Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answers to question S6W-38063 answered on 12 June, and question S6W-38064 answered on 10 June 2024. 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

Scottish Government Ministers have said they expect to spend at least the equivalent of the £97.1 million received in consequential funding on Cladding Remediation, and will do so.

Information on expenditure is published quarterly on the Scottish Government website:
Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government values the teaching profession and the important work that teachers do.

We are clear that reducing teachers’ class contact time by 90 minutes per week will help address critical concerns around teacher workload, thereby creating the space to drive improvement and reform in our schools and improve outcomes for pupils.

Reduction of teachers class contact time is ultimately a matter which will require agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, and we will continue to work with COSLA and the teaching unions to make meaningful progress on this important commitment.

In this year’s Programme for Government we committed to setting out a single combined timeline for reform to curriculum and qualifications in June 2025, with the aim of providing clarity about next steps for the education system. The Scottish Government has worked closely with our lead delivery partners Education Scotland and the SQA to produce a timeline for the Curriculum Improvement Cycle and Reforms to Qualifications and Assessment. The document sets out progress to date and next steps and was published today (23 June 2025): Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment Reform – Progress to Date and Next Steps - gov.scot.

The publication provides an initial timeline to give clarity to partners and practitioners across the education and skills system, as well as to parents and carers and young people, about when they will start to see changes in teaching and assessment.

While change to curriculum, qualifications and assessment should be expected, the focus will remain on the enhancement of excellent learning and teaching as we know this will make the greatest impact on outcomes for our children and young people.

The work aims to support more consistent teaching, learning and assessment experiences, and improved attainment and achievement of our children and young people.

The Scottish Government is actively delivering a programme of reform that is coherent, realistic, practical and deliverable.

Following the Scottish Government commitment in the December 2023 Culture Strategy Action Plan the short-life Culture Fair Work Task Force was created with an independent Chair appointed in April 2024. The aim of the taskforce is to consider and develop actions to further implement Fair Work in Scotland’s Creative industries to be put forward as recommendations for a sectoral Culture Fair Work Agreement.

The details and narrative in the STUC report "Freelance and forgotten", together with other relevant evidence, will be considered as part of the work of the Task Force. This reflects a commitment to worker participation and consultation - although it is solely the responsibility of the members of the Culture Fair Work Taskforce to shape and agree the final proposed recommendations.

The final report of the Culture Fair Work Task Force will contribute to the current evaluation of Fair Work First by the Scottish Government which will provide another opportunity to look closely at how effectively Fair Work First is delivering our policy intent, and to consider what more we can do to strengthen the Scottish Government approach. The project will provide ample opportunities for stakeholder engagement.

The Scottish Government is continuing to invest in RNID Near You, which provides an aftercare service delivering hearing aid support, access to information and advice and early detection and prevention through hearing checks, in partnership with the NHS in Shetland, Glasgow, Lothian, Fife and Borders. The scheme aims to reduce pressure on the NHS. Boards report savings in staff time and patient travel and monitoring is through regular meetings and reviewing outcomes against targets. The Scottish Government is not responsible for outcomes of third sector relationships procured in other health board areas in the delivery of NHS audiology services.

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

SPS are committed to prepare those in our care for a return to their communities and, for some, this includes access to personal items and various forms of media.

As defined in The Prisons and Young Offenders Rules (Scotland) 2011, the Governor in Charge (GiC) must establish a System of Privileges, taking into consideration a number of factors, including security.

Access to watching DVDs is at the Governors discretion and remains a privilege and not a right.

Currently, there are no plans to review this current practice.

The Division of Commonties Act 1695 was discussed at the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee’s stage 2 consideration on 17 June 2025 and I undertook to provide an update on the Scottish Law Commission’s work on it as part of its work on statute law repeals. I can confirm that following a request by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Law Commission undertook preliminary work on the Division of Commonties Act 1695, and the issues arising in relation to it. The Commissioners took the view that a review of the Act would not be an appropriate law reform project for the Scottish Law Commission and advised Scottish Government of this in August 2018.

Transport Scotland provides reimbursement to bus operators in Scotland for providing free bus travel to those eligible through the National Concessionary Travel Schemes (NCTS). Reimbursement is paid to operators at a level which aims to ensure they are left financially no better and no worse off as a result of their participation in the schemes, and is therefore not considered as a subsidy payment.

Details of total operator revenue over the past 10 years, including passenger revenue and concessionary travel reimbursement can be found in Scottish Transport Statistics tables 2.8 and 2.9, available at: Chapter 2 - Bus and Coach travel | Transport Scotland

I have asked Colin Lancaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to respond. His response is as follows:-

The Solicitor Contact Line (SCL) is a team of publicly funded criminal defence lawyers who provide telephone advice and in-person representation to suspects in police custody. The majority of publicly funded advice for those in police custody is provided by solicitors in private practice: SCL assists the around 30% who do not already have a solicitor, mostly by way of telephone advice.

Where SCL identify that in-person representation is needed, this will normally be provided by duty solicitors from either the private sector or the Public Defence Solicitors’ Office. The SCL provides contingency cover which is called upon in a small proportion of cases.

There has been no formal ballot for industrial action and it is unclear whether or when any such a ballot might take place. If the result of any ballot supports action, the form or extent of that action is also unclear. At this stage it is therefore not possible to comment on potential impacts.