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The safety of our children, young people and staff at school is paramount. Through the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools national action plan, the Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to support positive relationships and behaviour and to promote safe, inclusive learning environments for all children and young people.

The most recent Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research provides the national evidence on behaviour in schools. It highlights a range of contributing factors to changes in relationships and behaviour, including the impact of the pandemic, poverty and wider societal pressures.

It is for individual schools to decide how to respond to challenging behaviour. They can use a number of approaches including: good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for the local authority to decide. The Scottish Government does not hold national data on these officers.

Through the ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have announced a set of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

We intend to undertake pilot approaches to further develop the most innovative and evidence led solutions to restructuring the teaching and learning week.

The data and evidence we will gather through the pilots, which we wish to begin swiftly, will allow us to model the impact of specific changes, to the teaching and learning week, on a national basis, and demonstrate the efficacy of individual measures and approaches.

Social Security Scotland regularly publishes information on the number of people who receive Carers Allowance Supplement as part of its official statistics releases, which happen twice a year.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment to ensure the benefit continues to meet the needs of disabled people in Scotland. We appreciate the comprehensive recommendations this report provides for how we may improve Adult Disability Payment.

We are considering the feasibility of the recommendations, including the potential impact on fairness, sustainability and delivery. An initial response to the review will be published in January 2026.

We understand that around 4,900 individuals across 71 UK credit unions will lose cover without compensation. The impact in Scotland is estimated to be c1,400 individuals across 29 credit unions in Scotland. Some of those may be eligible for alternative policies on similar terms however individuals over 81 years of age, or with pre-existing medical conditions, may be unable to secure alternative cover and may have insufficient funds to pay for their funeral. The Scottish Government has engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and impacted credit unions in Scotland to understand the implications of the withdrawal and the support being provided to current policyholders.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and I met with Paul Sweeney MSP and a representative of impacted credit unions on Tuesday 18 November and I have continued to engage with the credit union to discuss this further.

The regulation of financial services is fully reserved; however, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to Lucy Rigby, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 21 November to ask her to consider the requests of the coalition of Scottish Credit Unions with an offer to meet to discuss this issue.

We stand ready to work with the UK Government to avoid some of our most vulnerable people from being forced into funeral poverty or having to resort to debt to enable them and their families to have peace of mind at the end of their life.

I recognise the serious challenges that quota reductions pose for Scotland’s pelagic sector in 2026.

Following a period of intensive engagement and consultation with key stakeholders across the pelagic supply chain, I have, after careful consideration, decided it is necessary for the Scottish Government to introduce an emergency measure for 2026 to help maintain jobs and investment in Scotland’s processing sector and support the wider supply chain.

I am, therefore, announcing today that the current Economic Link arrangements will be amended. Effective from 1 January 2026, the Economic Link licence condition will require species-specific landings of 70% for mackerel and 70% for herring into Scotland in 2026, up from the current combined requirement of 55%.

These measures will apply for 2026 and be kept under review.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a strong maritime sector, including Inchgreen Marine Park, which has been funded through the Glasgow City Region Deal. We are actively engaging with a range of businesses interested in the redevelopment of Inchgreen Dry Dock in Inverclyde, a project further supported by recently announced UK Government funding.

Our engagement spans the wider maritime and shipbuilding sector, including collaboration with the National Shipbuilding Office and the Scottish Maritime Cluster. This work covers key areas of the maritime economy such as shipbuilding, freight facilities, maritime tourism, and vessel repair.

Several maritime companies are currently in discussions to expand shipbuilding and repair facilities in the region, creating significant job opportunities. We are aware of early-stage conversations between interested parties that could lead to further employment growth and economic benefits.

The Scottish Government recognises the crucial role that universities play in our country and their innumerable contributions to Scotland’s economy. That is why we have now created the Framework for Sustainability and Success of Scotland’s Universities – a collaborative project between the Scottish Government, Universities Scotland and other relevant stakeholders to co-design and secure a successful and sustainable future for Scotland’s university sector.

This is an issue that goes beyond party political boundaries, which is why the work of MSPs from across the chamber in seeking to find common ground on these complex issues is desirable and important. The Scottish Government and Universities Scotland are engaging on a cross party basis on this work.

The framework will be driven by a Steering Group including representatives from the sector, from government, from staff and student bodies, and from the business community. This Group will oversee exploration of options for ensuring a sustainable and successful future for Scotland’s 19 higher education institutions to 2045, and will focus on designing a route to support the sector to drive change.

The Scottish Government met its target for 6,000 public electric vehicle (EV) charge points in October 2024, two years ahead of schedule. Between October 2024 and October 2025 Scotland’s public charging network grew by a further 22.5%, resulting in a further 1,349 public charge points being added to the network.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has provided over £65 million to support the development of public EV charging infrastructure across Scotland and we are continuing to support the expansion of public EV charging across Scotland. Over the course of 2025 the Scottish Government’s £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund was fully allocated, and Scotland’s local authorities are now using this funding to progress public procurement to deliver approximately 6,000 additional public charge points across Scotland, in partnership with the private sector. In August I announced a further £4.5 million to specifically support the expansion of public EV charging infrastructure in our rural and island communities.

In August I also launched a new cross pavement charging pilot offering up to £3,500 in financial support to enable residents without access to off-street parking to benefit from lower-cost domestic EV charging. On top of this, the Scottish Government has worked closely with the Scottish Collaboration of Transport Specialists (SCOTS) to develop national guidance on cross-pavement charging which will be published by SCOTS shortly.

Scotland continues to have one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, but I recognise there is more work to do to ensure Scotland has a public charging network that is fit for the future. We consulted on a Draft Vision Implementation Plan earlier this year, however since the publication of that consultation, the UK Government has announced a number of policy changes, including a new pence per mile tax on EVs and business rates relief for eligible electric vehicle charging points in England in the Autumn Budget, as well as a review of public EV charging costs early next year. The publication of the finalised Vision Implementation Plan has therefore been delayed until 2026 to ensure that the impact of such changes can be considered in the final Plan.

The consultation will be published on 5 January 2026 and will help to inform a detailed assessment of whether and when providers of care home and 'care at home' services can be understood to be delivering public functions. Subject to the outcome of that assessment, it will also inform decisions on whether, and in what fashion, Ministers might exercise their power under section 5 of FOISA to extend the legislation to private and third sector organisations delivering these services.