Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not conducted analysis to determine the impact of career advice services on the reported increase in the number of early school leavers.

Energy price setting and regulation is fully reserved to UK Government and the Scottish Government has limited powers to intervene. However, we continue to do what we can, within devolved competence, to support households in rural areas with their energy costs.

Our energy efficiency delivery programmes – Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes – support households across the entirety of Scotland who are living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty.

Households in extreme fuel poverty in rural and island areas are able to benefit from energy efficiency improvements worth up to £21,100 as part of our local Area Based Schemes. These councils can apply a higher maxima of grant-in-kind for zero/low carbon heating measures of £9,000, which reflects the greater delivery costs in rural and island areas.

Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) is our national fuel poverty scheme, designed to help those living in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty through installing insulation and heating measures into individual properties. The scheme is delivered by Warmworks and applications are assessed by Home Energy Scotland (HES) under eligibility criteria based on “proxies” such as Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which are an indication of the likelihood of the household living in or being at risk of fuel poverty. To ensure that customers have access to the same set of measures in rural and island areas we use a National Customer Price, this ensures measures are charged at the same level whether they are in rural and remote areas or in the central belt.

We are also aware that island communities, in particular, experience acute financial pressures due to often higher costs of fuel, a colder climate, and a lack of consumer choices compared to the UK mainland. Since 2022, our Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund (ICCEF) has distributed £3.4 million, through local authorities, to support islanders most impacted by the cost of living. The 2024 Programme for Government commits the Scottish Government to continue delivery of this fund and we anticipate that it will be worth a further £1 million in 2025-26. This is in addition to our Winter Heating Benefits which provide guaranteed support to people who have an identified need for additional heat over the winter months, including low-income households, families with disabled children and young people, and pensioners.

However, the fundamental fiscal and policy levers to make a real difference lie with the UK Government. The Scottish Government has recently led and concluded a Social Tariff Working Group with energy suppliers and consumer organisations. We repeatedly called on the previous UK Government to introduce a social tariff mechanism as a means of targeted support for those who need it most and have written to the UK Government seeking urgent delivery of an automatic and targeted discount on energy bills to address unaffordable bills at source. We believe that a sophisticated set of metrics should be developed to determine eligibility, including rurality, recognising the additional costs faced by these households.

We have been clear that market reforms need to deliver tangible benefits and ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition. Rural households face a particular set of challenges and we will continue to advocate for their interests through our engagement with the UK Government, Ofgem, and wider industry.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-04553 on 23 April 2025. All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

The Scottish Government recognises the growth in the number of pupils with an additional support need since the pandemic.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility for delivering education and for ensuring that those pupils identified with an additional support need are fully supported to learn, in the environment that best suits their needs. Most children and young people’s needs are met through a universal level of support and 95% of children and young people with ASN were educated in mainstream classes in 2024. This includes adapting learning and teaching approaches to support children in the classroom. There remains a broad consensus from children and young people, parents and carers, the teaching profession and others that the Scottish approach to inclusive education continues to be the right one.

We continue to seek ways to improve the experience of inclusion for all of our young people and the 2025-26 budget sets out an additional £29 million for additional support needs.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is a top priority for the Scottish Government. We continue to provide £16 million per year to enable local authorities to provide access to school counselling services for pupils aged 10 and over.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37086 on 6 May 2025. 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-37086 on 6 May 2025.

Responsibility for any decisions on whether to publish the results of their investigation conducted in relation to the sharing of annotated materials is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

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 has been working with CoSLA to look at options for removing non residential care charging. Given pressures being faced across the system, this has focussed on financial analysis but has also included modelling on potential increases in the number of people accessing social care should charges be removed.

The Scottish Government understands concerns regarding the withholding of cost information for publicly funded care home places under claims of commercial confidentiality. While commercial interests are protected under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), such exemptions are subject to a public interest test. While respecting legitimate commercial interests, the Scottish Government encourages public authorities and care providers to adopt best practices in information sharing

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37086 on 6 May 2025. 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-37086 on 6 May 2025. 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