- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the University of Stirling project, Football and Alcohol Scoping Study, and what its position is on what impact controlled, responsible alcohol sales inside football grounds could have on (a) levels of so-called binge drinking before matches, (b) matchday revenues and (c) the overall supporter experience.
Answer
The University of Stirling research was commissioned by the Scottish FA and SPFL. The Scottish Government has not undertaken any detailed analysis of the report to date. Our position remains that we have no plans at the current time to amend the legislation governing alcohol at football but we will consider any proposals put forward by the football authorities, and which we would expect to address the issues set out in the University of Stirling report.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many rural school closures have taken place in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
In 2003 there were 1,025 publicly funded schools in Scotland classed as being in either an 'Accessible Rural Area' or 'Remote Rural Area'. In 2023 there were 853 publicly funded schools in Scotland with this classification.
Local Authority | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Aberdeen City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Aberdeenshire | 128 | 127 | 125 | 125 | 123 | 122 | 121 | 121 | 121 | 121 | 120 | 120 | 119 | 120 | 119 | 116 | 115 | 117 | 114 | 113 | 113 |
Angus | 37 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
Argyll & Bute | 80 | 79 | 79 | 79 | 78 | 80 | 81 | 81 | 80 | 81 | 81 | 80 | 73 | 74 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 68 | 68 |
Clackmannanshire | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 84 | 83 | 81 | 81 | 80 | 79 | 78 | 76 | 75 | 75 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 69 |
Dundee City | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
East Ayrshire | 21 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
East Dunbartonshire | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
East Lothian | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 |
East Renfrewshire | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Edinburgh | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Falkirk | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Fife | 57 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 51 | 49 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 44 | 42 | 42 | 45 | 44 | 43 |
Glasgow City | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Highland | 159 | 158 | 164 | 159 | 159 | 158 | 157 | 157 | 156 | 150 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 148 | 146 | 144 | 144 | 144 | 144 | 139 | 138 |
Inverclyde | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Midlothian | 16 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
Moray | 31 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 45 | 45 | 47 | 44 | 47 | 44 | 43 | 41 | 37 | 30 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
North Ayrshire | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
North Lanarkshire | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
Orkney Islands | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
Perth & Kinross | 57 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 54 | 55 | 54 | 53 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 51 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Renfrewshire | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
Scottish Borders | 51 | 48 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 44 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 44 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 39 | 39 |
Shetland Islands | 39 | 39 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 37 | 37 | 36 | 36 | 34 | 34 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 32 | 32 |
South Ayrshire | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
South Lanarkshire | 38 | 38 | 37 | 37 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 36 | 33 | 34 | 34 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 30 |
Stirling | 30 | 30 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
West Dunbartonshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
West Lothian | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 |
All local authorities | 1025 | 1014 | 1008 | 1005 | 989 | 958 | 954 | 945 | 934 | 916 | 910 | 907 | 894 | 882 | 874 | 868 | 859 | 861 | 861 | 852 | 853 |
Data is only available from 2003 onwards and is based on schools which were classed as either 'Accessible Rural Areas' or 'Remote Rural Areas' according to the Urban Rural Classification at the time. Note that an area's Urban Rural Classification may change over time, therefore a decrease in the number of schools classed as rural over the years could be due to this area being reclassified, rather than being due to school closures. The table shows how many rural schools were open in each local authority in each year since 2003.
More detailed information about school openings, closures, mergers and instances where a school has been mothballed can be found on the school contact details spreadsheet in the 'Schools opened or closed' tab: School contact details - gov.scot, but recording of this data is only available from 2007 onwards.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much will be spent on (a) the maintenance of and (b) staffing for the rural payments IT system in each of the next two years.
Answer
The expenditure of a) and b) in 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 is expected to be broadly similar to 2024-2025. In addition to rural payments systems this budget will be used to maintain and support a number of other IT systems such as the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), Estate Management Database (EMA), Drawing Office, Plant Health, Livestock Inspection System (LIS). These systems collectively assure eligibility for payments, support of inspections, responding to legislative requirements and supporting corporate systems.
ARE IT/Digital services support a range of other government departments, functions and agencies including NatureScot, Forestry, Estates Management, Plant Health and Livestock Inspections meaning our IT / Digital services support a wider range of stakeholders.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have been recorded as moving into personal skills development, including employability, in each year for which data is available, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each initial destination (three months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.1a in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 7: 2025 edition. The supplementary tables with data on initial destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-attainment-and-initial-leaver-destinations-no-7-2025-edition/documents/.
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each follow-up destination (nine months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.2 in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary statistics for Follow-Up Leaver Destinations, No. 6: 2024 Edition. The supplementary tables with data on follow-up destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-follow-up-leaver-destinations-no-6-2024-edition/documents/.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many in-school counsellors have been employed in each year since 1999 in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
The mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland is of paramount importance. Since 2021 we have provided our local authority partners with £16 million a year in funding to ensure that all school pupils aged 10 and above and all secondary schools in Scotland have access to school counselling services.
It is for local authorities to determine how they deliver the counselling service in their area. Our local authority partners have confirmed that access to counselling support services are in place across Scotland. Information on the number of counsellors employed is available in summary reports, for the time periods January to June 2021, July to December 2021, January to June 2022, July to December 2022 and January to June 2023. This information can be found on the Scottish Government website at: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Information prior to 2021 is not held. From April 2024 counselling reports moved from six-monthly to annual reporting and information for the July 2023 to March 2024 period is currently being analysed.
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to (a) create simpler reporting systems for retail staff and (b) improve coordination with police, for the reporting of retail crime.
Answer
Our Budget will make an additional £3 million available in 2025-26 to tackle retail crime.
This funding will support the formation of a Retail Crime Taskforce which will provide a visible and measurable impact on retail crime and will deliver on the following objectives:
- Prevent: Stop people from becoming perpetrators of Retail crime by developing and implementing intervention and diversion mechanisms with partners.
- Pursue: Target retail crime by bringing perpetrators to justice, with a focus on repeat offenders and organised criminals.
- Protect: Strengthen the collective protections against Retail Crime by engaging directly with retailers on crime prevention and training.
- Prepare: Mitigate against the impact of Retail Crime by exploring innovate opportunities for direct reporting systems.
New technologies will also be utilised to explore ways to make it easier for retail staff to directly report crimes to police, as well as capitalising on Police Scotland’s existing Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC), to secure early criminal justice outcomes.
This builds on a successful proof of concept within Fife Division and will aim to provide an efficient and effective direct reporting system to retailers.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether NHS Scotland waiting times for all surgeries are in line with international best practices.
Answer
We want patients to be treated as soon as possible. However, we know many are facing unacceptable waits and we are determined to do more. That is why we are targeting an additional £200 million to reduce waits and enhance capacity. We are also looking to optimise the full force of the £21.7 billion committed through the Scottish Budget to health and social care to improve performance.
The most recement statistics show that over the 12 months to December 2024, inpatient and day-case activity was over 256,000 (256,209); 7.4% (17,644) more than previous 12 months, demonstrating our plan to improvement in inpatient / day-case waiting times performance is delivering.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have been recorded as moving into further education as a positive destination in each year for which data is available, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each initial destination (three months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.1a in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 7: 2025 edition. The supplementary tables with data on initial destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-attainment-and-initial-leaver-destinations-no-7-2025-edition/documents/.
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each follow-up destination (nine months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.2 in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary statistics for Follow-Up Leaver Destinations, No. 6: 2024 Edition. The supplementary tables with data on follow-up destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-follow-up-leaver-destinations-no-6-2024-edition/documents/.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the concerns raised in the May 2020 Royal Society of Edinburgh paper, Developing Scotland’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy, how it will ensure that AI businesses are not subject to excessive regulatory complexity.
Answer
Since the publication of the 2020 report by the RSE Scotland's artificial intelligence strategy - Royal Society of Edinburgh : Royal Society of Edinburgh I have commissioned an independent review into the opportunities for AI which was published last year AI+Independent+Review+-+Call+for+Views+-+Initial+Report+-+Advancing+AI+for+Scotland+-+Reformatted+-+January+2024.pdf.
We have been continuously engaging with the UK Government to advocate that their approach to the regulation of AI considers the interests of the citizens and businesses of Scotland. We continue to provide AI support to business through our enterprise agencies and the AI Alliance, our delivery body for Scotland’s AI Strategy. They have recently relaunched the AI Playbook Guidance on AI Adoption Including Information on AI Policies — Scottish AI Playbook which is a one-stop shop for supporting businesses with AI adoption. The playbook also includes information on legal and regulatory provisions relating to the development and use of AI systems.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have been recorded as moving into higher education as a positive destination in each year for which data is available, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each initial destination (three months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.1a in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 7: 2025 edition. The supplementary tables with data on initial destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-attainment-and-initial-leaver-destinations-no-7-2025-edition/documents/.
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each follow-up destination (nine months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.2 in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary statistics for Follow-Up Leaver Destinations, No. 6: 2024 Edition. The supplementary tables with data on follow-up destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-follow-up-leaver-destinations-no-6-2024-edition/documents/.
