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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.

As committed to in our Biodiversity Delivery Plan, we are revising the Scottish Biodiversity List of species and habitats. A process involving stakeholders is already underway to produce a revised list by the end of 2025. This summer, NatureScot and Scottish Government officials will be working with a range of stakeholders to prioritise habitats and species which are of principle importance for the conservation of biodiversity in Scotland and provide advice to Ministers. Workshops to consider these lists are planned for August and early September. The importance that species-rich grasslands have for biodiversity both as habitats, and for supporting species dependent on them, will form part of this exercise.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Police Scotland on matters of relevant and shared interest, including preventing and tackling hate crime in Scotland.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Whilst the Scottish Government publish data on both Recorded Crime in Scotland and Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, these are based on distinct and unlinked data sets and it is not possible to directly compare them.

New information will be published later this year as part of delivering Section 15 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which requires an annual report to parliament on the characteristics of hate crime in Scotland. This will include the total number of hate crimes recorded by Police Scotland in 2024-25, and the number that were cleared up (i.e. where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law to justify consideration of criminal proceedings).

In addition to the above, the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal service have also published Hate crime in Scotland, 2024-25.This provides details on hate crime-related charges reported to COPFS in Scotland, including decisions on how those charges will proceed (such as to Court proceedings, direct measures, no action etc.)

The Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill seeks to make permanent a number of measures introduced over five years ago through emergency legislation designed to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This includes the greater use of virtual attendance at criminal courts which has made our criminal justice system more modern, responsive and accessible. The Scottish Government has consulted extensively on the continued use of virtual attendance since 2020 including through the pre-legislative consultation on the Bill.

Since the conclusion of the Stage 1 debate, the Scottish Government has engaged further with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Lord Justice General and the Law Society of Scotland on the provisions relating to virtual attendance

No young person should not be discriminated against if they are a young carer and are entitled to claim the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

Receipt of the EMA is linked to attendance - that is why we strongly encourage delivery partners to consider a young person’s personal circumstance and apply flexibility to their attendance pattern.

This approach is clearly highlighted in the EMA guidance document which gives local authorities and colleges the necessary guidelines to help them administer the EMA programme effectively and fairly by using their own discretion, and in line with both local and national policies.

We also advise that young people inform their school or Local Authority of their circumstances (such as those with caring responsibilities) in order for flexibility to be applied.

The Fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment guidance was published on 17 June.

This non-statutory guidance aims to support schools to foster a positive, inclusive and safe school environment through their approaches to positive relationships and behaviour. In particular, it provides clarity to all members of a school community – staff, parents and children and young people – on the use of consequences as part of relationships and behaviour policies.

We have also published new guidance for local authorities and schools on using risk assessment processes to mitigate or minimise violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviours exhibited by children and young people at school.

Contingency planning in the event of industrial action is a matter for individual local authorities.

In previous years, the Scottish Government has worked collaboratively with Local Government when needed to act in order to prevent industrial action.

The Scottish Government publish official workforce statistics on a quarterly basis. The figures shown below are for December 2016. The latest data is available at Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot.

The data presented details workforce by contractual location – and includes staff home location for those on a home working contract. This is in line with the data submitted on a quarterly basis to the cabinet office for the Quarterly location survey of civil service staff.

The following table provides details of the working location of directly employed Scottish Government staff, split by Local authority, Full time/Part time working pattern and Permanent/Temporary status.

Scottish Government - Directly employed workforce headcount, December 2016

The Scottish Government has no formal role in Local Government pay negotiations, although we recognise workers’ desire for an agreement to be reached between COSLA – as the employer – and trade unions as soon as possible. I have engaged closely with Cllr Katie Hagmann, COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson, to agree additional support available from the Scottish Government. This allowed COSLA to make a fair and affordable multi-year offer on 12 June which will now be considered by members of all three SJC unions.