The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that disabled children and young people have opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity at all levels.

Active Schools teams work proactively with schools, sports clubs, governing bodies and community organisations to establish pathways that enable young people to move from school-based opportunities into sustained participation in community sport and, where appropriate, into competitive pathways. The Active Schools programme has been supported by Scottish Disability Sport and is delivered with an inclusive focus in both mainstream and ASN schools across all 32 local authorities.

Our additional £40 million investment into sport and physical activity in the 2026/27 Budget will also help to ensure that there are more and better opportunities to engage in sport and physical activity at all levels, including for disabled people.

NHS Scotland does not generally determine access to specialist dental services on the basis of a medical diagnosis alone. Referrals to the Public Dental Service, Special Care Dentistry, or secondary care services are made based on an individual's assessed clinical needs, the complexity of treatment required, and any factors that may affect their ability to receive care safely within a general dental practice.

Following referral, decisions on the most appropriate treatment pathway, including whether specialist services are required and the priority assigned to a patient, are matters for NHS clinical teams.

The 52-week ambition discussed in Committee evidence relates to onshore wind farm applications under the Onshore Wind Sector Deal. The position for offshore wind projects is different and is set out below.

Best efforts are made to meet determination timeline of 12 months from initial application, excluding time taken to receive and consult upon Additional Information, as required under the EIA regulations. We are clear that more complex applications may take longer. Of the current live offshore windfarm applications, 10 of 13 are currently projected to be determined within 12 months, excluding time to receive and consult upon Additional Information and resolution of other complexities.

The Programme for Government, published on 1 September, sets out the Scottish Government’s intention to move from 14 territorial boards to two strategic territorial NHS Boards covering the East and West of Scotland.

The 52-week ambition discussed in Committee evidence relates to onshore wind farm applications under the Onshore Wind Sector Deal. The position for offshore wind projects is different and is set out below.

The average determination timeline for the 15 offshore windfarm applications determined by Scottish Ministers since 2015 is 11 months excluding any time taken to receive and consult upon Additional Information, as required under the EIA regulations. The average determination time for applications that exceeded 12 months was 17 months, excluding any time taken to receive and consult upon Additional Information.

The Scottish Government are continuously looking to improve local and national data and evidence around child protection. We acknowledge that national data on child sexual abuse and exploitation is limited, which is why we set up the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Data Short Life Working Group to take forward focused work in this area. Part of that focus is to improve consistency in reporting the scale and nature of child sexual abuse and exploitation across the whole of Scotland.

In April this year, the Scottish Government commenced work on phase one of the contribution rates review, with the aim of exploring whether current funding for the modern apprenticeship (MA) programme is appropriate, sustainable and aligned with SG priorities, labour market needs, employer costs and learner outcomes.

In response to the review and wider evidence on business conditions, I can confirm that there will be a 10% uplift to modern apprenticeship contribution rates, for both new starts, and those in training for 2027-28 onwards.

This funding increase will bring benefits to training providers, employers and learners within the apprenticeship system.

Stage two of the review will provide an opportunity for a more in depth consideration of the cost of delivery across frameworks, this work will commence in 2027.

While the fiscal environment remains extremely challenging and decisions on future funding provision will be taken by Ministers as part of the Budget processes, we are committed to strengthening and growing the modern apprenticeship programme.

Decisions regarding the £30 million Invest to Save Fund for 2026-27 have been made and successful applicants have been notified. Funded organisations are currently considering and confirming acceptance of their awards, including the associated terms and conditions. As this process remains ongoing, details of individual projects and funding allocations have not yet been finalised for publication.

The Scottish Government intends to announce the successful projects and associated funding allocations once the funding award process has been fully concluded.

The funded projects for 2025-26 Invest to save fund is outlined below.

Invest to Save fund 2025-26

Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) submitted their 2026-27 resource budget requirement in October 2025, which was considered as part of the annual budget setting process.

The Scottish Government has allocated record funding of over £1.7 billion to the SPA in 2026-27. This is an increase of £81.5 million, or 5% compared to the published 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision budget. It is for the Chief Constable, under the scrutiny of the SPA, to allocate resources to meet priorities outlined in Police Scotland's Three Year Plan.

Police Scotland continues to have more police officers per head of population with around 30 officers per 10,000 population compared with around 24 per 10,000 in England and Wales, and has confirmed that there is a healthy recruitment pipeline.

This Government will continue to provide investment and support, working closely with Police Scotland and the SPA, to understand their future funding requirements as part of the 2027-28 budget planning process.

As noted in response to S7W-01512 on 31 July 2026, Scottish Government officials remained in close contact with Scottish Enterprise throughout its review of its human rights due diligence checks, exchanging and providing relevant advice and views where appropriate. This included in relation to Scottish Government’s own guidance which sets out recommendations on how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an "investment relationship" with them.