Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-03941

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the UK Government’s Spring Statement.

Question reference: S6W-35363

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any assessment of the costs of undertaking peatland restoration, and whether any such costs are (a) static, (b) falling and (c) rising; what the current (i) average cost is and (ii) range of costs are per hectare, and what the main factors affecting the range of costs are.

The Scottish Government has commissioned research through ClimateXChange (CxC) to better understand peatland restoration costs. This results of this research will be published shortly.

Previous research assessing the costs of peatland restoration can be found here: The costs of peatland restoration – data & initial analysis 2020 | SEFARI, The costs of peatland restoration – data & analysis update 2021 | SEFARI

Question reference: S6W-35535

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils have been suspended from (a) primary and (b) secondary school due to (i) verbal abuse directed at and (ii) a physical assault on a teacher in each year since 2004.

The number of pupils that have been suspended for verbal abuse of staff or physical assault against staff in primary and secondary schools from 2005-06 is set out below.

Table 1. Cases of exclusion in primary schools due to (i) verbal abuse directed at and (ii) a physical assault against staff since 2005-06.

Year	Verbal abuse of staff	Physical assault against staff
2005-06	1,791	Not available
2006-07	2,006	Not available
2007-08	1,787	881
2008-09	1,633	901
2009-10	1,419	889
2010-11	1,368	874
2012-13	1,298	961
2014-15	1,341	1,279
2016-17	1,563	1,518
2018-19	1,260	1,261
2020-21	583	533
2022-23	739	856

Table 2. Cases of exclusion in secondary schools due to (i) verbal abuse directed at and (ii) a physical assault against staff since 2005-06.

Year	Verbal abuse of staff	Physical assault against staff
2005-06	8,472	Not available
2006-07	9,123	Not available
2007-08	8,202	517
2008-09	6,870	382
2009-10	6,161	380
2010-11	5,379	315
2012-13	4,433	320
2014-15	4,122	263
2016-17	3,648	297
2018-19	3,228	344
2020-21	1,633	185
2022-23	2,511	381

These statistics include temporary exclusions only. These statistics relate to cases of exclusion so due to pupils being excluded multiple times, some pupils may be double-counted. Where more than one reason in a single case of exclusion is given, those reasons are counted under each relevant category.

Before 2008, data on acts or threats of violence did not distinguish between incidents involving pupils and those involving staff. As a result, exclusion data for physical assaults against staff is unavailable prior to 2008.

The Scottish Government does not hold exclusion data from before 2005-06.

Since 2010-11, the Scottish Government has collected exclusion data biennially, meaning data is only available for odd-numbered years. Data will next be collected and published for the 2024-25 academic year.

Question reference: S6W-35538

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many external tutors have been employed in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2004, also broken down by what the associated costs were each year.

Question reference: S6W-35541

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have reported experiencing burnout or excessive workload in each of the last six years.

Question reference: S6W-35540

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have left the profession within five years of qualifying, in each year since 2004.

Question reference: S6W-35480

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of estates applying for a section 16AA licence to shoot grouse in the 2024-25 season has registered the grouse moor only, rather than the whole landholding.

Question reference: S6W-35528

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the ScotRail Peak Fares Removal Pilot Final Evaluation Report to cover the whole of the trial period.

Transport Scotland is currently analysing data to the beginning of March and expects to publish results shortly. This will cover the whole period of the pilot and beyond. As detailed in the answer to S6W-35525 on 24 March 2025, daily journeys have increased (on average) since the pilot ended and the analysis is exploring this further.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-35547

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has had with the (a) Law Society of Scotland, (b) chief constable of Police Scotland and (c) Scottish Retail Consortium since 29 March 2023, and what subjects were discussed.

Meetings with the Law Society of Scotland

1. I have had the following meetings with the Law Society of Scotland since 29 March 2023:

Date	Meeting	Subjects Discussed
1 June 2023	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims
26 July 2023	Law Society of Scotland	Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill
25 September 2023	JUSTICE Scotland Roundtable (Head of Research at Law Society of Scotland attended)	Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill
30 November 2023	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims
20 June 2024	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims
21 November 2024	Victims Taskforce (Law Society of Scotland attended)	Criminal Justice - Victims

Meetings with the Chief Constable

2. I have had the following meetings with the Chief constable since 29 March 2023 as part of their regular series of meetings:

Date	Meeting	Subjects discussed
27 April 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Chief Constable’s reflections Call handling Police Estate – Fettes Next meeting
18 May 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Pay and industrial relations Progress on Recommendations of the Independent Review of Police complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues Officers on Restricted Duties HMICS/HIS Custody Inspection in Lanarkshire Handover to new Chief Constable Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Use of tasers
14 June 2023	Trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair	Chief Constable Statement on Institutional Racism Pay Succession planning Local Policing Improvement Plan
14 June 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	PVG Certificate – Morgan Prior Chief Constable reflection
14 September 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Police staff pay Officer numbers Resource prioritisation North East pilot Recorded Police Warnings (RPWs)
05 October 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget HMICS reviews Forward look
09 November 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Operation Moonbeam Armistice Day Early observations from the new Chief Constable Criminal justice system Financial planning for a sustainable police model
18 December 2023	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget and workforce numbers Consultation on Police Scotland estate HMICS Thematic Inspection of Organisational Culture in Police Scotland and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Criminal Justice System efficiencies
9 January 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget and workforce numbers New operating model Criminal Justice Committee 20 December 2023 Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act
9 January 2024	Quarterly trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair	Budget and new operating model Mental health
8 February 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Budget, workforce and Police Scotland operating model Estates review Proportionate response to crime Safeguards on XL bully dogs Dashcam
1 March 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Emma Caldwell case and call for a Public Inquiry Brian Low Case
30 April 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Hate crime Criminal justice system Police officer and staff pay Revised model of policing
4 June 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Scottish resilience Partnership Emma Caldwell Investigation – NPCC Request Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill Revised model of policing Criminal justice system
26 June 2024	Quarterly trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair (meeting combined with the scheduled June Chief Constable meeting)	Body worn video (BWV) Proportionate response to crime (PRTC) Criminal justice system improvements Revised model of policing Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) Mental health and policing Hate crime Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill Police officer numbers
20 August 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Update on far-right violence and disorder Police officer numbers Police pay negotiations Mental health and policing Criminal justice system reform Body worn video Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill Emma Caldwell public inquiry
19 September 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Commonwealth Games 2026 Police officer numbers Police pay negotiations Police Scotland three-year business plan Estates Masterplan Emma Caldwell public inquiry Sheku Bayoh public inquiry Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill
29 October 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Policing budget Estates Masterplan 2025/26 budget proposal Police officer numbers Police officer pay Emma Caldwell public inquiry Police Scotland three-year business plan Commonwealth Games 2026
31 October 2024	Quarterly trilateral with the Chief Constable and SPA Chair	Police Scotland three-year business plan Estates management Police officer and staff pay Recording of sec and gender
19 December 2024	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Policing budget Officer and staff pay Estates Masterplan Body worn video Police Scotland three-year business plan Sustainable roads policing Workforce planning Mental health and policing demand Football disorder in Glasgow
16 January 2025	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) (PECSS) Bill Officer and staff pay Emma Caldwell investigation Sheku Bayoh public inquiry Football disorder Mental health and policing demand Estate Masterplan Police Scotland three-year business plan
27 February 2025	Regular meeting with the Chief Constable	Sheku Bayoh public inquiry Sentencing review Secure accommodation Police complaints Police dogs insurance Policing budget 2025-26 3 year business plan Police officer pay UEFA Championship (Scotland) Bill Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

3. The purpose of these meetings is to focus on matters of strategic importance and understand the challenges, risks and issues facing Police Scotland, and plans to mitigate these, as well as implications for policing.

4. I have met the Chief Constable outside these regular meetings. The most recent meetings are in the table below:

Date	Meeting
31 March 2023	Introductory meeting with the Chief Constable, Iain Livingstone
1 August 2023	Cabinet Secretary visit to Police Scotland, Tulliallan Castle
10 October 2023	Introductory meeting with the new Chief Constable, Jo Farrell
2 August 2024	Meeting with the Chief Constable to discuss officer numbers
5 August 2024	First Minister and CSJHA meeting with the Police Scotland following far-right violence and disorder across the UK
4 September 2024	Scottish Police Memorial Service

5. From January 2024, all notes of my regular meetings with the Chief Constable (and with the SPA Chair) are published on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/collections/police-minutes-of-regular-meetings. Notes of other meetings involving Police Scotland and the Scottish Government, including those outside regular meetings detailed in the table above, are not routinely published.

6. The note of the meeting between myself and the Chief Constable on 27 February will be published on the Scottish Government website once this has been reviewed by the Chief Constable and myself.

Meetings with the Scottish Retail Consortium

7. I have not met with the Scottish Retail Consortium since 29 March 2023.

8. It may be helpful to note that Siobhian Brown MSP, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety has met with the Scottish Retail Consortium since 29 March 2023 which is listed in the following table:

Date	Meeting	Subjects discussed
19 March 2024	Scottish Retail Consortium	Retail crime

Question reference: S6W-35368

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the number of women who leave the workforce due to experiencing menopause; from which sector, and whether such women seek financial benefits.

The health and wellbeing of women at work is a key element of the Scottish Government’s approach to Fair Work, including supporting women experiencing symptoms of menopause.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of women who leave the workforce due to experiencing menopause. However, UK research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - Menopause in the workplace: Employee experiences - published in 2023, that of the over 1,500 women experiencing symptoms of menopause surveyed, 17% were considering leaving due to a lack of support in relation to their symptoms. Also, research from 2022 by the Fawcett Society on Menopause in the workplace in the UK indicated that one in ten women who worked during the menopause left their jobs due to their symptoms.

We are taking action towards supporting those experiencing symptoms of menopause in the workplace - please refer to recently answered question reference S6W-35367 on 12 March 2025 for further information.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

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