Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government and COSLA are committed to working in partnership with the teacher unions to set out a timeline for implementation of this important commitment, so that meaningful progress can be made as soon as is practical.

Any changes to terms and conditions for teachers require tripartite agreement through the SNCT.

Statutory responsibility for decisions about the learning estate, including mothballing, rest with local authorities. The Scottish Government issues guidance to support local authorities’ implementation of their statutory responsibilities.

As the First Minister stated on 24 April, we are reviewing current guidance on the mothballing of schools and nurseries to provide greater clarity on whether it is an appropriate action to take. Scottish Government officials have regular engagement with local authorities and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including mothballing, and Ministers are considering a range of local government and stakeholder views on mothballing through the review process.

We will update Parliament further on this work in due course. While the review is underway, the existing guidance on mothballing (which is included in the Statutory Guidance on the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 200) remains in place.

This is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland, which established the national Long Covid Strategic Network and requested that Health Improvement Scotland perform the evidence review.

This information is not held centrally. Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Scottish Government does hold information on entries to courses and qualifications. This is not necessarily the same as the number of schools offering these courses as a school may offer a course, but no learners choose to take it.

The following table shows the number of (a) publicly funded and (b) grant-funded schools with entries to Economics courses at (i) National 4, (ii) National 5, (iii) Higher and (iv) Advanced Higher level in 2024.

The Scottish Government and NatureScot support farmers and crofters through the Sea Eagle Management Scheme (SEMS).

As set out in March 2025, we have increased the funding for SEMS from £436,000 to £970,000 this year. We are committed to continuing to support farmers and crofters, especially those who feel the negative impacts most acutely, through SEMS.

Alongside this we are working on the development of future rural support to explore how it could assist in delivering support to farmers and crofters, where protected species such as white-tailed eagles have an impact on agricultural interests, and to support enhanced biodiversity in years to come.

We have not been made aware of any concerns regarding the impact that sea eagles are having on small birds.

More details on the Sea Eagle Management Scheme are available on the NatureScot website at https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/land-and-sea-management/managing-wildlife/sea-eagle-management-scheme

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as this is the responsibility of NHS Boards. However, the Scottish Governments expects NHS Boards to follow the National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) specification, which includes a clear expectation that children and young people whose referral is not accepted for CAMHS are sensitively and appropriately signposted to a more suitable service, such as our community-based supports.

We have provided local authorities with over £65 million since 2020 to fund community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families. This £15 million per year funding will continue through the local government finance settlement from 2025-26. Examples include mentoring services, art-based therapies, digital services, whole-family supports, counselling services and supports involving sport or physical activity.

Individual local authorities decide which supports and services to put in place in their area based on the needs of their communities.

The Scottish Government is committed to meaningful parental involvement in the national attendance campaign announced in our Programme for Government 2025-26.

As part of the development of the campaign, qualitative research was undertaken in 2024 with parents, pupils and stakeholders to build a clear picture of lived experience and needs. Insight from this research will be used to inform the development of the campaign, including the core creative idea, messages and channel selection. A second stage of qualitative research with parents and carers of pupils with lower levels of attendance will then be used to test different creative approaches for effectiveness. We will also engage with stakeholders, parent councils and other representative groups as part of this process to gather diverse perspectives.

The regular reporting in achieving progress and outcomes of both these programmes are collated through the Corra Foundation.

An evaluation of the Inverclyde Early Help in Police Custody Service found that there were practical challenges involved in covering such a vast geographical. However, the project demonstrated good progress towards an effective model of early intervention support for people who use drugs and alcohol that are caught up in the justice system.

A range of methods are being used to collate the learning and impact of the Pathfinder programme that originated in the Inverness area. Due to a lack of referrals in that area the project is now based in Dundee, Lanarkshire and Glasgow, and a full evaluation will be available when it concludes in 2026.

Standard 1.2 of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification relates to the offer of a first appointment. As set out in the Specification, Neurodevelopmental Services that are delivered locally are the responsibility of Children Services providers. A first appointment could be provided by a number of professionals within a range of agencies, including education, health and voluntary organisations.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on length of waits for neurodevelopmental services centrally. Our focus is on improving support. Our Neurodevelopmental Specification places an expectation on NHS and Children's Services to work together to implement standards, in line with GIRFEC. Crucially, local authorities have a statutory duty to identify and provide support for pupils with additional support needs, regardless of diagnosis.