Chamber and committees

We received an excellent response to the Inshore Fisheries Management Improvement Programme call for evidence which ran for twelve weeks from 26 November 2024. We intend to publish an analysis in due course. The responses are both numerous and voluminous and have required longer than anticipated to fully analyse and report upon. The scale of the responses has however provided a detailed insight into the views of our stakeholders on numerous aspects of inshore fisheries management. These will be invaluable as we begin to develop proposals for a new inshore fisheries management framework, which we intend to consult on in early 2026.

The Scottish Government has already published the estimated financial contribution made to public spending by the voluntary Ministerial pay freeze since it was established on 1 April 2009. Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2025, Ministers made an estimated £2.2 million available for public spending from their own pay packets. This is public funding that would not have been available had Ministers not voluntarily decided to return a proportion of their pay. In 2024-25, Ministerial pay was 30.4% below where it would otherwise have been. From 1 April 2025, the MSP element of the pay of all Ministers except the First Minister was equalised with that of all other MSPs, while the freeze on the Ministerial element of their pay continues for a seventeenth consecutive year. In 2025-26, Ministers will make an estimated £166,000 available for public spending from their own pay packets and, as such, public funds this year will again be higher than they would have been without the pay freeze. This is the point that the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport was making.

Responsibility for publishing data and intelligence on the social service sector in Scotland was delegated to the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in 2001 by Scottish Ministers under the Regulation of Care Scotland Act 2001.

Reports on sector vacancy rates, including breakdowns by local authority and ‘hard to fill posts’, between 2018 and 2023 can be found on SSSC’s website here:

Vacancies reports | Scottish Social Services Workforce Data

Please note SSSC is working to provide more current data to workforce planners and now publishes data on social worker-filled posts and vacancies every six months which can be found here:

Social worker filled posts and vacancies six-monthly survey at June 2024 | Scottish Social Services Workforce Data

The Scottish Government will be allocating an additional £6,252,000 to territorial boards in 2025-26 specifically to fund insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors (CGM). Additional funding of around £800,000 will be used to fund the National Onboarding Service and make improvements to digital infrastructure, including SCI-Diabetes and MyDiabetes MyWay.

A breakdown of funding being provided to each territorial Board can be found in the following table. Some additional funding has been provided to support development of digital infrastructure.

Statistics on 'additional support needs teachers’ are published in the teacher census supplementary statistics. This is available on the Scottish government website here Teacher census supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

In addition, statistics on school support staff are also published on the Scottish Government website and are available here School support staff statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Spending on additional support for learning by local authorities reached a record high of over £1 billion in the last financial year. This year, in addition to that spend, the 2025-26 budget provides £29m investment for additional support for learning. This will support the recruitment retention and training of the ASN workforce at a local level, and will help to enhance professional learning on inclusion for all teachers, at all stages of their careers.

Officials within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have prepared detailed policy and process documents to assist staff across the service, including those involved in custody hearings and early case processing, dealing with body-worn video footage. These documents are being supported by extensive training which highlights:

• The need to take a trauma informed approach to the use of body-worn video
• The evidential value of body-worn video
• The sensitive nature of body-worn video and its implications for disclosure and redaction.
• The need for prompt disclosure and early engagement with the accused and their legal representative.

Scottish Government monitor the performance of NHS 24 and regularly engage with the service to discuss any performance related issues. We are satisfied that the Service continue to meet their statutory and clinical obligations and are committed to continuing to support them to enhance the service they provide to patients.

Since 2011, the Scottish Government has provided over £65 million to support the development of public EV charging across Scotland. As a direct result of this funding, and increasing private sector investment, Scotland now has over 6,800 public charge points, a target for 6,000 public Charge points was met in October 2024, two years ahead of schedule. Scotland has one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, with, on a per head of population basis, more rapid public EV charge points than any other part of the UK except the South East of England.

Through our £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund we are continuing to supporting local authorities to work in partnership with the private sector to expand public EV charging across Scotland, with public funding prioritising those areas of Scotland less likely to benefit from stand-alone private sector investment in public EV charging infrastructure, including rural and island communities.

Through the EV Infrastructure Fund, Glasgow City Region, which includes the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency, has been awarded £3.5 million to support the installation over 3,000 additional charge points across the region. Glasgow City Region are now taking forward public procurement to deliver this project.

The Scottish Government takes the safety of the public very seriously. Sex offender notification requirements apply to an individual, irrespective of what name they use, and Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements documentation includes the recording of any aliases. Sex offenders must inform the police of a name change within three days and failure to notify such a change can result in a prison sentence.

We are aware that the Crime and Policing Bill, recently introduced to the UK Parliament, contains legislative change in this area. A Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) was lodged on 16 May 2025 recommending that the Scottish Parliament consents to the legislative provisions around sex offender management contained in the Bill. We await the outcome of the Parliamentary process which will determine whether or not consent is given to the provisions.

The operation of Police Scotland, including decisions on the allocation of resources and the deployment of officers and staff, is for the Chief Constable, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. This includes the provision of Police Officers in courts, to maintain public order within the building, ensuring that all court users continue to be in an environment where their safety is maintained.

Despite unprecedented challenges to public finances, the 2025-26 Scottish Police Authority budget has increased to £1.64 billion, an increase of almost £90 million when compared to the 2024-25 budget.