Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42157 on 4 December 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 Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the human rights of disabled people are protected and respected, and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

We are putting disabled people at the heart of our priorities, investing £3 million in the Disability Equality Plan - including a new £1.5 million Improving Access Fund, co-designed with Disabled People’s Organisations and others, to enhance access to vital services and support that disabled people rely on. We are also providing £20 million this year via the Independent Living Fund, £10 million in 2025-26 and 2026-27 to provide more Changing Places Toilets for people with profound and multiple disabilities and £2 million a year to deliver Annual Health Checks to people with learning disabilities aged sixteen and over.

Third sector organisations also play a vital role in providing support and improving outcomes for disabled people and the Scottish Government provides a range of funding to a number of these organisations. This includes Down’s Syndrome Scotland, which currently receives £382,500 in core funding from the Scottish Government.

Furthermore, Under the public sector equality duty, all Scottish public authorities must have 'due regard' to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations

In 2012 Scottish Ministers made regulations that placed specific duties on Scottish public bodies to help them meet the general duty.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42157 on 4 December 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42157 on 4 December 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.

While the University of Edinburgh is an autonomous institution with responsibility for its own operational decision making, I expect constructive and meaningful engagement with UCU to seek a resolution to this dispute - in line with Fair Work principles. Central to our Fair Work approach is the expectation that employers, workers and trade unions work together to reach the right decisions and ensure that workers are treated fairly.

Implementation of Fair Work First must be the guiding criteria to promote fairer work practices for staff within the university sector, and the Scottish Government has made this clear in its most recent letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The SFC continues to monitor universities’ compliance through annual reporting and accounts, and as part of their Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model, and consider any appropriate interventions to support compliance.

FFIS was delivered entirely within existing Scottish Government staffing resources. No additional staff were appointed or recruited and no additional staffing costs were incurred. The scheme was prioritised and delivered by existing staff capacity for a defined period, in line with normal business practice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42157 on 4 December 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 Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Whilst the Scottish Government is not a social care provider or employer, we work closely with partners across the sector to provide support that employers can access, that will allow them to attract and retain staff within the social care sector.

The Scottish Government funds the caretocare.scot website, which provides information and tools on careers in the adult social care sector.

The Scottish Government have also continued funding to enable all social care providers to advertise vacancies on the MyJobScotland recruitment website at no cost.

We have worked with partners to establish the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWSS), which helps to support ethical and sustainable international recruitment across the sector and have just announced the opening of a £500,000 scheme to support employers to recruit displaced international care workers into jobs in Scotland.

We do not hold any information on the extent that staff shortages affect hospital discharge times. Whist the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

The total cost of gas and electric for Core Scottish Government buildings in the past 5 years is

2019 - £3,156,688 (Electricity £2,662,002, Gas £494,686)

2020 - £2,076,368 (Electricity £1,832,164, Gas £244,204)

2021 - £2,919,646 (Electricity £2,487,991, Gas £431,655)

2022 - £3,752,115 (Electricity £2,937,460, Gas £814,655)

2023 - £5,411,415 (Electricity £4,542,639, Gas £868,776)

2024 - £6,478,435 (Electricity £5,613,007, Gas £865,428)

Information on the energy costs for public bodies is not held centrally.