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Following our annual teacher workforce planning process, which included detailed statistical modelling, and advice from the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group, we wrote to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in February 2025, with recommendations for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) intakes for the 2025-26 academic year.

Recommendations included a reduction in intakes to primary programmes, with further consideration to be given to the level of any further reductions for the 2026-27 academic year.

This advice to the SFC will assist in the setting of intakes to ITE programmes for individual higher education institutions. These will be shown in SFC’s final funding allocations for 2025-26, due to be published at the end of May 2025.

All teachers undertake additional support needs (ASN) training during Initial Teacher Education (ITE), which is a requirement to meet the Professional Standards for registration with the General Teaching Council of Scotland.

We have asked the Scottish Council of Deans for Education (SCDE), through their Scottish Universities Inclusion Group, to undertake an analysis of the way ASN are addressed in ITE. We expect to receive an update from SCDE on the progress of this work shortly.

Replacement of the Marine Evacuation System is scheduled to begin in May 2025.

The most recent Instrumental Music Survey published in January 2025 shows the number of pupils accessing free instrumental music tuition was the highest on record since the survey began in 2012.

Since 2021-22 we have provided dedicated funding to local authorities to support the removal of fees for instrumental music and in 2025-26 we will provide £12m to support this policy.

Local authorities are responsible for delivering education and so it is for individual councils to make choices about levels and means of provision that meet their local circumstances and the needs of pupils. No Council has charged for IMT since 2020-21.

The Scottish Government has been engaging closely with EIS and a range of partners to implement our commitments on instrumental music tuition and will continue to do so.

Since 2016, the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) Group has been coordinating new entrant opportunities on publicly owned land in Scotland. FONE Group membership includes, but is not limited to, Forestry and Land Scotland, the Crown Estate Scotland, the Scottish Ministers’ Estate and Scottish Water.

Through the FONE group, over 80 new entrant opportunities have been provided across more than 8,000 hectares of publicly owned land.

Additionally, in December 2024, I wrote out to all Local Authority Leaders and Chief Executives asking that they engage with the Programme for Government commitment to maximise the opportunities on their land for agricultural new entrants.

I have called on all Scottish public bodies, with land, to a Landowner’s Conference in March to showcase and emphasise the importance of leasing public land to new entrant farmers and crofters.

The Nature Investment Partnership continues to engage with a range of investors, land managers and local communities to identify the most suitable approach for each potential investment site. No private finance has yet been directed through the Partnership into on-the-ground projects. More information about the Partnership is available on its webpage: Nature Investment Partnership | NatureScot.

Since 2016, the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) Group has helped facilitate entry to over 80 new entrants across more than 8,000 hectares of publicly owned land in Scotland.

Instigated by the FONE Group and funded by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS) provides a platform for opportunities for the next generation of farmers and crofters, by engaging with those seeking or offering joint venture arrangements in relation to land and facilities. To date the SLMS has facilitated over 300 individuals and formally matched over 50 joint-ventures, some of which includes publicly owned land.

In 2022 the Scottish Government conducted a full analysis of the different options for relocating the SQA’s accreditation function. As of 11 March 2025 and in response to this question the analysis has now been published at Education reform: location of the Scottish Qualification Authority’s accreditation function - gov.scot.

The Scottish Budget Documents detailing the Spring Budget Revision to the Budget (Scotland) Act are laid before the Scottish Parliament in February each year.

As set out in these documents, the operating budget provided to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last 5 financial years is as follows:

2020-21 £138.0m

2021-22 £162.0m

2022-23 £172.0m

2023-24 £178.6m

2024-25 £187.6m

Scottish waste legislation is underpinned by the waste hierarchy and Scottish Government has a range of laws and policies which implement it in managing waste.

The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require Scottish households and businesses to present recyclable materials such as glass, metal, plastic, paper, cardboard and food waste separately for collection.

Scotland was the first nation in the UK to introduce a ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste which comes into force on 31 December 2025.

The Circular Economy Act and our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 set out ambitious plans to deliver priority actions which will help maximise progress towards a circular economy. The plan has 4 strategic aims: to reduce and reuse, maximise recycling, decarbonise disposal and strengthen the circular economy.

A total of £66.6 million has been allocated through the Recycling Improvement fund, to 27 Scottish local authorities for 47 projects to increase the quantity and quality of recycling across Scotland.

These are just some of the measures in place in Scotland which are to helping to drive waste up the hierarchy and away from disposal.