Seòmar agus comataidhean

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is the executive agency which manages Scotland’s national forests and land. The majority of deer management on land owned by the Scottish Government is undertaken by FLS. Alongside land owned by the Scottish Government, public bodies also manage deer on public land they are responsible for. This includes NatureScot and Scottish Water. Further detail on the deer management activities of these organisations is set as follows.

Forestry and Land Scotland

The number of deer culled on Scotland’s National Forests and Land (SNFL) 640,000 hectares in each of the last five complete culling seasons is as follows:-

Deer numbers in forested or woodland environments are very difficult to estimate due to dense cover and the mobile nature of deer.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is the executive agency which manages Scotland’s national forests and land. The majority of deer management on land owned by the Scottish Government is undertaken by FLS. Alongside land owned by the Scottish Government, public bodies also manage deer on public land they are responsible for. This includes NatureScot and Scottish Water. Further detail on the deer management activities of these organisations is as follows.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS)

FLS estimate Scotland’s National Forests and Land’s (SNFL), deer population to be around 130,000 deer. This estimate is based on culling data. The break-down by species is as follows:

Local Authorities are democratically accountable to their local communities for the service outcomes they deliver. As independent corporate bodies, local authorities are responsible for managing their own budgets and allocating the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities in line with their statutory obligations and a small number of jointly agreed national priorities.

The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) is a high-level benchmarking tool designed to support senior management teams and elected members to ask questions about key council services. The LGBF, which is run by the Improvement Service on behalf of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) (Scotland), helps councils compare their performance against a suite of efficiency, output and outcome indicators that cover all areas of local government activity.

All new policy commitments or changes to existing policy, that have a financial impact on local government, must be approved through the formal financial governance process which requires agreed recommendations from the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Officers’ Settlement and Distribution Group and political agreement from Scottish Ministers and COSLA political Leaders.

The Scottish Government also publish the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics (SLGFS) annually that provides a comprehensive overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities based on authorities audited accounts.

The Scottish Government own 126 bulls to operate the crofting cattle improvement scheme, however for the majority of the year these bulls are kept on crofters own holdings.

We do not hold information on the numbers of livestock owned and managed by our farm and croft tenants.

We do not hold this information.

The regulatory requirement relating to training is contained in Chapter XII of Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs and is a general requirement that food handlers be supervised, instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work activity. Those responsible for establishing a food safety management system within a food business based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles or for the operation of relevant guides must have received adequate training in the application of those principles. Beyond this there must be compliance with any specific requirements stated in law.

Whilst much of what Food Standards Scotland (FSS) provides falls into the categories of guidance or advice, FSS does provide online training materials in relation to allergens:

• Online Allergy Training | Food Standards Scotland
• Advanced Online Allergen Training | Food Standards Scotland

FSS also offers tools for fresh produce and safe smoked fish to assist relevant food businesses produce safe food:

• Fresh Produce Tool | Food Standards Scotland
• Safe Smoked Fish Tool | Food Standards Scotland

Many food businesses make use of our CookSafe Manual, guidance and templates when planning their HACCP based management systems. Cooksafe is particularly aimed at caterers and provides instructions to develop procedures to fit the business needs.

If asked for direction to training, FSS advice is to contact the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS). A section of their website dedicated to training, which can be found here Community Training - REHIS.

Scottish Trans is funded by the Equality and Human Rights Fund through the Equality Network. The Equality Network’s funding covers their general LGBTI project and the Scottish Trans Alliance project. The Equality Network received £503,322 in 2021-22, £503,207 in 2022-23, £503,265 in 2023-24 and £503,265 for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

The Scottish Government, through policy initiatives such as Getting it right for every child, emphasises the importance of professionals such as social workers and teachers working together to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people. This will continue as we work towards delivering the Promise.

At present the Scottish Government does not routinely gather data regarding the exact locations where social workers are co-located in schools. The Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) programme however has a key core component of implementing a whole systems approach and has supported several initiatives throughout Scotland to enable young people to engage with social workers school.

Examples of these are located in:

South Lanarkshire

A family support programme called ‘Pathfinders’ is working with secondary schools and social workers to contact and support young people who are disengaged from school, with a focus on preventing the child or young person being taken into care.

This programme was established prior to WFWF in three secondary schools in 2019, and expanded to seven in total. Evaluation has shown that by the end of March 2023-2024 the programme had worked with 534 young people and families.

South Lanarkshire reports indicate a range of improvements relating to young people’s meaningful participation in school or learning. The report also indicated that young people were able to recognise positive changes in their behaviour and wellbeing. Young people also expressed trust in Pathfinder officers, saying they feel listened to and understood.

Fife

A test of change project provided early access to social work support in two localities. The project provided drop-in services in schools that focussed on: building supportive networks for families within the local communities. The project also provided advice on benefits, housing, fuel poverty, social isolation and mental health. Senior practitioners were recruited to work with a small number of children and young people to provide early help in schools, specifically to avoid exclusions.

Freight Facilities Grants of over £25 million have been made to Scottish ports since 1997. This has enabled ports to purchase shore based handling equipment, has allowed piers and berths to be built or refurbished and enabled rail lines to be built into ports.

For audiology services provided in hospital settings, information on provision of delivery is held within Boards and not by the Scottish Government.

While the Scottish Government remains committed to its vision for an integrated and community-based hearing service in Scotland, re-phasing of funding has meant that not all the challenges we are facing will be addressed in a single budget.