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The Scottish Government respects the independence of Local Government and the position of each council, including Glasgow City Council, as an independent employer with responsibility for their own budgets, workforce planning and job evaluation processes. The Scottish Government has no formal role in these issues at a local level and encourages all councils to make decisions, through engagement with trade unions, that meet their responsibility to secure value for money and meet their legal obligations to their employees.

This is an operational matter for Crown Estate Scotland. I have asked their Chief Executive, Ronan O’Hara, to respond to you directly.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Data on ELC placements may be held by local Councils. It is the responsibility of each Local Authority to plan for, and manage, ELC placements in line with their statutory duties in relation to funded ELC delivery, including having regard to the statutory guidance on cross-boundary placements.

The development of rules for group proceedings, including any proposals to introduce opt-out procedures, is the responsibility of the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC).

The SCJC is an independent body established by the Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Act 2013, and as such Scottish Ministers are not responsible for its operations.

The SCJC Group Procedure Working Group established to investigate the introduction of an opt-out system for group proceedings publish updates of their work online, which can be found here:

https://www.scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk/council/group-procedure-working-group

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) already carry out regular lithium-ion battery fire safety campaigns, most notably alongside Glasgow City Council highlighting the need for proper use and disposal (here). SFRS also have dedicated advice on their website. The Scottish Government will consider if more should be done and support any further safety campaigns across Scotland alongside SFRS and Local Authorities.

Dutyholders (the employer, as well as any other person who may have control to any extent of any part of the premises) are responsible for complying with the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the associated Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 to ensure the safety of others from fire. This includes ensuring a fire risk assessment is carried out by a competent assessor. However, SFRS do work with dutyholders in relevant premises to achieve compliance in fire safety through partnership working, providing advice and support when requested.

It should be noted that SFRS base their auditing programme around high risk premises with sleeping accommodation – this includes care homes, hospitals, hotels and houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) which can include student accommodation.

SFRS remains the enforcing authority for general fire safety legislation in non-domestic premises, including vape shops, and its audit programme is informed by risk-based criteria, for example this includes where a complaint about a premises is received or a previous fire has happened.

The Scottish Government funds solar PV through schemes which are aimed at supporting those on lower incomes to reduce fuel poverty. We helped thousands of households to benefit from free electricity last year as part of our Area Based Schemes and national Warmer Homes Scotland scheme.

The in-principle agreement between the Fire Brigades Union and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on an expanded role for firefighters in Scotland includes a significant uplift in pay in exchange for carrying out the new duties. The challenging fiscal position has meant that the increases in funding provided to SFRS since 2022 have been in support of front-line services but have been insufficient to provide additional funding to support the expanded role proposals. Whilst a broadened role for firefighters remains a priority in the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland, the overall funding position means there are currently no detailed negotiations taking place.

The Scottish Government does not have a regulatory function under the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015, nor does the Act have provisions in place specifically in relation to safeguarding. BSL local plans are the responsibility of listed authorities as designated under the Act. All organisations in Scotland must consider their legal obligations in relation to safeguarding or access risks when designing, implementing or making changes to their services.

The Scottish Government does not have a regulatory function over BSL local plans under the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015. We fund British Deaf Association (BDA) Scotland and the Health and Social Care ALLIANCE Scotland (the ALLIANCE) to support listed authorities in the delivery and monitoring of local plans. BDA provide that vital community engagement and lived experience expertise to local plans, whereas the ALLIANCE operate a BSL network for listed authority for sharing best practice and working together towards solutions. This approach gathers data and intelligence on how outcomes are being delivered in practice.