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I am aware of concerns about gaps in the law relating to illegal content that is distributed online, including where this amounts to harassment or abuse of an individual. The power to legislate on matters pertaining to the regulation of internet services is reserved to the UK Parliament. With regard to the substantive criminal law relating to harassment and bullying, there are a range of general criminal offences that can be used to prosecute harassment and bullying which protect everyone, including teachers, where this occurs in any place including online. These include stalking and threatening or abusive behaviour offences. There is also a more specific offence of misuse of a public electronic communications network.

The Scottish Ministers keep the criminal law that sits within the powers of the Scottish Parliament under continual review to ensure it is fit for purpose. Any new laws focused on regulating the internet would be for the UK Parliament to consider.

Since 2022, the Scottish Government has been notified of 38 cyber incidents under our Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents Procedure. This is a voluntary notification procedure. The National Cyber Security Centre advises government departments to withhold specific information that may provide insight into the likelihood of successful attacks, and the Scottish Government follows this advice. The Scottish Government will therefore not provide further details as this may cause substantial harm to the effective conduct of public affairs and the security of our public services.

Paragraph 12.1 of the Scottish Ministerial Code (Scottish Ministerial Code: 2024 Edition - gov.scot) requires former Ministers intending to publish their memoirs to submit the draft manuscript in good time before publication to the Permanent Secretary and to conform to the principles set out in the Radcliffe Report of 1976. On receipt of any such manuscript the Permanent Secretary, supported as necessary by other senior Scottish Government officials, will conduct a review in accordance with that arrangement.

The Scottish Government is committed to public service reform to enhance the sustainability of public services and improve their effectiveness. The Scottish Government has invited bids from local government as part of the Invest to Save Fund, and an announcement of successful bids will be issued in due course.

Local authorities are responsible for considering their own options for reform and transformation. The Improvement Service supports councils to develop capability and capacity for improvement to enhance the delivery of high quality, efficient local services.

Please see FOI response below detailing the paid-for media marketing campaigns that were approved to be developed and had incurred costs before the decision was taken not to proceed to launch - between 2019 and the present.

Advertising and public information campaign queries: FOI release - gov.scot

Business Analysts operate across both our directly employed and contingent workforce. Within our directly employed workforce, they operate across two of our Professional groups (Professions); the Digital Profession and the Operational Delivery Profession. A definition of a Business Analyst role can be found here Business analyst - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

A breakdown of the expenditure on the directly employed staff in Business Analyst roles can be found here Breakdown of Scottish Government spend on Lawyers and Business Analyst roles: FOI release - gov.scot

There may also be some Business Analysts working in a temporary capacity in our contingent workforce, however our data on contingent workers is not captured at a job title level and this may not adhere fully to the definition provided above.

Scottish Government expenditure on consultants is publicly available and can be found here. Business Consultant is not a commonly applied definition in the Scottish Government.

2023 to 2024 - Government expenditure - gov.scot

Government expenditure: 2016 to 2023 - gov.scot

Universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own pay and remuneration decisions.

As I have set out in my statement to Parliament earlier today, we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary session. In this statement I set out government’s rationale for the format of the Bill. We will continue to engage with stakeholders from all sectors as we do so, building on the discussions that began with our consultation and have been continuing since then.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), along with other children's and youth organisations, supports the Scottish Government, local authorities and other public bodies to fulfil their legal obligations to promote and protect the human rights of children and young people. The SYP is the democratic voice of Scotland’s young people. Their vision for Scotland is of a nation that actively listens to and values the meaningful participation of its young people. Their goal is to make this vision a reality, in order to ensure young people in Scotland grow up loved, safe and respected, and able to realise their full potential.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) champions and promotes diversity and inclusion within their organisation to ensure it has broad representation that reflects the demographics of young people living in Scotland. The current membership includes, MSYPs from a wide variety of backgrounds including minority ethnic backgrounds, with experience of care, from rural and low Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) areas, who are young carers, who are neurodiverse, and from LGBTQIA+ backgrounds.

SYP also aims to ensure the voices of young people whose rights are most at risk are at the centre of their programme. It has a particular focus on women’s empowerment and anti-racism.

These lived experiences help to inform an intersectional representation of young people in Scotland. After each SYP election the organisation publishes a summary of the diversity data. The 2024 data can be found in this document: https://syp.org.uk/members/our-diversity/

The Framework Agreement that exists between the Scottish Government and Ferguson Marine sets out the relationship between the business and Scottish ministers, including matters requiring Scottish Government approval such as the appointment of the Chair, the Board of Directors and approval of the remuneration of the chief executive officer.

Since the nationalisation of Ferguson Marine ministers have not intervened directly in the management and operations of Ferguson Marine.