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This information is not held centrally.

Scottish Government officials have continued to engage with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools and Local Authorities on the impact of the removal of the VAT exemption for independent school fees on independent schools, their pupils, families and the state sector in Scotland.

Data on how much each local authority spends on supply teachers is not held or collected by central government.

Data on local authority expenditure on teachers is available from the Local Government Financial statistics data collection. The latest figures are available from LFR01 at Scottish local government finance statistics 2023-24.

The Scottish Government does not maintain a central record of whistleblowing in each public service organisation.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any formal arrangements with industry partners to identify undiagnosed individuals living with hepatitis C. However we are aware of local community testing initiatives that have been developed and delivered with industry, such as the STEP C Free project in Forth Valley and work with the Hepatitis C Trust in Glasgow. We are happy to encourage innovative evidence-based approaches and support dissemination of learning from such initiatives through forums such as the Scottish Health Protection Network groups and our ongoing Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus local area visits.

The most recent surveillance report from Public Health Scotland indicates that the number of people tested for hepatitis C (HCV) antibody in Scotland in 2023 had surpassed pre-pandemic levels in almost all settings. Nonetheless, detecting more infections is a priority and we are focused on testing and treating more people, wherever they are, as we continue to push towards elimination of the virus.

Current work includes ensuring that opt-out testing is optimised in drug services and prisons, and considering the results of a recent Scottish Government-funded prison-based Hepatitis Intense Test and Treat (HITT) initiative in NHS Lothian. We are also reviewing the outcomes of opt-out blood borne virus testing pilots in Scottish emergency departments to determine whether further roll-out of this model would be effective.

Progress towards eliminating hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland is monitored by Public Health Scotland (PHS). PHS’s latest HCV surveillance report, published in January 2025, described progress as “hugely encouraging”. The number of deaths and cases of severe disease reduced by over 65% between 2015 and 2022, with the vast majority of those diagnosed (89%) having cleared their infection through treatment (exceeding the World Health Organization’s target of 80%).

However, the latest report only includes data up to 2023/24, so it is too early to say conclusively whether every indictor for HCV elimination has been reached. Work continues across key sectors to ensure we achieve and sustain elimination. I will provide a further update to Parliament once we have a fuller picture of our position and next steps post-March 2025.

a) Under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, the Scottish Government published information relating to consultancy spend. The return specifies how consultancy spend is defined and returns dating back to 2015-16 can be found on the Scottish Government’s website at.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/government-expenditure-2016-to-2023/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/government-expenditure/pages/2023-to-2024

Previous PQ’s (S4W-26410 on 11 August 2015 and S4W-02171 on 14 September 2011) requesting this information contain the Consultancy figures for years 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, and 2014-15

Unfortunately, data is not held for the year 2011-12, nor years prior to 2009-10 on a comparable basis.

b) Please see the following figures relating to consultancy costs from Education Scotland, Disclosure Scotland and SAAS from 2011.

Money spent on consultancy fees is included in the annual accounting reports for each organisation. This information is publicly available on organisational websites but is reproduced below for information.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a national ban on pavement parking, double parking, and parking at dropped kerbs, which came into effect on 11 December 2023. Enforcement of these prohibitions is the responsibility of local authorities.

Transport Scotland collates the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued annually, now including those for pavement parking. The most recent figures were published in December 2024 and can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/decriminalised-parking-enforcement-dpe-report-2023-2024

Figures for the current year (2024-25) will be published in December 2025.

The Civil Service Code requires that officials must not disclose official information without authority. No investigations have identified that officials have deliberately leaked information. We have offered guidance and engaged with teams on improving the handling of sensitive information.