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Scottish Government officials have commissioned an Economic Impact Assessment of the value delivered by our investment in Glasgow Prestwick Airport. As previously set out to Parliament, a market testing exercise evaluating the potential for returning the airport to private ownership is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

We will publish key findings from the Economic Impact Assessment when the market testing exercise has been concluded.

I have asked Colin Lancaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to respond. His response is as follows:-

The Solicitor Contact Line (SCL) is a team of publicly funded criminal defence lawyers who provide telephone advice and in-person representation to suspects in police custody. The majority of publicly funded advice for those in police custody is provided by solicitors in private practice: SCL assists the around 30% who do not already have a solicitor, mostly by way of telephone advice.

Where SCL identify that in-person representation is needed, this will normally be provided by duty solicitors from either the private sector or the Public Defence Solicitors’ Office. The SCL provides contingency cover which is called upon in a small proportion of cases.

There has been no formal ballot for industrial action and it is unclear whether or when any such a ballot might take place. If the result of any ballot supports action, the form or extent of that action is also unclear. At this stage it is therefore not possible to comment on potential impacts.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

Private landlords in Scotland are required to register with their local authority which has responsibility to investigate and take any necessary action arising from complaints from tenants of private rented properties.

Where a tenant believes their rented property does not meet the legal repairing standard, they can take their landlord to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing & Property Chamber). The Tribunal can enforce repairs by issuing the landlord with a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order (RSEO) which compels the landlord to carry out specific repairs within a set timeframe.

Where a landlord fails to comply with an RSEO the Tribunal will send a copy of the failure to comply decision to the local authority. The Tribunal may also issue a Rent Relief Order restricting the rent payable until the RSEO has been complied with. A local authority has powers to apply to the tribunal on behalf of vulnerable tenants.

The Scottish Government will continue to provide vital assistance to enable older people to heat their homes, to help disabled people live independent lives and will keep thousands of children out of poverty. The Scottish Fiscal Commission’s May 2025 forecasts show that our investment in Social Security over and above the money we get from the UK Government is projected to be less than 3.5% of the total Scottish Government Resource Budget by 2029-30.

As part of our Medium-Term Financial Strategy, which we will publish on 25 June, we consider the medium to longer-term drivers of public spending and assess these against forecast funding. It is then for Ministers to prioritise expenditure, as part of the annual budget process and Spending Reviews, in line with the principles and policies on the use of borrowing and reserve powers.

The Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan which will publish alongside the Medium-Term Financial Strategy on 25 June will set out the actions we’re taking to improve the sustainability of the public finances over the medium-term.

It is important to acknowledge that PISA is one source of evidence amongst a broader set of data. Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (ACEL) 2023-24 data showed that ACEL levels for numeracy in primary and secondary schools were at their highest ever levels. The 2024 National Qualifications data also showed progress in maths attainment, with both entries and passes for Higher Mathematics increasing between 2019 and 2024.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland are taking forward the Curriculum Improvement Cycle which introduces a systematic approach designed to ensure that Scotland’s curriculum remains relevant, forward looking, clarifies the role of knowledge and ultimately supports high quality teaching and learning. The review is considering the curriculum in a planned and systemic way, including alignment between the Broad General Education and the Senior Phase.

Work to update all eight curricular areas of CfE is underway, with mathematics being prioritised. The National Mathematics Specialist Advisor has been working closely with Education Scotland to consider all elements of the mathematics curriculum, informed by a wide range of evidence, including PISA data. Outputs of this initial phase of work have been shared in the second discussion paper published by Education Scotland on 19 December 2024.

Work is underway to continue to update and strengthen the Literacy and English Curriculum through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. Other activities include Education Scotland publishing a suite of professional learning resources on Learning to Read in the Early Years, supported by complementary professional learning; and continued investment in the Read Write Count and Reading Schools programmes.

Inspiring young people to study STEM and promoting excellence in the delivery of STEM education sit at the heart of our STEM Education and Training Strategy. In the last Financial Year alone, the Scottish Government provided over £1.74 million to a range of organisations which support the high-quality delivery of STEM education.

The Scottish Government has committed to increasing international evidence around numeracy and literacy by re-joining the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for the assessments in 2027, and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) for the assessments in 2026. The next PISA assessments will take place in Scotland in September and October 2025. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland are developing a programme of support to help schools and pupils to participate in the assessments.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling school violence and supporting staff wellbeing.

In 2025-26, we are providing over £2m to implement the Violence Prevention Framework, delivering actions including addressing youth violence, the carrying of weapons and violence in and around schools.

The 2025-26 budget also sets out an additional £29 million of investment for Additional Support Needs (ASN). This will include an allocation for both local and national programmes to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce, with £28 million directed to local government and £1 million retained for national work. This investment will continue to be a joint endeavour with local authorities, who retain the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education in Scotland.

An agreement reached with COSLA will see local government and the Scottish Government working together to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels in 2025, freeze learning hours, and make meaningful progress on reducing class contact time for teachers. To support this, we are providing £186.5 million to local authorities in 2025/26 to restore overall teacher numbers across the country to 2023 levels and maximise the number of teaching posts available.

Scottish Income Tax is forecast to raise a record £20.5 billion in 2025-26 with the latest SFC forecast showing a positive contribution to the 2025-26 Scottish Budget of £616 million. This is additional revenue raised to support our investment in public services.

Scotland’s tax base continues to grow strongly, with the SFC forecasting higher average earnings growth in Scotland over the next five years compared to the OBR’s outlook for the UK.

This information is not currently held centrally.

As part of delivering Section 15 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, we will prepare an annual report for parliament later this year covering the year of 2024-25. This will include both the characteristics of those involved and the specific prejudices shown by the perpetrators.

Police Scotland have published management information which details the total number of hate crimes recorded by them during 2024-25, by quarter and protected characteristic. This is available in Table 4 of their Quarter 4 Force Quarterly Bulletin 2024/25.

Local authorities have responsibility for the delivery of education, which includes ensuring all employees receive adequate training.

In August, we published our action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools, jointly with COSLA. This includes a specific action on empowering staff through provision of relevant professional learning to support relationships and behaviour approaches and practice and to respond to emerging trends in behaviour.

Our Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) 2023 highlighted a number of barriers faced by support staff in accessing training. Support staff themselves requested appropriate training in order to support them in their roles. To further support school staff, as part of our response to BISSR we provided £900,000 for local councils to aid training of support staff respond to the new challenges in our schools, post-Covid.

Education Scotland has a national professional learning framework to help pupil support staff access and engage in their own professional development. This includes a range of professional learning relating to relationships and behaviour in schools. The national framework can be accessed at Pupil support staff framework | Self-directed professional learning | Professional Learning | Education Scotland. A Pupil Support Staff induction resource will also be published for the next academic session, aligned with the PSS professional learning framework.

Education Scotland’s Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities professional learning framework offers a range of resources to support relational approaches at the Informed level of the Relationships theme. The learning can be accessed at Inclusion, wellbeing and equalities framework | Leading professional learning | Professional Learning | Education Scotland.

The following table shows the Social Security Assistance final outturn for each financial year since 2018, when the Scottish Government began to deliver devolved Social Security benefits, split by category.