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The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for each local authority to decide in line with local needs. It is for individual schools to identify how to provide early intervention and deterrence programmes for young people who are at risk of involvement in crime. They can use a number of approaches, including good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

We also actively work with schools and local authorities to provide both targeted education and programmes for our young people to help tackle violence and disruptive behaviour, including those delivered through our Violence Prevention Framework which we have supported with more than £6 million since 2023.

The Scottish Government commissioned independent research, published on 7 May 2024, which outlined how the delivery of a 90 minute reduction in class contact time could be achieved through a range of scenarios, at that time.

The research can be accessed at: Pupil projections and implications for teacher resourcing needs: education workforce modelling and research.

This report has informed our engagement with partners on the commitment to reduce class contact time for teachers.

We remain committed to working with local government and teacher unions through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) to make meaningful progress on reducing teacher class contact time.

The safety of our children, young people and staff at school is paramount. Through the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools national action plan, the Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to support positive relationships and behaviour and to promote safe, inclusive learning environments for all children and young people.

The most recent Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research provides the national evidence on behaviour in schools. It highlights a range of contributing factors to changes in relationships and behaviour, including the impact of the pandemic, poverty and wider societal pressures.

It is for individual schools to decide how to respond to challenging behaviour. They can use a number of approaches including: good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for the local authority to decide. The Scottish Government does not hold national data on these officers.

Through the ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have announced a set of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

We intend to undertake pilot approaches to further develop the most innovative and evidence led solutions to restructuring the teaching and learning week.

The data and evidence we will gather through the pilots, which we wish to begin swiftly, will allow us to model the impact of specific changes, to the teaching and learning week, on a national basis, and demonstrate the efficacy of individual measures and approaches.

Since September 2025, there have been five meetings between Scottish and UK ministers in which the UK Budget was covered. In these meeting, Scottish Ministers have raised the implications of the UK Budget for the Scottish Budget.

Scottish Ministers do not routinely cancel meetings with their UK Ministerial counterparts. Scheduling of meetings is subject to normal diary considerations.

We remain committed to decarbonising heat in buildings and achieving net zero by 2045. For the majority of homes, heat pumps or heat networks are likely to be the best clean heat solution. However, we do not have, and have never had, heat pump installation requirements.

We had intended to introduce the Buildings (Heating and Energy Performance) and Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill (previously known as Heat in Buildings Bill) in this parliamentary session. We wanted Parliament to scrutinise the draft Bill using the latest information, including the UK Government's Warm Homes Plan. However, that plan has been delayed and, with little time left in this parliamentary session, we have therefore concluded that the Bill should be paused until the UK Government clarify their position.

The changes to local connection legislation made in 2022 only suspended referrals of homeless households to another local authority in Scotland on the basis of local connection. It made no change to referrals for households with a local connection to a local authority in England or Wales, and the legislation did not change rules for refugee households who have left asylum accommodation.

An increase in demand for homelessness services in Scotland from households with recent positive leave to remain decisions, including households travelling from other parts of the UK, are not the fault of refugees, who continue to be valuable members of our communities. Instead, pressures on housing and services have been driven by successive UK governments’ mismanagement of asylum policy, inadequate planning and a lack of financial assistance, which places people at risk of homelessness and destitution.

A clear framework for the transition to clean heating will give industry and homeowners the certainty they need to invest, boost heat network development and set a long-term direction of travel that is deliverable and affordable. However, repeated delays to the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan have left key questions unanswered. It is vital that we have a fully informed debate on the Bill when it is brought forward, with proper scrutiny that includes UK plans and affordability impacts.

Meanwhile, we are taking the steps that we can and preparing the ground for a robust, future-proofed approach that serves Scotland’s long-term interests. We have published the draft Bill and explanatory notes, and we are engaging with stakeholders.

The comment about difficulties in establishing communication referred directly to inter-ministerial discussion on the contents of the UK Budget. The meeting between the UK Minister for Energy Consumers and I was reconvened and I was pleased to meet with Minister McCluskey on 3 December to discuss the Warm Home Discount and the UK Government’s proposed Warm Homes Plan.