Seòmar agus comataidhean

The majority of taxation powers – including over National Insurance Contributions – remain reserved to the UK Government.

We have made significant progress on delivering a Fiscal Framework with Local Government. The foundations of the framework are being applied in practice through the simplification and consolidation of the Local Government Settlement, development of clear routes to deliver local revenue streams such as the Visitor Levy and Cruise Ship Levy, and establishing more frequent and meaningful budget engagement. We continue to work with Local Government to progress the Fiscal Framework and intend to publish an update on the framework around the 2025-26 Scottish Budget and Local Government Settlement.

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

1.In the period 2016-17 – 2023-24 there was 1 death in custody which has been classified as a Homicide.

2.In the period 2016-17 - 2023-24 there were 2 deaths in custody which have been classified as Culpable Homicide.

3.There have been no attempted homicides in the period 2015-16 - 2023-24. It should be noted however, that SPS are unlikely to record an instance of attempted homicide until the individual has been found guilty in a court of law, until such time it will be recorded as an assault.

4.The following table provides a breakdown of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults for the period 2016-17 – 2023-24:

Scottish Government has estimated that for the directly employed public sector workforce in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, additional costs to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service from the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions may be £5 million in the financial year 2025-2026. This estimate is published and available online at this web address: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-insurance-contributions-public-sector-costs/

The management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), including assessing its condition and any decision for removal, is a matter for building owners. Information on buildings identified as having RAAC, including its management, can be found in the Scottish Government report available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/raac-in-the-public-sector/ and also from individual building owners and authorities. The Scottish Government has not provided specific funding for RAAC remediation as it is primarily a building maintenance issue.

We have previously estimated that around 350 high-rise and up to 500 medium-rise buildings across Scotland may require assessment and some level of remediation, across all tenure and building ownership types.

We continue to use this data as an outline planning assumption. However, we are working through a number of routes to enhance both the quality and efficacy of our estimate of potentially affected buildings in Scotland.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has estimated that for the directly employed public sector local authority workforce, additional costs to local authorities from the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions may be £265 million in the financial year 2025-26. This estimate is published and available online at this web address: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-insurance-contributions-public-sector-costs/

Scottish Government has estimated that for the directly employed public sector workforce in Police Scotland, additional costs to Police Scotland from the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions may be £25 million in the financial year 2025-2026. This estimate is published and available online at this web address: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-insurance-contributions-public-sector-costs/

The Scottish Government remain committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 10% will be in rural and island areas.

Up to £25 million is also being made available from our affordable housing supply programme budget over the period 2023-2028 in the form of the demand led Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund. The funding is available to support local authorities and registered social landlords to purchase existing suitable properties in rural and island areas for key workers where there is identified need.

We continue to work closely with partners to deliver the right homes in the right places and it is for local authorities through their Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans to identify the type, location, size and tenure of homes required in their areas.

Scottish Government has estimated that for the directly employed public sector workforce in NHS boards, additional costs to NHS boards from the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions may be £191 million in the financial year 2025-26. The information requested for the costs for each NHS board is not held centrally. However the combined estimate for all NHS boards is published and available online at this web address: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-insurance-contributions-public-sector-costs/