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The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is engaging Historic Environment Scotland regarding the future of HMP Barlinnie and whether any part of the buildings at the prison would be considered for listed building status. This is an important part of SPS’ considerations around the future direction of the site and sale.

Scottish Government analysts have access to the Office for National Statistics Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR is a database of all businesses registered for Value-Added-Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax. The IDBR includes address information, turnover and employment data for businesses operating in Scotland.

We cannot share information from the IDBR on individual businesses. All data on the IDBR are treated as restricted commercial and are protected by specific legislation. The disclosure of data relating to individual undertakings without consent is prohibited under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.

The IDBR can only be used for valid statistical research purposes and the confidentiality of the data has to be preserved in outputs and publications. This includes, for example, the Scottish Government Business in Scotland publication, the latest edition of which can be found at: Businesses in Scotland: 2024 - gov.scot.

It is the Scottish Government’s assessment that the Clyde Tunnel does not sufficiently meet the criteria to be incorporated into the strategic motorway and trunk road network and is currently appropriately classified in the hierarchy of Scotland’s roads as a principal “A” class road. Principal A Class roads are best managed locally rather than centrally and function as main roads which distribute traffic to and from the strategic trunk road network.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

This matter is not currently under consideration by the Scottish Government. Any proposal to alter road responsibilities would raise a number of propriety and legal considerations, including the statutory basis for such a change. As the designated roads authority for the Clyde Tunnel, it would be for Glasgow City Council to take the lead in developing any proposal. This would involve engaging with relevant stakeholders to ensure that all implications including legal, operational, and strategic, are fully explored as part of a robust and transparent process.

The 2025-26 budget provided local government in Scotland with record funding of over £15.1 billion, one of the largest increases in funding in recent times and a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

In 2025-26, Glasgow City Council will receive over £1.7 billion to support day to day services, which equates to an extra £86.5 million or an additional 5.3% compared to 2024-25.

However, the Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding 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 road maintenance, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

We are aware that SEPA pay negotiations with Unison, continue with regular, engagement and dialogue.

SEPA’s initial informal offer was for a split pay offer of 2% for 9 months and 3% for 3 months for 2025-26. With further years to be determined once the Scottish Government pay award was known. SEPA agreed with Unison to wait for the Scottish Government pay offer before making any formal offer.

SEPA have informed Unison they wished to implement an interim payment from 1 April 2025 to alleviate any financial hardship whilst pay negotiations continue, Unison rejected this suggestion.

The 2025-26 Public Sector Pay Policy sets out the framework for pay increases for staff pay remits and applies to public sector employers including SEPA. Public sector employers are expected to explore fair and sustainable pay levels in dialogue with trade unions considering associated funding options and living within available budget.

To date, Transport Scotland has not held specific discussions with Glasgow City Council regarding any potential camera toll system, utilising numberplate recognition technology, to charge for daily use of the Clyde Tunnel.

There are currently 14 trained drone operators in Police Scotland, all of whom are police officers.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) currently has one qualified drone pilot who holds a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) licence. While that pilot is fully trained, the Service does not currently have an operational drone capability. Other SFRS personnel may hold personal drone qualifications independently, but these are not recognised in an official capacity for Service operations.

Police Scotland has 10 drones currently in operation.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) does not currently operate any drones. However, there is a strategic intent to develop a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) capability, which includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sub-surface drones, and ground-based robotic systems. This work is at a concept development stage and is being led by an internal team to explore future operational use.

the Scottish Government is updating guidance on Employment, Skills and Training within the Sustainable Procurement Tools, there are no current plans to issue a new Policy Note on social impact.

Scotland has been delivering social value through procurement for many years, embedding our commitment within legislation over ten years ago with a requirement to include economic, social, and environmental wellbeing in procurement decisions. For contracts valued at £4 million or more, public bodies must consider including community benefits and justify their exclusion if not appropriate. Legislation also requires that awards are not based on price alone, but on the best balance of cost and quality, which includes a commitment to sustainable outcomes.

Scottish Procurement Policy Note 6/2020 reaffirms these requirements, outlining how social impact should be considered in public procurement. In addition to scored social impact questions, it highlights other practical ways to achieve social and economic outcomes, such as:

• While Including social requirements in specifications,
• Dividing contracts into lots to facilitate access for SMEs and third sector organisations,
• Reserving contracts for supported businesses.

The effectiveness of this approach, which includes extensive training and support to implement these policies, is evidenced in the 2023 report Scotland’s Journey of Achieving Sustainable Procurement Outcomes (2002–2022) and in annual procurement activity reports.