The Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group figures are indicative and are provided by universities at the start of the academic session. Official Statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, covering 2024-25, will be available in early 2026. These will provide the most accurate figures on enrolments into Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.

We are taking action to encourage more people into teaching, including in the hardest to fill teaching subjects.

Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff and we are providing them with £186.5 million this year as part of an agreement to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels. We will continue to support local authorities to maximise the number of teaching of jobs available, including through the joint Education and Childcare Assurance Board.

Our Teaching Bursary Scheme provides a £20,000 bursary to career changers wishing to undertake a one year Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in the hardest to fill teaching subjects, including STEM subjects and modern languages.

We have asked Strategic Board for Teacher Education to develop advice on how to encourage more people into teaching, particularly in subjects that are challenging to fill.

Targets for secondary ITE PGDE courses have also been maintained at 2,000 for the 2025-26 academic year and are published on the Scottish Funding Council website - Intake Targets for Initial Teacher Education in AY 2025-26 - Scottish Funding Council

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37115 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.

Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities and the independent sector to understand the impact of the UK Government policy on Scottish schools to date. Scottish Ministers have received assurance from local authorities that they have the capacity to support increased school rolls.

The distribution methodology for calculating the block grant is agreed with local authorities and is informed by a number of indicators, including pupil numbers from the latest annual school census.

It is not appropriate to undertake such analysis given Scottish and rUK education systems are not comparable due to several key reasons, including but not limited to:

Patients who are not registered with a dentist can access emergency and urgent dental care via the Public Dental Service.

The Scottish Government also has a range of programmes to support those in vulnerable groups to maintain and improve their oral health:

• 'Childsmile' our flagship programme designed to reduce oral health inequalities and improve oral health among children;
• 'Caring For Smiles' for dependent older people over 65;
• 'Smile4Life' for people experiencing homelessness;
• 'Mouth Matters' for people with experience of the justice system;
• 'Open Wide' for adults between 16-64 years of age with additional care needs.

More information on our oral health improvement programmes is available online at: Oral Health Improvement – Scottish Dental

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all young people have access to education and the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Schools and Local Authorities are responsible for admissions to school and therefore can allow pupils to rejoin school if there are sufficient places available on a case-by-case basis.

We continue to work closely with education authorities to ensure that young people have the opportunity to undertake the learner pathway that best matches their abilities and aspirations. We keep all aspects of education policy under review to better support young people’s engagement with education.

The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, Teresa Medhurst, meets the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters including reports such as the recent HMIPS inspection report on HMP Barlinnie.

The most recent meeting of 23 April included discussion of HMIPS’ report, noting its key finding that HMP Barlinnie is a safe, stable, well-run prison and 33 examples of good practice. The Scottish Government agrees with the Inspectorate that the need for a replacement prison through the planned new HMP Glasgow is “overwhelming and urgent”.

There are 83 recommendations made in the report, with the Chief Inspector prioritising 12 of those.

The Scottish Prison Service will respond to all the HMIPS recommendations.

The list of public appointments by public body, which was published on 25 March 2025, is an exhaustive list of Ministerial regulated public appointments. Ministerial regulated public appointments are those governed by the Ethical Standards Commissioner and the Code of Practice for Public Appointments (2022). The Code requires publication.

The list covers daily rate and/or total remuneration and time commitment. It is intended to be updated regularly so that it reflects recently made appointments. It was corrected on 25 March 2025 following the identification of errors.

Details added to the spreadsheet should be correct at the point of the appointment commencing. These details may change over time and become out of date. A process is underway to update the spreadsheet to ensure accuracy, including rectification of any other errors identified, and it will be re-published when complete.

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

SPS welcome HMIPS inspection report of HMP Barlinnie, especially the recognition of the encouragement given to the efforts shown to try and bring many of those in our care back into education.

SPS are currently experiencing a challenging period caused by an increased population we do, however, continue to recognise the importance in our role in preparing those in our care to return to their communities. As such, we have now developed a multiyear recovery plan to prioritise the delivery of offending behaviour programmes, including the introduction of new delivery sites to increase programme delivery and capacity.

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

There has been a total of 168 confirmed drone incidents within the SPS estate from 1 January 2021 - 31 March 2025.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of confirmed drone incidents by year: