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The operational guidance used to keep firefighters safe is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). SFRS generally operates with a crew of 5 on the first appliance deployed to an emergency and this was reduced to 4 during the COVID-19 pandemic. SFRS has a range of options to ensure the availability of its appliances, which on occasion may include appliances being crewed with 4 rather than 5 firefighters.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The assessment of requests and permission for officers seeking additional jobs or business interests are matters for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government values the dedication shown by police officers in Scotland. That’s why our police officers remain the best paid in the UK recognising the hard work and valuable contribution they make daily as well as our commitment to investing in policing.

There are challenges in recruiting and retaining on-call firefighters in some rural areas of Scotland and there are currently no on-call fire stations in the Highland Council area with a full staffing complement. However, a full staffing complement is not required for an on-call fire appliance to be deployed because it can attend emergencies if there are 4 crew available at any given time. When an appliance is not available, a response will be provided from the next nearest available location.

The recruitment and retention of staff is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as the employer. There is currently one on call station in the Moray Council area with a full staffing complement. When an appliance is not available, a response will be provided from the next nearest available location.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-35981 on 31 March 2025, delivery of the health and social care online app for Scotland is being taken forward by NHS Education Scotland (NES) as part of the wider Digital Front Door programme. The majority of costs to date have been on mobilising the team required and developing the Outline Business Case. NHS NES staff have participated in the Civtech Challenge, which has allowed NES to understand what is required to develop the app in a way that integrates into Scottish Government plans to digitise postal communications. More information about this can be found at: https://www.civtech.scot/civtech-9-challenge-8-secure-individualised-and-effective-communications-channel.

The Just Transition Fund (JTF) created and safeguarded at least 230 jobs in its first two years of operation, alongside the provision of more than 750 training places and it leveraged over £34 million in additional investment. The fund also supported innovative technologies such as EV battery recycling and offshore green hydrogen; it invested in improved environmental outcomes, for instance through the Findhorn Watershed project; and it invested in communities with our participatory budgeting approach, benefitting projects in ecovillages, adaptation and local climate assemblies.

These are some of the initial impacts of the JTF, and we expect job numbers and other key outputs to increase as projects continue.

In addition, the Scottish Government, in partnership with the UK Government, has launched a new Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund to help support offshore workers transition to roles in sustainable energy sectors. The new Fund forms part of a wider toolkit of support available for Scotland’s offshore oil and gas workers, including an industry-led Energy Skills Passport. These initiatives reflect our commitment to ensuring a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled offshore oil and gas workers.

Scottish Government does not provide legal advice to external parties and any questions about reported comments by Scottish Trans should be re-directed to that organisation.

The Scottish Government has invested an additional £11m in the past seven years to support new mothers to achieve their breastfeeding goals, with babies in Scotland now being breastfed for longer than ever before.

The Equality Act 2010 provides protection for breastfeeding mothers in public. In Scotland, section 1 of the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Act 2005 provides that it is a offence deliberately to prevent or stop a person in charge of a child from feeding milk to that child in a public place or on licensed premises, unless the child, at the material time is not lawfully permitted to be in the public place or on the licenced premises otherwise than for the purposes of being fed milk.

In addition, we are providing funding of over £1.1m to organisations working to promote LGBTQI+ equality in Scotland in 2025-26 demonstrating our commitment to protecting the rights of every LGBTQI+ person in Scotland.

As described in the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan (https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-operational-improvement-plan/pages/1/) and the answer to question S6W-35982 on 28 March 2025, the health and social care online app rollout will begin in Lanarkshire in December 2025 with an initial release (a minimum viable product approach), working with NHS Lanarkshire. The plan for rollout to the whole country, including the North East Scotland region, is currently being drafted in consultation with key partners including NHS Boards. The draft plan is scheduled to be approved and published in September 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.

The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK Government which includes the work of Trading Standards Scotland.

The Scottish Anti-Illicit Trade Group (SAITG), which was formally re-launched on 3 March 2025, aims to disrupt counterfeiting and Intellectual Property crime in Scotland. The group brings together law enforcement, government and businesses and focuses on developing best practice and enhancing collective strategies. The work of the group forms a coordinated response to protect Scottish products, businesses and consumers from the threat of counterfeit goods.

The group also supports the aims of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to discourage individuals from using the products of serious organised crime.

The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a programme of Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus local area visits to Scottish territorial NHS Boards which provides an opportunity to explore the levels of peer support available for people living with HIV.

The visits have identified excellent examples of peer support for people living with HIV, including use of digital solutions to reach individuals in rural areas where access can be more challenging. We continue to work collaboratively with NHS Boards and actively promote the sharing of best practice to help address any gaps identified through these visits.