Chamber and committees

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, land contamination is the responsibility of local authorities. Any land which is identified as being contaminated, including any downstream of disused lead mines, should be managed in accordance with their routine regime of identifying and securing remediation for contaminated land. The Scottish Government expects that local authorities will prioritise based upon risk to the environment and human health, rather than source of land contamination.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to ask SEPA to review local authority actions in this area.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32087 on 19 December 2024. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32122 on 19 December 2024. 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 CARES allocation of £11.7 million for 2025-26 announced in the draft budget represents an increase on the budget allocated to CARES in 2024-25. Plans for CARES in 2025-26 will be informed by lessons learnt from the Community Energy Generation Growth Fund pilot. This fund supported community groups with up to £1.5 million to develop their own community energy projects.

The Scottish Government is committed to growing the community energy sector and communities are at the heart of our renewable energy ambitions. CARES funding for 2025-26 will include dedicated development funding and support to help communities with the early stage development of community owned energy projects, increasing the accessibility of community energy and helping to ensure communities see the benefits of our energy transition.

I recognise that endometriosis is a painful and long-term condition, which may result in young people being absent from school for a prolonged period. As acknowledged in our national guidance on attendance, ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1,’ there are links between poor attendance and attainment. It is therefore important that education authorities provide appropriate support to meet the educational needs of children or young people where endometriosis is impacting on their attendance.

Teachers are not medical professionals and therefore cannot be expected to have a detailed knowledge of all medical conditions that might affect children and young people. Training requirements should instead be planned for and driven by the individual needs of children and young people in the schools in the area. Similarly, it would not be possible for our guidance to provide detailed information for every medical condition which might cause a healthcare need in schools. For this reason our guidance on ‘Supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools’ does not make reference to specific health conditions such as endometriosis. If a child and young person is diagnosed with a longer term condition or develops healthcare support needs, it is normally the role of parents/carers to notify the school that they require the school's input to support their child's needs. Our guidance recommends that if a young person were to be diagnosed with any health condition which might affect their schooling, they and their parent or carer should seek a meeting with the school at the earliest opportunity to discuss their potential additional support needs. This will enable appropriate information about their healthcare needs, including impacts associated medication to be shared and enable the consideration of an individualised healthcare plan.

Where endometriosis results in a young person being absent from school for a prolonged period, the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 requires that education authorities make special arrangements for pupils to receive education elsewhere than at an educational establishment. Alternative arrangements for education will depend upon the young person’s individual circumstances; however it could be provided, for example, at home or in a hospital setting.

a) The exact cost of obtaining the information has not been calculated but it is estimated to exceed the cost limit due to the number of cases and other matters that would require to be considered individually by officials.

b) Link to the published SG accounts on the SG website can be found here to show legal costs across multiple financial years. –

– Financial reports and accounts - Government finance - gov.scot

In November 2024, the Scottish Government published its Asylum Right to Work pilot proposal. It proposes a number of changes to current UK policy with regards to the right to work for people seeking asylum.

Policy officials from both the Asylum & Refugee Integration team and the Population team contributed to development of the proposal, however there were no civil servants allocated to this work on a full-time basis.

There is no business requirement for officials to record the time spent on specific tasks or their work more generally. These are completed as part of normal duties, along with other tasks appropriate to roles as civil servants. As such, the Civil Service does not assess or hold costing estimates with regards to the development of policy proposals.

The Caledonian Sleeper services make a significant positive contribution to Scotland’s businesses, economy, communities and tourist offer, providing vital, low carbon connections to and from London. Demand for Caledonian Sleeper services continues to grow and the Scottish Government will continue to support these services.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with Scottish Renewables to discuss a wide range of matters related to renewable energy. On 4 December 2024, I met Claire Mack, the Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, to discuss the broad parameters of the draft Scottish Budget 2025-26 in relation to offshore wind and wider renewables.