Chamber and committees

The latest published workforce statistics show 9,349 Staff within SG Core as at December 2024 Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot. 85 staff of the total 9,349 have a home working contract.

However, in a number of cases this may be because of a reasonable adjustment in accordance with equalities legislation, or for other role-related reasons. In either case, we do not record what proportion of time is spent working exclusively from home and in practice most staff with homeworking contracts will likely still attend an SG workplace from time to time or work with stakeholders in communities.

Historically, a range of factors, including newly devolved responsibilities such as establishing Social Security, EU Exit, and our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are behind the growth in the workforce.

UK Civil Service grew its directly employed FTE by 7.4% between March 2022 and December 2024 in comparison to the Scottish Government permanent civil service growing by 5.6%.

In comparison to the UK Civil Service the growth in the equivalent grades (Grades 6 and 7) was the same as it was in the Scottish Government between 2020 and 2024 at 47%.

The Scottish Government has reduced its workforce in the last two financial years, by 0.4% in 2022-3 and 3% in 2023-24 and from March 2022 to December 2024, the total workforce has reduced by 4%. To achieve this it has prioritised the reduction of expensive contingent workers in making these reductions, in partnership with our Trade Unions. The number of contingent workers is now 46% lower than in March 2022.

Scottish Government workforce numbers are regularly and carefully reviewed to ensure efficient and effective delivery for the people of Scotland and recruitment controls remain in place. The Budget has set a commitment to continuing reductions in the workforce in this financial year.

As referred to in the Royal College of Nursing’s report, The Nursing Workforce in Scotland 2025, published on 6 May 2025, the Scottish Government published the Ministerial Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce report in February 2025.

The report includes 44 recommendations to tackle all barriers to recruitment and retention of nursing and midwifery staff, beyond pay, terms and conditions. Phase 2 has commenced and a Ministerial Oversight and Implementation Group have been established to develop a detailed workplan which will be agreed shortly to take forward the agreed recommendations. Members of the Taskforce acknowledged that implementation will take time and investment to ensure genuine change for our nursing and midwifery staff.

The Scottish Government requires an exemption from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2000 (IMA) from the UK Government (UKG) before we can effectively implement sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

The UKG have agreed to providing this exemption and we are awaiting for them to make the necessary changes to the IMA before we can effectively implement sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. Scottish Government officials are engaged with counterparts in UKG regarding this change and we expect it to be made soon.

It is our intention to bring a ban on the use, supply and possession of glue traps once the UKG have made the required changes.

The Scottish Government does not hold copies of any assessments that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has made in this area. It is SFRS policy to remove pregnant firefighters from front-line operational duties to avoid any potential risks to the mother or unborn child.

The first meeting of the Glen Rosa review group was held on 10 April 2025.

This information is not routinely collected by Scottish Government. Information on patients receiving home dialysis is held by NHS Boards.

The way in which the resilience fund will operate is being finalised. Information on the routes and/or islands that will be covered, eligibility criteria, application process and payment rates will be shared soon, including with eligible communities.

To clarify, as I set out in my response to S6W-35785, NatureScot had intended for the draft species licensing review to undergo an external review in April 2025 before being submitted to Ministers at a later date.

The external review has been delayed slightly and NatureScot anticipate that it will now take place over the coming weeks. Following completion of the external review, the species licensing review will then be presented to Ministers for consideration prior to being published.

The commitments for peatland restoration and woodland creation have not reduced for 2025-26.

The 2025 Programme for Government commits to restoring 12,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatlands and creating at least 10,000 hectares of woodlands, including at least 4,000 hectares of native woodland.

The 2024 Programme for Government committed to restoring 10,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatlands. The woodland creation commitment in 2024-25 was the same as for 2025-26.