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Violence towards pupils or staff is unacceptable.

Responsibility for addressing concerns in specific local authority areas rests with the local authority, as the employer of school staff.

In August, we published our action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools, jointly owned with COSLA. The plan sets out 20 actions to be taken by 2027, including actions to reduce violence in schools. In March we published the first progress report on delivery against the plan, which highlighted progress has been made across all 20 actions.

In response to the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023 about support staff’s experiences of violence, the Scottish Government provided £900k funding for training of support staff in direct response to findings of the research that staff would welcome such training.

As part of Programme for Government, we are investing £29m to support the recruitment, retention and training of the ASN workforce via local and national programmes.

On 17 June I published new guidance to support school staff on fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment, including the use of consequences. I also published guidance on risk assessments for violent, aggressive, and dangerous behaviour.

Consumer Scotland, as the statutory independent consumer body in Scotland, has responsibility for overseeing scams prevention and awareness work. In addition, the Scottish Government funds a post in Trading Standards Scotland to help minimise the scale and impact of energy efficiency related scams before they cause any consumer detriment.

The Scottish Government funds the Home Energy Scotland (HES) advice service, which provides free, impartial and bespoke advice and support for energy efficiency, clean heating and fuel poverty for all households in Scotland. HES is also the route for access to various Scottish Government grants and loans. No Scottish Government funding schemes participate in cold calling. We recommend that households call HES if they are unsure if a Scottish energy efficiency scheme is genuine.

Consumers can also contact the Scottish Government-funded consumer helpline, Advice Direct Scotland, to report any suspicious schemes and seek guidance on action.

I have asked Colin Lancaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to respond. His response is as follows:-

The Solicitor Contact Line (SCL) is a team of publicly funded criminal defence lawyers who provide telephone advice and in-person representation to suspects in police custody. The majority of publicly funded advice for those in police custody is provided by solicitors in private practice: SCL assists the around 30% who do not already have a solicitor, mostly by way of telephone advice.

Where SCL identify that in-person representation is needed, this will normally be provided by duty solicitors from either the private sector or the Public Defence Solicitors’ Office. The SCL provides contingency cover which is called upon in a small proportion of cases.

There has been no formal ballot for industrial action and it is unclear whether or when any such a ballot might take place. If the result of any ballot supports action, the form or extent of that action is also unclear. At this stage it is therefore not possible to comment on potential impacts.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

Private landlords in Scotland are required to register with their local authority which has responsibility to investigate and take any necessary action arising from complaints from tenants of private rented properties.

Where a tenant believes their rented property does not meet the legal repairing standard, they can take their landlord to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing & Property Chamber). The Tribunal can enforce repairs by issuing the landlord with a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order (RSEO) which compels the landlord to carry out specific repairs within a set timeframe.

Where a landlord fails to comply with an RSEO the Tribunal will send a copy of the failure to comply decision to the local authority. The Tribunal may also issue a Rent Relief Order restricting the rent payable until the RSEO has been complied with. A local authority has powers to apply to the tribunal on behalf of vulnerable tenants.

I have asked Colin Lancaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to respond. His response is as follows:-

Business continuity arrangements already exist for the Solicitor Contact Line (SLC). Should the GMB Union notify SLAB that their SCL members intend to progress to industrial action, SLAB will consider whether further contingency planning is needed to mitigate any potential impact of that action on those in police custody who do not already have a solicitor.

SLAB’s approach to discussions with the GMB has been collaborative and consultative. SLAB continues to engage regularly with the GMB and SCL staff. GMB is supportive of engaging with ACAS, which SLAB is currently arranging.

Scottish Government Ministers have said they expect to spend at least the equivalent of the £97.1 million received in consequential funding on Cladding Remediation, and will do so.

Information on expenditure is published quarterly on the Scottish Government website:
Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Assessing the total economic impact of cybercrime losses on households in Scotland is challenging, as a significant proportion of these crimes are not reported to the police. In recognising the value of improving the evidence base on this topic, new questions were added to the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) for 2023-24 onwards. New headline findings were then published on the 10th June 2025 (Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24 - gov.scot).

Further analysis of the survey shows that 2.2% of adults (aged 16+) living in private households in 2023-24 lost money as victims of a cyber-enabled fraud or computer misuse crime. The vast majority of these crimes were fraud. The median amount lost was £103 per crime, though a minority lost significantly more with 9% of crimes above £1,000. In around half of all cases (48%), the ultimate direct economic impact on the household was limited, as they received a full or partial refund (most often from a bank or building society).

It is estimated that completion of the A9 Dualling Programme between Perth and Inverness will result in an average of three fewer fatalities annually with early analysis of dualling the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen estimating an average of one fewer fatality every two years.

The Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2024 publication shows that while overall casualties decreased in 2024, the number of fatalities increased by 9%.

Despite unprecedented challenges to public finances, the 2025-26 Scottish Police Authority budget has increased to £1.64 billion, an increase of almost £90 million when compared to the 2024-25 budget.

The operation of Police Scotland, including decisions on the allocation of resources and the deployment of officers and staff, is for the Chief Constable, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. This includes the allocation of resources to specialist sex crimes units.