Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises that poverty is a barrier to learning, and eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and this Government’s top priority.

Our action is making a real difference to families. On average, households with children in the poorest 10% of households are estimated to be £2,600 a year better off in 2025-26 as a result of Scottish Government policies. This value is projected to grow to an average of £3,700 a year by 2029-30.

We are absolutely committed to meeting the 2030 child poverty targets and will continue to do everything within our powers and budget to deliver the change needed in the face of challenging economic conditions. We will publish our third child poverty delivery plan by the end of March 2026, setting out the actions to be taken between 2026-2031 to meet the final targets.

In terms of poverty and education, research has shown that the poverty-related attainment gap emerges early in a child’s life, with data indicating a disparity in cognitive development in the Early Years and Primary School – the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) longitudinal study found that at age 5, compared to children in the lowest income quintile, those in the highest income quintile were around 13 months ahead in their knowledge of vocabulary, and 10 months ahead in their problem-solving ability.

The negative impacts of poverty on children and young people continue right through the learner journey, with the GUS survey finding that, at entry into primary school and at age 8, children in the lowest income group were more likely to have high levels of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and to have lower life satisfaction. The Health and Wellbeing Census found that the mental health gap between the most and least deprived pupils reaches its highest between S1 and S3, with evidence suggesting that pupils from more deprived areas were less likely to have a high level of support from parents/carers, trusted adults, and peers.

In recognition of those challenges, the Scottish Government has a range of policies to support children and young people to engage with education and support their readiness to learn. These policies include:

?Investment of up to £1 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. There is a vast body of analysis of this programme, including consideration of readiness to learn and the views of children and young people.

?Supported by the Scottish Attainment Challenge, there are lots of examples of how schools are supporting young people to overcome the barriers of poverty, including St Machar Academy in Aberdeen which has a highly effective partnership with the local football club, with an alternative curriculum offer focusing on health, wellbeing, communication and confidence building. Another example is St Ignatius Primary School in North Lanarkshire, which has invested PEF in developing a bespoke tracking system. This allows them to target tailored interventions such as Forest clubs, to encourage improved attendance, attainment and the engagement of children – all underpinned by a lens-like focus on data.

?Free school meals are a crucial element of the Scottish Government’s ambition to eradicate child poverty. This offer is currently available to over 230,000 pupils in primaries 1 to 5 and in special schools across Scotland, plus eligible pupils in Primary 6 to Secondary 6, saving families who take up this offer around £450 per child per year.

?In the current financial year, we have also provided local authorities with funding of £14.2 million in 2025-26 to enable them to maintain the school clothing grant.

Further, in August 2024, the Scottish Government published a national relationships and behaviour action plan to address the concerns raised in the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR). The plan is jointly owned with COSLA, given the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education rests with our councils. The plan was developed in collaboration with SAGRABIS, which NASUWT are a member of. The plan sets out 20 actions to be taken by 2027, including actions to reduce violence in schools in response to the current evidence on relationships and behaviours in Scotland’s schools. As well as tackling violence, it will address issues including attendance, young people’s mental health, exclusion and empowering staff.

As part of the action plan, in June we published new guidance to support school staff in fostering a positive, inclusive, and safe school environment, including the use of consequences alongside guidance on risk assessments for violent, aggressive, and dangerous behaviour. The guidance was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders including teaching unions (including NASUWT), Headteachers, COSLA and ADES.

The Scottish Government recognises that the ongoing cost of living crisis and the impact of inflationary pressures on food and high energy costs are causing difficulties for many individuals and families in Scotland.

Scotland’s classroom teachers are currently the best paid in the UK. The top of the main grade scale for classroom teachers has increased from £37,575 in April 2018 to £50,589 in August 2024.

Between April 2018 and implementation of the previous pay award in August 2024, average teachers’ pay increased by more than 37% in cash terms, and by 7.7% in real terms compared with CPI inflation.

The Scottish Government is committed to eradicating child poverty and provides support which helps children, young people and families to address the cost of the school day, including for school clothing. In 2025-26 the Scottish Government has provided local authorities with £14.2 million in funding to offer school clothing grants to eligible low-income families. Those families will receive at least £120 per child in primary school and £150 for each pupil in secondary school.

We have published national guidance on school uniforms which makes clear that schools are expected to do all that they can to limit school clothing costs for families, aligned to our wider actions to end child poverty. Furthermore, schools should work closely with children and young people and parents and carers when designing or reviewing uniform policies.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges in diagnosing rare cancers, such as cholangiocarcinoma, often due to the presentation of vague, non-specific symptoms. We are committed to improving early detection as we know that the sooner cancer is detected and diagnosed, the better the outcomes are for the individual.

Through our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 published in June 2023, a new Earlier Cancer Diagnosis Vision was developed. This vision aims to reduce later stage disease by 18 percentage points in 10 years’ time, with a focus on reducing the health inequalities gap.

We are improving earlier diagnosis through our Get Checked Early and NHS Inform websites, which encourage individuals to contact their General Practice for early detection and referrals.

We are taking action to support Primary Care to ensure that patients are on the right pathways at the right time. In August 2025, we published the updated Scottish Referral Guidelines for Urgent Suspicion of Cancer. For the first time, the guidelines include criteria for non-specific symptoms, especially important for rare cancers like cholangiocarcinoma, where early signs and symptoms can be easily missed.

We also launched Scotland’s sixth Rapid Cancer Diagnosis Service this year. These services are ruling cancer in or out faster for those with non-specific symptoms.

Gateway C, a new free online primary care cancer education platform, launched in April 2024, further provides tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis and enable effective decision-making. This is accessible to all primary care clinicians and includes information about liver cancers.

We also understand the importance of expanded genomic testing for people with cholangiocarcinoma and its direct impact on their care and access to life-saving precision medicines. There is a wider programme of laboratory transformation and investment planning underway to support a sustainable expansion of genomic testing, as part of our long-term approach to deliver bold and ambitious action to reform and renew our health and care systems in Scotland.

Recognising the importance of genomic testing for cholangiocarcinoma patients and their families, we have asked NHS National Services Division to bring this testing into service ahead of the wider reform programme. Implementation planning is now progressing rapidly within the service.

We have also commissioned the Scottish Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Network to develop nationally standardised pathways for HPB cancers. This will include consideration of the distinct clinical management needed for a range of tumour subtypes, including cholangiocarcinoma, to ensure a person-centred approach to treatment and care.

The planning and provision of local healthcare services is a matter for NHS Boards, consistent with national policies, frameworks and best practice. Core NHS services are provided free at the point of use. Some Health Boards partner with charities to deliver therapies under NHS contracts and, when accessed via referral, these are free. Information relating to charges set by third sector organisation for access to their services, where no NHS contract is held, is a matter for those organisations and is not held centrally.

MNPI (Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention) specialist services are closely aligned to maternity and neonatal services, and are focused on those parents who experience complicated bereavement after losing a baby, during their pregnancy or within the postnatal period. This includes those who are pregnant who have previously experienced baby loss and require specialist support.

Our Delivery Framework for Miscarriage Care in Scotland also details work to map out existing mental health services available following a pregnancy and baby loss to ensure that women can access the appropriate mental health support they require.

To further support families who have experienced pregnancy and baby loss the Scottish Government fund and support the baby loss charity Sands to develop and support NHS Boards to implement, the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) for pregnancy and baby loss in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that the ongoing cost of living crisis and the impact of inflationary pressures on food and high energy costs are causing difficulties for many individuals and families in Scotland.

Scotland’s classroom teachers are currently the best paid in the UK. The top of the main grade scale for classroom teachers has increased from £37,575 in April 2018 to £50,589 in August 2024.

Between April 2018 and implementation of the previous pay award in August 2024, average teachers’ pay increased by more than 37% in cash terms, and by 7.7% in real terms compared with CPI inflation.

We recognise that there are teachers who aspire to permanency or continuity of employment but who are unable to secure a position. It is for this reason we are providing £186.5 million to local authorities in 2025-26 to restore overall teacher numbers across the country to 2023 levels and maximise the number of teaching posts available.

The following stakeholders were invited to the Wildfire Summit on 14 October 2025:

Scottish Government

Forestry and Land Scotland

Cairngorms National Park Authority

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority

Scottish Forestry

NatureScot

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Firebreak Services

Police Scotland

Her Majesty's Fire Inspectorate Service

Brightsparks Burning Techniques

Scottish Land and Estates

Scottish Gamekeepers Association

British Association for Shooting and Conservation

National Farmers Union for Scotland

Scottish Crofters Federation

Scottish Countryside Alliance

Heather Trust

Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

RSPB Scotland

John Muir Trust

National Trust for Scotland

Scottish Ramblers Association

Scottish Countryside Rangers Association

Trees for Life

UK Met Office – Scotland liaison

Association of British Insurers (ABI) – Scotland representative

Highland Council

Dumfries and Galloway Council

Highland Adapts

Local Gamekeepers

The focus of the summit was for stakeholders to share their views on addressing future wildfire risks, including what is needed to increase Scotland’s resilience to wildfires.

A roundtable on wildfires event will take place in the coming weeks at the Scottish Parliament which will provide MSPs with the opportunity to hear from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Government about a brief overview of the 2025 wildfires season, key outcomes from the Scottish Multi-Agency Resilience Training and Exercising Unit (SMARTEU) debrief, an overview of learnings so far from the series of engagements and to contribute to building resilience into our wildfire preparedness and response.

We understand these concerns, and we are committed to working with the key stakeholders to explore alternative artificial pitch systems and more sustainable infill products to reduce the spread of microplastics in the environment.

Artificial grass pitches play an important role in the delivery of sport and physical activity across Scotland, helping the nation to lead more active, healthy lives. Well maintained artificial pitches allow for year-round, intensive use and can provide significantly more playing hours than traditional grass pitches.

sportscotland, our national agency for sport continue to engage with sporting bodies, educational bodies, and key partners across the sporting sector in the development of synthetic pitches and surfaces.

EU legislation designed to protect the environment from exposure to microplastics means that, from 2031, rubber crumb infill material will no longer be available for use on artificial pitches within the EU.

While preparation of a restriction proposal under UK REACH has not been taken forward at this time, we are still in discussions with Welsh Government and UK Government on next steps.