Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Strategic Board for Teacher Education is developing a Teacher Education and Development Framework to support teacher development throughout their careers. This includes a specific focus on improving support and mentoring for early career teachers.

A range of new vessel options for the Gourock to Dunoon and Kilcreggan ferry services are being considered within the wider Outline Business Case for investment in the routes, which also includes port infrastructure upgrades. When complete, the Outline Business Case will be reviewed by Transport Scotland Investment Decision Making Board in the first instance, currently expected to be around the end of 2025, and then presented to Ministers for decisions.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of cybercrime units within Police Scotland as this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

We recognise the crucial role that Police Scotland officers and staff play in keeping our communities safe, including from sexual abuse.

In 2025-26, we have increased police funding to £1.64 billion, an increase of £90 million on 2024-25, to support police capacity and capability.

Digital technology is a vital aspect of modern education and the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring online safety is appropriately recognised in Scottish education and wider child protection policies.

It is crucial that schools prepare our young people for life in the digital domain and reinforcing positive online behaviours is a key part of any safeguarding approach. Curriculum for Excellence sets out expectations for learning and progression in digital literacy (which includes cyber resilience and internet safety) from the earliest stages of learning.

In collaboration with Education Scotland, we have supported the development of professional learning and a wide range of teaching resources to support the integration of internet safety and cyber resilience within the curriculum.

The Scottish Government Programme for Government 2025-26: Building the Best Future for Scotland , includes our commitment to supporting Time for Inclusive Education’s Digital Discourse Initiative to equip children and young people with skills to navigate digital media and counter the impacts of disinformation and online hate. In addition, we have also committed to take forward the Ministerial Online Safety Taskforce to strengthen our approach to keeping children safe online, providing oversight and direction across Scottish Government and identifying what more can be done to protect children and young people.

At this time, no other proposal for any additional facilities has been brought to the Scottish Government for consideration. Any future proposals will be subject to careful assessment, must align with public health priorities and reflect local collaboration. They would also need to satisfy the Lord Advocate in relation to the various requirements previously set out by her in order to receive a similar statement of prosecution policy as that which is in place for The Thistle.

The Glasgow safer drug consumption facility, The Thistle, will undergo a comprehensive, independent evaluation led by a collaboration of academic institutions, including the University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, and other expert research partners. The findings from that evaluation will be an essential reference point in informing the development, scale, and scope of any future facilities.

Local authorities hold the statutory duty to make 1,140 hours of funded ELC available to eligible children residing within their own area, and are also responsible for meeting the statutory guidance requirements in relation to cross-boundary placements.

Statutory guidance is clear that, wherever possible, education authorities should make arrangements that ensure families accessing cross-boundary placements are treated on the same basis as families accessing provision in their own local authority area.

To ensure families’ choice of provider is not limited by local authority boundaries, we encourage local authorities to work with neighbouring areas through Funding Follows the Child guidance, developed jointly by COSLA and the Scottish Government.

The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise continues to engage with local government representatives on this issue to encourage Councils to work together to find cross-border solutions that support children, families and providers.

The Scottish Government recognises the current pressures on housebuilding and the importance of building more homes. We are aware of opposition from industry to the Scottish Building Safety Levy (SBSL). However, no immediate alternative solutions are being offered to address the scale of the funding challenge associated with cladding remediation. With developers contributing to cladding remediation in England through a Building Safety Levy, the Scottish Government considers it fair and proportionate that they are asked to do the same in Scotland.

All teachers should have access to protected non class contact time as set out in the Scottish Negotiation Committee for Teachers Working Time Agreements. Appendix 2.18 - SNCT Handbook.

We are aware that Scottish Land and Estates have voiced concerns with the proposed measures in the Bill, whereas other stakeholders would like the measures to go further and faster. It is important that our Land Reform policies take a proportionate and balanced approach, whilst improving how land is owned and managed in our rural and island communities.

We continue to listen to the views of stakeholders and have brought forward a number of amendments at Stage 2 to strengthen and simplify the Bill.

The Scottish Government does not routinely collect or publish data on drug deaths within a specified radius of individual facilities, including the Thistle facility in Glasgow.

Accredited official statistics on drug deaths in Scotland are published annually by Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2023 - National Records of Scotland (NRS) The most recent available statistics are for deaths registered in 2023. The next publication of these statistics is expected in September 2025 and can be found here Upcoming publications - National Records of Scotland (NRS) and will cover deaths registered in 2024. The most detailed geographical breakdown of these statistics is local authority area (i.e. Glasgow City).

Scottish Government publishes quarterly data to provide an indication of current trends in Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: January to March 2025 - gov.scot This data is operational information from Police Scotland who compile figures on the basis of reports from police officers attending scenes of death. This is management information and not subject to the same level of validation and quality assurance as official statistics. A geographical breakdown by Police Division is available for this data. Over the period January to March 2025, 61 suspected drug deaths were recorded in the G: Greater Glasgow Police Division.