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Since 2021 the Scottish Government has made funding available to projects relevant to the issue of marine litter through Marine Fund Scotland Marine and fisheries grants - gov.scot Information on the funding provided each year for such projects is publicly available via Marine Fund Scotland: grants awarded - gov.scot.

Funding to be available in the 2025-26 financial year through the fund has not yet been announced.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on officer and police staff absences due to sickness or other physical or mental ill health reasons. The recording of staffing absences are a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Chief Constable’s commitment to police officers and staff wellbeing. Police Scotland provide access to a range of services including, a 24/7 employee assistance programme and direct access to occupational health services to support officers and police staff’s physical and mental wellbeing.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on how many operational frontline officers are deployed in divisions. Police workforce data collection are a matter for the Chief Constable.

Police Scotland publish officer number data each quarter which includes information on the total number of officers in each policing division. These can be found on the Police Scotland website at: Police Scotland Officer Numbers - Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

Our police officers are the best paid in the UK, at the minimum and maximum of each rank, and I welcome the outcome of the police pay arbitration process, which means that police officers in Scotland will receive an uplift of 4.75%, backdated to 1 April 2024, in their March salaries.

This recognises the hard work and valuable contribution that police officers make, and reflects this Government’s continued commitment to investing in policing.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on the operational base levels for officers. Officer deployment nationally and locally is quite rightly a matter for the Chief Constable.

From a trunk road maintenance perspective, the following upgrades are currently being planned for the A82 in the 2025-26 financial year:

Renton Rd U/B to Cardross Rd U/B – Structural Maintenance

• Lomond Gate roundabout to Barloan Toll roundabout NB & SB - Structural Maintenance
• A82 Dalnottar Int to Dumbarton Rd Jct NB - Structural Maintenance
• Between Dunglass roundabout and Dumbuck – Drainage improvements
• A82 Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit - New northbound layby
• A82 Glen Coe - Rock slope mitigation works
• A82 Grotaig - Rock slope mitigation works
• Glenurquhart Road, Inverness – Footway improvements
• Auch Estate - Edge strip hardening works
• Stoneymollan to Luss - Junction improvements
• Glen Falloch - Vehicle restraint upgrades
• Fort William to Spean Bridge - Vehicle restraint upgrades
• A82 Lomondgate Roundabout - upgraded road markings and localised widening
• A898/A82 interchange - Road safety measures identified from an investigation in 2024/25 will be programmed for construction.
• A82 Erskine to Dunglass - installation of an advanced direction sign (pending resolution of slope remediation works)
• A82 1110 Leagann Bridge - Concrete repair
• A82 1160 Ceannside Bridge – Re-waterproofing and concrete repairs
• A82 1390 Borlum Bridge – Re-waterproofing
• A82 615 C19 Auch 4 Culvert - Verge repair
• A82 500 Allt Fionne Ghlinne N Bridge – Parapet replacement
• A82 1080 W53 Loch Lochyside 2 Retaining Wall - Gabion repairs
• A82 240 Fruin Old Bridge - Scour repairs

The exact dates for the works are still to be confirmed as all schemes are in the process of being investigated.

SPS will publish information on the releases under the changes to sentencing for short-term prisoners on their website and SPS has previously published information on releases under the emergency release legislation also on their website.

SPS continue to be as open and transparent as possible, whilst continuing to meet their statutory obligation to ensure that those in their care have their personal information protected; as such SPS cannot publish a breakdown of establishments as some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which may lead to their inadvertent identification.

Local authorities are responsible for the management of their school estate including decisions about the closure of schools. Local authorities are required by the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”) to carry out a full public consultation where they are proposing a permanent school closure.

Local authorities must also undertake specific additional steps when they propose to close a rural school. These include clearly demonstrating that they have considered alternatives to closure, an assessment of the likely impact on the community and impact on travel to school arrangements for local pupils. The local authority must also set out the educational benefit of the closure which is subject to an independent report by HM Inspectors. The local authority must respond to HM Inspectors’ assessment of the educational impact on those affected. If a proposal to close a school is rejected, then the local authority cannot repeat the process for five years, providing stability for the local community. These protections are intended to ensure that local authorities think very carefully before closing a rural school and consult extensively with the local community about their proposal.

Where it appears to Scottish Ministers that the local authority may have failed, in a significant regard, to comply with the requirements imposed on it by the 2010 Act, or to take proper account of a material consideration relevant to its decision they may “call-in” the decision for review by an independent School Closure Review Panel.

The Aberdeen – Central Belt 2026 Enhancement Project is now known as the Aberdeen – Central Belt Service Improvement Project.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-32369 on 8 January 2025. 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

Each school should have a relationships and behaviour policy setting out clear expectations of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, and the responses which staff can utilise. Staff should respond to behaviour in line with this policy. The existing Scottish Government policy framework, including the national policy on exclusion, allows the use of consequences.

This government is committed to doing what it can to provide support and direction at a national level, informed by our national evidence base. Ultimately, it is the responsibility local authorities to decide how to promote positive relationships and behaviour in their schools. We expect local authorities to consider how best to implement our national guidance to meet particular needs and experiences at a local level, identifying areas of local challenge or concern.

As part of the relationships and behaviour action plan, we will be providing clarity on the range of approaches and consequences that are available, including exclusion where there is no appropriate alternative. This guidance is being developed by a sub-group of the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools, together with the Head Teacher Taskforce and will be published later this year.