and marketing body for the Scottish seafood industry, Scottish Government works closely with Seafood Scotland. The Scottish Government, alongside Seafood Scotland, supports transparency in seafood sourcing and welcomes informed consumer choice. Catching and production information is already accessible to buyers through labelling and supply chain data.

Scottish Government does not however have a role in relation to how menus are written. Food Standards Scotland has responsibility for the provision of food information to consumers, including fish labelling. While there is no legal requirement to provide provenance and catch methods on menus, food businesses may provide this information on a voluntary basis. As with all food information, it must be accurate and not mislead the consumer.

We continuously improve how we manage our waters based on the best available evidence, and are always working towards more sustainable inshore fisheries that balance economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Supporting Fair Work is one of Creative Scotland's current strategic priorities.

The Review of Creative Scotland - which was announced in the Programme for Government last September as part of wider work into how the culture sector is supported - will consider Creative Scotland’s purpose and functions; structure and performance; governance and leadership, finances and distribution of funds; and collaboration, relationships and partnerships

The Review is independent of the Scottish Government and will deliver its recommendations in November 2025.

Scottish Government officials have commissioned an Economic Impact Assessment of the value delivered by our investment in Glasgow Prestwick Airport. As previously set out to Parliament, a market testing exercise evaluating the potential for returning the airport to private ownership is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

We will publish key findings from the Economic Impact Assessment when the market testing exercise has been concluded.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

Private landlords in Scotland are required to register with their local authority which has responsibility to investigate and take any necessary action arising from complaints from tenants of private rented properties.

Where a tenant believes their rented property does not meet the legal repairing standard, they can take their landlord to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing & Property Chamber). The Tribunal can enforce repairs by issuing the landlord with a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order (RSEO) which compels the landlord to carry out specific repairs within a set timeframe.

Where a landlord fails to comply with an RSEO the Tribunal will send a copy of the failure to comply decision to the local authority. The Tribunal may also issue a Rent Relief Order restricting the rent payable until the RSEO has been complied with. A local authority has powers to apply to the tribunal on behalf of vulnerable tenants.

Violence towards pupils or staff is unacceptable.

Responsibility for addressing concerns in specific local authority areas rests with the local authority, as the employer of school staff.

In August, we published our action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools, jointly owned with COSLA. The plan sets out 20 actions to be taken by 2027, including actions to reduce violence in schools. In March we published the first progress report on delivery against the plan, which highlighted progress has been made across all 20 actions.

In response to the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023 about support staff’s experiences of violence, the Scottish Government provided £900k funding for training of support staff in direct response to findings of the research that staff would welcome such training.

As part of Programme for Government, we are investing £29m to support the recruitment, retention and training of the ASN workforce via local and national programmes.

On 17 June I published new guidance to support school staff on fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment, including the use of consequences. I also published guidance on risk assessments for violent, aggressive, and dangerous behaviour.

The Scottish Government is represented on the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) and receives updates regarding significant developments in the Committee’s work. It is expected that the UK NSC will be issuing an official update later this month on the potential for self-sampling to be introduced to the cervical screening programme. The update will be published on their website.

In the event of a positive recommendation, the organisations that oversee screening will move at pace to begin realising the potential benefits of self-sampling.

The Scottish Government’s Fair Work First Guidance already explains the Scottish Government approach, provides good practice examples to guide employers’ approaches and, importantly, explains the benefits of fair work for workers and organisations.

This guidance has been developed through engagement with key stakeholders, including trade unions and the STUC, the Fair Work Convention, Flexibility Works, CIPD Scotland, and business, public and third sector partners.

In addition organisations applying for funding from Creative Scotland are already referred to a range of existing best practice as part of Creative Scotland application guidance and are expected to demonstrate how they will meet fair pay requirements.

The current evaluation of Fair Work First by the Scottish Government is providing an opportunity to look closely at how effectively Fair Work First is delivering our policy intent, and to consider what more we can do to shape the future direction of the policy and strengthen our approach.

This includes an examination of appropriate resources and guidance to deliver the intended outcomes together with how Fair Work First conditions could be extended to other forms of support, and to different types of workers, ensuring all have the opportunity to participate in fair and respectful work environments.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The health and wellbeing of those in our care is of critical importance; we not only recognise, but are tackling, the risks posed by illicit substances within our establishments.

Preventing the introduction of illicit substances is not only important to the health and wellbeing of people in custody, but also to the establishments’ wider safety and security.

SPS continue to look at a range of tactical and technological measures to keep illicit substances from being introduced into prisons.

The tables below show the drug finds each month in both HMPs Greenock and Kilmarnock between January 2021 and May 2025: