Chamber and committees

FAIs cover a number of areas of policy interest. It would be for each Scottish Government policy area to consider if a particular determination or response gave rise to further consideration or action. We would expect any public body to take cognisance of any such recommendations.

The statutory framework for FAIs is the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016. The legislation introduced a requirement for the Sheriff conducting the FAI to make a determination setting out their conclusions and recommendations as soon as possible. Recommendations from a Sheriff must be responded to by the body to whom they are directed. The 2016 Act sets out that the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is required to publish the determination and subsequent response from the party to whom the recommendations are directed. The response will normally detail what action has been taken or is proposed to be taken in light of the recommendations. These are published on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service website and are therefore publicly available.

Training of the judiciary, including the training provided to sheriffs who hear fatal accident inquiries, is not a matter for the Scottish Government but rather for the Lord President.

2021’s A Strategy for Space in Scotland is not a government-owned document but one jointly developed and owned by industry, academia, and government. The Scottish Government, for its part, remains committed to the ambitions set out within.

2021’s A Strategy for Space in Scotland is a document jointly owned between industry, government and academia, and sets out the goal of achieving a £4 billion market share of the global space market and creating over 20,000 jobs in the sector by 2030.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34946 on 20 February 2025, budget allocation for Atlantic Rainforest restoration at the project/programme level is still to be finalised. Further details will be released in due course. 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.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the principle of transparency and adopts the default position to publish material where possible.

Business Analysts operate across both our directly employed and contingent workforce. Within our directly employed workforce, they operate across two of our Professional groups (Professions); the Digital Profession and the Operational Delivery Profession. A definition of a Business Analyst role can be found here Business analyst - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

A breakdown of the expenditure on the directly employed staff in Business Analyst roles can be found here Breakdown of Scottish Government spend on Lawyers and Business Analyst roles: FOI release - gov.scot

There may also be some Business Analysts working in a temporary capacity in our contingent workforce, however our data on contingent workers is not captured at a job title level and this may not adhere fully to the definition provided above.

Scottish Government expenditure on consultants is publicly available and can be found here. Business Consultant is not a commonly applied definition in the Scottish Government.

2023 to 2024 - Government expenditure - gov.scot

Government expenditure: 2016 to 2023 - gov.scot

Please see FOI response below detailing the paid-for media marketing campaigns that were approved to be developed and had incurred costs before the decision was taken not to proceed to launch - between 2019 and the present.

Advertising and public information campaign queries: FOI release - gov.scot

The Scottish Government is committed to public service reform to enhance the sustainability of public services and improve their effectiveness. The Scottish Government has invited bids from local government as part of the Invest to Save Fund, and an announcement of successful bids will be issued in due course.

Local authorities are responsible for considering their own options for reform and transformation. The Improvement Service supports councils to develop capability and capacity for improvement to enhance the delivery of high quality, efficient local services.