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The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on the number of play parks that have been removed or closed since 2021. Responsibility for the management and maintenance of play parks rests with individual Local Authorities.

The recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government has increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, with £1.64 billion being invested this year. Scottish Government funding in 2024-25 enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception and Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales.

The Chief Constable has provided reassurance that Police Scotland has a healthy recruitment pipeline and has been clear that the context of frontline strength goes beyond an overall officer headcount and that of a police workforce which includes police staff. Police Scotland’s three-year Business Plan 2024-2027 sets out an ambitious programme of workforce modernisation, reducing back-office duplication and creating capacity to deal with new and increasing emerging threats.

The Scottish Government established an Independent Group to review our approach to antisocial behaviour, to ensure it has victims and communities at its heart. The Scottish Government, Police Scotland and COSLA are considering the Group’s recommendations. Ministers provided a progress report to the Criminal Justice Committee on key areas in April, and this will be followed by a comprehensive response in the Summer.

The Scottish Government has not set any targets for number of play parks to be renewed by each local authority with their allocated funding but have agreed a set principles with COSLA in 2021 which should be used by the Local Authorities in line with local needs and priorities and informed by the views of the local communities.

Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the control and management of asbestos within their schools, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information. Furthermore, health and safety is not devolved to the Scottish Government, and the Health and Safety Executive has UK-wide responsibility for enforcement of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

However, the Scottish Government takes the issue of asbestos within schools very seriously and continues to engage with COSLA, local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive on this matter.

Under the General Medical Services contract GP practices are responsible for providing the services required for the management of their registered patients and temporary residents who are, or believe themselves to be ill, with conditions from which recovery is generally expected, terminally ill, or suffering from chronic disease. This can include taking bloods as necessary.

GP practices’ contracts must include terms which require the Health Board to provide the contractor with support by providing community treatment and care services which include phlebotomy.

GP practices may also contract with their Health Boards to collect blood samples to support the secondary care management of chronic conditions. These would be considered enhanced services which are additional to the GP contract and cannot be required.

The Scottish Government published Scotland’s Play Vision Statement and Action Plan 2025-2030 in March 2025, which emphasises our commitment to play and our vision for the future of play in Scotland. It reinforces our commitment to children’s rights and mitigating the impacts of poverty through the promotion and access to free outdoor play spaces and opportunities.

Within the Vision Statement and Action Plan document we have published a Play Theory of Change which can be used by partners as a framework for further local and community improvements to play opportunities. The Theory of Change identifies place as one of three primary drivers, alongside parents and practitioners, that influence play opportunities for children.

The Vision Statement and Action Plan are designed to reflect the vision of play for Scotland for the next 5 years and the steps we will take within that time to achieve our vision and aim. The Scottish Government will lead on the ten actions in the plan and will collaborate with key partners in their delivery.

Additionally, as part of Planning Reform introduced through the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, we have made ensuring the sufficiency of outdoor play opportunities a statutory planning duty through the Play Sufficiency Assessment Regulations 2023.

Local authorities may choose to make use of this information to inform their future planning for outdoor play provisions.

NHS Boards are responsible for ensuring the provision of a safe, sustainable and high quality healthcare service that best meets the needs of their patients. The whole general practice team is being strengthened significantly and we are committed to increasing investment in primary care and GP services over the course of this Parliament. We remain committed to the GP contract and the delivery of extended multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) making it easier for patients to see the right person, at the right time, in GP practices and the community.

I can announce that our Renewed Policy Statement on reducing car use in Scotland that has been developed jointly with COSLA has been published today, 12 June 2025 and is available at: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/achieving-car-use-reduction-in-scotland-a-renewed-policy-statement/.

The statement acknowledges that car use remains the largest contributor to transport greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland and we must reduce those emissions to support our just transition to net zero by 2045. We remain committed to reducing people’s car use, alongside our transition to electric vehicles, to reduce emissions and realise wider societal benefits.

The renewed policy statement reiterates our commitment to reducing car use in Scotland. It recognises the high level of car dependency in many parts of Scotland particularly mainland rural and island areas, and that car use will remain a transport need for many people. Our Programme for Government committed to working with COSLA and regional transport partnerships to develop delivery plans for car use reduction, reflective of different communities and places. Achieving car use reduction requires incentives and the current budget provides over £2 billion for sustainable transport, including providing up to 2.3 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. The policy statement also outlines the need to disincentivise motoring, for example through enabling discretionary local road user charging powers for local councils should they wish to use these, and undertaking a regulatory check of existing powers. We will also continue to press the UK Government to address how motoring taxation can support the greater uptake of EV cars, car use reduction generally and work with the 4 nations as how this can be achieved.

The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution of the SME sector to the delivery of the right homes in the right places and their role in tackling the Housing Emergency.

The planning appeal and local review fee structure is designed to correspond with the different scales of planning applications. The fees operate under the same general principle i.e. the smaller the development, the lower the fee. The appeal fees are approximately 60% lower than those which are payable for planning applications.

It is important to note that in recent years, over 92% of planning applications have been approved and so the number of appeals arising is relatively low.

A business and regulatory impact assessment was carried out in relation to the new fees regulations. This considered the potential impacts of the regulations on businesses of all sizes.

We will monitor the implementation of the fees regulations and their impact, including on the performance of the appeals system. This will help us to identify, and in the future address, if necessary, any unintended consequences.

We are making good progress delivering across the 23 actions outlined in our Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan. Our National Planning Hub is now operational and on 22 May a Chief Planner letter was issued inviting authorities to identify areas for surge capacity, particularly on priority areas including housing.

Our work with key partners to overcome barriers and accelerate delivery of new homes continues at pace, and our blog of 9 June provides further details on progress. We are committed to providing stakeholders regular updates on the Delivery Plan and on 30 April, myself and Chief Planner issued a letter detailing progress across all four themes of policy, delivery, capacity and efficiency.

The Scottish Government provides regular progress updates on all workstreams via it’s e-alerts, on X @ScotGovPlanning and on LinkedIn.