Whilst the issue raised is a commercial matter for Wood Group and any prospective partner, the Scottish Government and Enterprise Agencies aim to work with businesses in Scotland, domestic and overseas owned, to ensure Scottish operations are not only secured here but opportunities for growth are pursued.

Growing the economy has been identified as one of the Scottish Government’s four strategic priorities. Our approach to growing Scotland’s economy requires balance. It is important that we focus on both strengthening Scotland’s domestic industries and ensuring our economy is open and internationally focused.

It must also be noted that the powers required to legislate in respect of company acquisition between private sector organisations are reserved to the UK Parliament.

The safety and wellbeing of everyone in the prison estate is a priority for this government and the Scottish Prison Service and we continue to aspire to comply with all relevant standards and international obligations.

The further refurbishment, including the cells, within HMP Barlinnie has been fully assessed but continued refurbishment is not a long-term solution.

The Scottish Government agrees with the Inspectorate that the need for a replacement prison through the planned new HMP Glasgow is “overwhelming and urgent”. That is why it is welcome that the construction contract for HMP Glasgow was signed in January this year.

HMP Glasgow, with a design capacity of 1,344, will add 357 places to the prison estate, featuring larger cells than previous builds and meeting international standards set by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

A sustainable reduction in the prison population, also highlighted in the report, remains a focus for this Government as we work with justice partners to develop measures which prioritises prison for high-risk offenders whilst working on solutions to reduce reoffending and aid reintegration into the community.

The Scottish Government’s position is that we are unable to support long-term working outside of the UK unless there is a genuine requirement to do so in the role, i.e. working from one of our overseas Scottish Government offices. However, we do not consider staff who work permanently in one of our overseas offices to be working remotely from outside of the UK as the role that they are employed to undertake is fully based in the relevant overseas office. In addition, as such staff have diplomatic status, there are no residency or tax implications and they continue to be subject to paying income tax in the UK.

Staff may be required to work outside of the UK temporarily for brief periods when travelling on official business, for example, accompanying a minister overseas or attending a conference and they may be required to undertake work remotely during such events. In addition, consistent with other parts of the Civil Service, the Scottish Government allows staff to work remotely from outside of the UK for up to a maximum of four weeks per annum subject to meeting eligibility requirements, which includes having the right to work in the overseas country, and meeting any costs and potential liabilities from working abroad. Tax codes do not change when working abroad for these brief periods. We do not collate data that specifically captures instances of remote working from overseas.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of supporting young people to remain in education and has taken a range of measurable actions since the COVID-19 pandemic to address the financial pressures that can contribute to early school leaving. These actions include, the continuation of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) programme, increased support for School Clothing Grants, investment in Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), support for a broad range of learner pathways and the continuation of record funding to Scotland’s schools through the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme, providing up to £1billion in additional funding.

The Scottish Government continues to work in partnership with local authorities, schools and third sector organisations to monitor these interventions and assess their impact on young people’s education.

The Scottish Government’s seventh Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) will be published week commencing 23 June 2025, alongside a Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan.

Publishing in June will allow the MTFS to reflect the outcome of the UK Spending Review on 11 June, enabling the Scottish Government to publish a more robust central funding forecast as the basis for its financial strategy and delivery plan.

The MTFS will provide the Scottish Government’s medium-term (five-year) economic and fiscal outlook and spending projections. It is underpinned by the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts and provides the context for annual Scottish budgets.

The MTFS will also set out the Government’s strategic approach to setting the public finances on a sustainable pathway over the medium-term.

The Scottish Government is taking this issue seriously. As well as regular meetings with the Medicines Healthcare and products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) has met with Police Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland and plans to issue communications for healthcare professionals in Scotland on how to report known or suspected illicit prescribing of these medicines.

The CPO has also met with the Advertising Standards Agency to discuss their work in tackling adverts for weight-loss prescription-only medicines targeting members of the public.

The Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) was published in 2021 and was intended to cover the period 2021-22 - 2025-26. However, as announced in the Scottish Government’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, the current IIP has been extended by a period of one year. This means the IIP will run to 2026-27 and the next IIP will cover the period from 2027-28. We intend to publish a draft for consultation well in advance of commencement.

A small number of local authorities have provided indicative figures for the number of pupils enrolling in state schools from independent schools.

However, the annual fluctuation of pupil rolls in those local authorities is typically significantly larger than the increase in the number of pupils enrolling in schools from the independent sector that has been reported. We do not therefore anticipate the number of pupils transferring representing a significant issue for Local Authorities.

In terms of funding, the Scottish Government collects information on the number of pupils in state schools every September as part of the pupil census. The distribution methodology for calculating the Local Government Settlement is agreed with local authorities and is informed by a number of indicators including pupil numbers from the latest annual school census.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to provide education for children and young people in their area.

In 2025/26, an additional £28m will be invested in additional support for learning, to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce at a local level, to help enhance professional learning on inclusion for all teachers at all stages of their careers and to support teacher specialism in inclusion. A further £1 million will be provided to support national initiatives, which will enable us to build on the work being delivered through our Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

Scotland does not have a mandatory curriculum. Instead, Curriculum for Excellence is a flexible framework for teachers to determine what they wish to teach and how, including providing learning and teaching about the Holocaust.

The Curriculum Improvement Cycle will begin the review of Social Studies this academic year, where all aspects of the social studies curriculum will be reviewed. Practitioners will play a central role in this process.