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The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions including Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The Cabinet Secretary set out in the NHS Scotland operational improvement plan published on 31 March of this year that we will work to ensure people receive the right care in the right place. There are many benefits that home dialysis can offer to both NHS Boards and patients as to whether home dialysis is appropriate for the patient. However it is a matter for NHS Boards to determine the situations when home dialysis is the best option.

The ongoing review of water, wastewater and drainage policy and consideration of legislation is important to equip our water industry with the tools to adapt to the accelerating impacts of climate change. This Government is pressing ahead with the policy development to ensure that proposals can be brought forward at the earliest opportunity, subject to the outcome of the 2026 elections.

Management decisions on the detail of Scottish Government staff resourcing and divisional structures, to ensure the right capacity and capability to deliver Ministerial priorities, are primarily a matter for the Civil Service.

I am sorry that anyone has had to wait to receive their transcript due to delays in the pilot scheme for transcripts. We have been working closely with Scottish Court and Tribunal Service to address the issues that have been raised in a minority of these applications. SCTS have now written to applicants to provide them with an update on their application and to advise that they will provide regular updates every three weeks. Changes have also been made to their website to provide clearer information about expected timescales and the updates that will be provided.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37715 on 28 May 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.

All Civil Servants working for Scottish Government follow annual performance management procedures, including regular evaluation of performance and feedback wherever they work.

As part of a recent review of hybrid working, officials noted that there are few independent research empirical studies about hybrid working of a sufficient academic standing. Of those studies that were of a high standard and have been conducted recently, findings indicate that some form of hybrid working can lead to improved or the same performance levels compared to office working only.

This response relates to Scottish Government Core workforce.

Historically, a range of factors, including newly devolved responsibilities such as establishing Social Security, EU Exit, and our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are behind the growth in the workforce. Like many organisations, the Scottish Government has also needed to respond to the cost of living crisis that has led to increases in pay across the labour market.

The Scottish Government is proactively addressing the need to control workforce size to remain fiscally sustainable.

The Scottish Government has reduced its total workforce by 4% from March 2022 to December 2024. It has achieved this through recruitment controls and prioritised the reduction of expensive contingent workers in making these reductions, in partnership with our Trade Unions. The number of contingent workers is now 46% lower than in March 2022.

Scottish Government workforce numbers are regularly and carefully reviewed to ensure efficient and effective delivery for the people of Scotland and recruitment controls remain in place. The Budget has set a commitment to continuing to reduce the workforce in this financial year.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Schools do not generally fall into high-risk to persons from fire, due to their numbers of access and egress points, familiarity of occupants, regular training and drills, and ordinarily users are non-sleeping.

However, if there were concerns raised to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) regarding perceived high levels of risk to life from fire, the SFRS would undertake an urgent audit and, if necessary, could prohibit the use, or parts, of a school until the situation was satisfactorily rectified.

The Scottish Government has not made an estimate of the number of barber shops linked to money laundering. Money laundering is investigated by Police Scotland working with partners including the National Crime Agency and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

The Scottish Government’s quota application initiative for West of Scotland cod has awarded quota to 35 Scottish vessels. These applications seek to incentivise the use of selective fishing gear and fishing techniques or vessels with a reduced impact on the environment.

Regarding the use of selective fishing gear: across 35 vessels there is a wide range of gear configurations, some examples of gear to be used by successful applicants include:

• Vessels greater than 12 metres in length operating with bottom trawls or nets with catches comprising more than 10% of haddock, cod and skates and rays combined using a cod end in excess of the 120mm minimum.
• Vessels with catches comprising more than 30% of Norway lobster using a mesh size between 100-119mm and a square mesh panel in excess of the 160mm minimum.
• Engaging in area-based selectivity, where if vessels encounter shoals of fish below the minimum conservation reference size, they alert other vessels and move on.
• Use of long-lines.

Regarding the use of fishing techniques or vessels with a reduced impact on the environment, successful applicants provided information covering these areas:

• Modern vessels or engine upgrades leading to improved fuel efficiency.
• The use of Tori lines, acoustic deterrents, brightly coloured nets or particular gear deployment strategies to minimise interactions with non-target species such as seabirds and cetaceans.
• Use of refrigerants with reduced Global Warming Potential.
• Use of smaller or semi-pelagic trawl doors.
• Use of shorter ground gear.
• Landing catches into West of Scotland ports.
• Litter and waste management and identifying circular economy destinations for waste products.