Scottish Government core owned estate has six buildings with solar panels installed.

They are in the following local authority areas:

The City of Edinburgh Council – 3 buildings (Victoria Quay, St Andrews House, SASA)

Scottish Borders Council – 1 building (Tweedbank)

Aberdeenshire Council – 1 building (Thainstone)

Argyll and Bute – 1 building (Cameron House, Oban)

The Scottish Government does not hold data on solar panels installed on buildings owned or occupied by its agencies or other public bodies.

The valuation of all non-domestic property, including sites of ATMs, is a matter for Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government.

Following the consideration of the valuation of ATMs as referred to in answer to question S6W-08765, Assessors removed most ATM sites from the Valuation Roll. In some circumstances however, ATM sites are still considered rateable and entered on the valuation roll.

On 1 April 2022, there were a total of 2,140 ATM site entries on the valuation roll of which 1,740 entries, just over 80%, had been removed by 30 March 2023. The numbers of entries are rounded to the nearest ten. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the reasons for the removal of any particular entry from the Valuation Roll, and it is likely that these figures will include some ATMs which were removed as a result of their physical removal and decommissioning.

Non-domestic rates bills are administered by local authorities and where a property is removed from the Valuation Roll, the ratepayer will be entitled to a refund of any overpaid rates back to the effective date of deletion.

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

Installing solar panels on owned Scottish Government buildings will be considered as part of holistic approach to decarbonising our buildings. Feasibility studies will be carried out to look at the suitability of roof structures, roof orientation, available space and shading. Not all buildings will be suitable for installing solar panels. We will continue to pursue innovative solutions which may provide opportunities to support the broader energy transition.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility for delivering education and the statutory duty to make special arrangements for any affected pupils to receive education elsewhere than at a school or other educational establishment as a result of prolonged ill health. The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities primarily by means of a block grant and it is for local councils to manage the allocation of their resources and the level of services that are delivered, including for education. In the 2023-24 financial year, the latest figure available, spending by local authorities reached a record high of over £1 billion from the Scottish Government for additional support for learning. This represents an increase from the £540 million spending allocated for this purpose in 2012-13.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government has published guidance on the education of children and young people unable to attend school due to ill health. The purpose of our guidance is to provide advice and information for local authorities in relation to their statutory duty to make special arrangements for any affected pupils/ This includes guidance on making alternative arrangements in instances where a child or young person is either staying in hospital, or they have a health condition which means they are often in and out of hospital. Our guidance is available through the following web link: Introduction - Education of children unable to attend school due to ill health: guidance - gov.scot.

This information is not held centrally.

Data on how much each local authority spends on supply teachers is not held or collected by central government.

Data on local authority expenditure on teachers is available from the Local Government Financial statistics data collection. The latest figures are available from LFR01 at Scottish local government finance statistics 2023-24.

This information is not held centrally.

This information is not held centrally.

Scottish Government officials have continued to engage with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools and Local Authorities on the impact of the removal of the VAT exemption for independent school fees on independent schools, their pupils, families and the state sector in Scotland.

Data on how much each local authority spends on supply teachers is not held or collected by central government.

Data on local authority expenditure on teachers is available from the Local Government Financial statistics data collection. The latest figures are available from LFR01 at Scottish local government finance statistics 2023-24.