The Scottish Government does not collate data on the number of people who have cited ADHD as part of their defence.

Having ADHD would not amount to a defence in law to a criminal charge, though it might be something a defence solicitor presents in mitigation on behalf of a client with ADHD.

The information held on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Services (SCTS) live operational case management systems is structured to support the processing of court business, rather than for statistical reporting or research purposes. SCTS and their staff provide administrative support to the Scottish courts, tribunals and their judiciary and rely on information provided by justice partners to consider any adjustment that may be required to facilitate a court hearing.

Bursaries for independent schools are a matter for the proprietors of each institution, as each independent school is a private company. It is for the school itself to administer and provide bursaries for pupils to attend their establishment.

We continue to engage with the UK Government on this matter. My officials have been assured by the UK Government that their mailbox for school enquiries remains open. We have provided this to all Scottish independent schools, should they wish to contact them.

The Scottish Government are progressing a range of actions to support a sustainable reduction in the prison population, including:

• The passage of the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, which changes the point of release for most prisoners serving short-term sentences of under four years from following 50% of their sentence, to following 40% of their sentence.
• Increasing community justice funding by £14m this year to a total of £148m to further strengthen alternatives to custody.
• Introducing regulations that enable GPS technology to be used to monitor individuals being released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC).
• SPS continue to optimise the appropriate use of HDC which allows certain prisoners who have met the requirements of a risk assessment to spend up to 180 days in the community.
• We intend to bring forward secondary legislation to amend the use of HDC with the intention of increasing the period of time individuals can spend on release under licence conditions.
• We have increased the use of electronically monitored bail which is now available in every local authority and its use is at record levels.
• The establishment of an independent review of sentencing and penal policy which will focus on reducing reoffending and ensuring custody is used at the right time, for the right individuals.
• The safety and wellbeing of those who work in prisons and those in their care must also remain at the forefront of our actions to ensure prisons continue to function effectively.
• We must ensure that we have a prison system that focuses on those who pose the greatest risk to the public and provide a range of support to help reduce reoffending and aid integration back into the community.

The Local Government finance funding formula provides a complex but objective assessment of need and uses the most up to date information for the full range of indicators, including factors such as rurality, population, road length and deprivation. Rurality is accounted for within the Local Government finance settlement, both in relation to Early Learning and Childcare and school funding. In Early Learning and Childcare this relates to support being distributed in relation to the number of pupils living in rural areas.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on Education, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The annual Funding of Local Government publication provides an overview of the process of funding council in Scotland, while the Local Government Allocation Statistics (Green Book) publication sets out in more detail the date, methodology and calculations underlying the distribution of the funding between councils. https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#thefundingoflocalgovernmentinscotland.

It is essential as we move towards the establishment of Qualifications Scotland that the education system and wider public have confidence and trust in the qualifications body in Scotland.

Operational responsibility for the qualifications, such as the marking of assignments and associated quality assurance processes, is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The Scottish Government has received reassurance that no young people will be disadvantaged by the sharing of annotated assignment materials. It is also important to reassure learners that materials did not relate to exams in any way and were shared after learners’ assignments had been submitted. SQA has advised that it is taking actions forward to enhance and strengthen their quality assurance measures for markers for National 5 History and ensure that the integrity and standards of their qualifications are being maintained.

The governance model for the new qualifications body will ensure the knowledge and experience of learners, teachers and practitioners are central to decisions taken in relation to qualifications and assessment matters, driving greater transparency and accountability.

My officials confirmed with Network Rail that, taking account of available budgets, the refurbishment of Glasgow Central low-level platforms 16 and 17 will not take place in Railway funding Control Period 7 (CP7), which spans 2024-29. Network Rail will be responsible for determining when and if these renewals works take place, at a date beyond 2029.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36866 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.

Ministers met with stakeholders from the agricultural, food and drink, research and eNGO sectors on 27 March to discuss their views on the use of gene edited crops and products in Scotland. Stakeholders were invited to give their views on the potential impact of gene editing on crop yields, food security and future sustainability of production in response to changing climate and pest and pathogen pressure. Stakeholders also shared their views on how regulatory regimes for gene editing in other jurisdictions might affect, or are already affecting, their sectors, including potential operational and reputational impacts arising from differences in approach. Ministers are taking into account this evidence from stakeholders, alongside developments in the EU, as they consider the Scottish Government’s position.

There is currently no standard dataset covering the number of people being prescribed medication for ADHD in Scotland, and consequently the Scottish Government does not hold figures for this year or for previous years.

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 support access to school counselling services for pupils aged 10 and over. Local authorities provide annual reports to the Scottish Government which show the overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive. Whilst the reports do not focus specifically on capturing data on school absences, local authorities may hold this information.

The Scottish Government publishes national data on attendance annually through the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland.