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I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS seeks to be as open and transparent as possible, while also upholding our statutory obligation to protect the personal information of those in our care.

This information requested is not information held by the Scottish Prison Service.

To date almost £23 million has been provided by Scottish Government to Falkirk Council to support the development of the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme.

Employment tribunal matters are independent and administered by HM Courts and Tribunal Service. It is for the Employment Tribunal to determine whether it is appropriate to restrict public scrutiny of a tribunal involving matters of significant public interest. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment.

As set out in answer to question S6W-37425, which was answered on 2 May 2025, due to the short amount of time left in this parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. Therefore, the Scottish Government has decided not to proceed with this Bill in this parliamentary session.

However, in order to allow for the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ to be added to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 so that women and girls have the same protections as other groups protected by that Act, we will lay before the Scottish Parliament in September a proposed draft of an SSI under the powers within the Act. This will allow for views to be offered on the approach taken before a finalised SSI is then subsequently laid which will, if agreed, result in new protections for women and girls being introduced.

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

I meet regularly with local authorities and key stakeholders to discuss a range of social care issues. Conversations I have include ongoing work to remove non-residential social care charges for vulnerable residents. These discussions form part of broader efforts to improve fairness, equity, and access within the social care system in Scotland.

While the Scottish Government does not maintain a central tally of all individual meetings by topic, many of my meetings particularly those with local authorities routinely include agenda items relating to social care reform. This includes meetings held through formal channels such as the Ministerial Strategic Group for Health and Community Care, and engagements with COSLA and other local government representatives.

Details of my meetings, are published on the Scottish Government’s website through the Proactive release schedule. This ensures transparency and allows the public to see when and with whom I have met. These records include information relevant to meetings where the removal of non-residential care charges may have been discussed.

I remain committed to making progress in this area. Discussions with local authorities, including on the topic of non-residential charges, are ongoing as part of social care reform work.

I have asked Stephen Pathirana, Chief Executive of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, to respond. His response is as follows:

No retired police officers have died before receiving pension payments.

From 1 October 2023, officers who had retired before that date became entitled to make a choice of pension scheme provision in respect of their pensionable service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, or their date of retirement if earlier.

This choice could be made after the provision of a remediable service statement, which were to be issued by 31 March 2025 or by such later day as the scheme manager considers reasonable in all the circumstances in the case of a particular member or a particular class of member.

In the last five years, three retired officers entitled to receive a remediable service statement died before making their choice. All three officers retired under the terms of their legacy final salary scheme.

The Scottish Government has no plans to issue additional guidance for universities and research institutions regarding collaboration with Chinese entities that UK intelligence agencies have deemed a security risk.

Universities are autonomous institutions and are responsible for ensuring their alliances and partnerships are safe and appropriate. Ministers expect all institutions to understand and manage the risks associated with international partnerships and conduct appropriate due diligence.

Whilst national security is reserved to the UK Government, we expect universities to comply with relevant legal requirements, including the National Security Act 2023, and National Security and Investment Act 2021. We also expect our universities to carefully consider advice and existing guidance from bodies such as Universities UK, and the UK Government’s Research Collaboration Advice Team, to support them in managing risks of international partnerships.

Although universities are autonomous institutions, we expect them to be conducting due diligence on international research agreements - including complying with relevant legal requirements already in place and carefully considering guidance published by Universities UK, and the UK Government’s Research Collaboration Advice Team, to support them in managing risks of international partnerships.

The Scottish Government has continued to engage with UK Government regarding university collaborations with Chinese state-linked institutions. Whilst national security is reserved to the UK Government, we expect universities to comply with relevant legal requirements, including the National Security Act 2023, and National Security and Investment Act 2021.

The Scottish Government expects Scottish universities, as autonomous bodies, to consider and manage the reputational, ethical and security risks associated with international partnerships, and conduct appropriate due diligence.

The Scottish Government expects Scottish universities, as autonomous bodies, to carefully consider and manage the reputational, ethical and security risks associated with pursuing joint research ventures within global academic networks. Alliances that universities form within these networks are a matter for them and their governing bodies, as long as they are within the law.

As part of this, we expect universities to carefully consider advice and existing guidance on international partnership risk management from bodies like Universities UK and the UK Government’s Research Collaboration Advice Team.

Additionally, the Universities should conduct due diligence in relation to national security, which is a matter reserved to the UK Government, and compliance comply with relevant legal requirements, such as the National Security Act 2023 and National Security and Investment Act 2021.