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The Scottish Government provide funding to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) who are responsible for developing and delivering healthcare education and training for NHS, the health and social care sector and other public bodies. We provided NES £30 million in 2024-25 to deliver multidisciplinary mental health education, training and workforce expansion for staff supporting adult and children mental health and psychological wellbeing.

This includes mental health training resources on risks relating to suicide, substance use, non-engagement and offending behaviour, as well as our trauma-informed and trauma responsive programme. These resources support implementation of the Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards and Core Quality Standards for Mental Health.

Decisions concerning the recruitment of on-call firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Changing demographics can make the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters particularly challenging in some communities. However, this picture is not replicated across the whole of Scotland which means a national campaign may be of limited benefit and a more targeted approach might be more appropriate.

This grant was a single payment of £4,100. No further breakdown of costs was required.

The Scottish Government is not currently looking into developing such a portal.

We make decisions about channels to best meet our communications objectives and to reach target audiences with important public messages. We regularly review the accessibility and availability of those channels to help inform our communications mix. Key announcements are published across a variety of communications channels, and there is no reliance on any one platform.

The Scottish Government does not collect specific information on temporary accommodation placements within hotels and guest houses. These are both captured under a broader ‘other’ category (via HL3 data collection).

Information is captured on Bed & Breakfast (B&B) temporary accommodation placements. The following table shows the number of children and young people that were placed in Bed & Breakfast (B&B) temporary accommodation at some point during each year from 2017-18 to 2023-24.

Data on temporary accommodation placements (HL3) is only available from 2017-18.

Children and young people are defined as when a household member is aged 24 and under.

The following table shows the number of children and young people placed in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh at some point during each year, and as a percentage of Scotland from 2017-18 to 2023-24.

Data on temporary accommodation placements (HL3) is only available from 2017-18.

Children and young people are defined as when a household member is aged 24 and under.

The following table shows the total number of children and young people that were in temporary accommodation at some point during each year from 2017-18 to 2023-24.

Data on temporary accommodation placements (HL3) is only available from 2017-18.

Children and young people are defined as when a household member is aged 24 and under.

We expect to issue our response to the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report before the Scottish Parliament's summer recess. Our response will outline the actions being taken to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands.

We acknowledge that more can be done to advance rights realisation in Scotland's Highlands and Island communities. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, duty bearers and delivery partners to achieve this.

The Scottish Government's 2025-26 Budget was published on 4 December 2024. This was a week after the Scottish Human Rights Commission published their report on rights in the Highlands and Islands, so there was not sufficient time to fully consider and incorporate the report and its recommendations into the Scottish Government's 2025-26 Budget.

However, an Island Communities Impact Assessment was undertaken on the 2025-26 Budget, to consider the unique needs of Scottish island communities.

We are considering the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report with a view to formally responding to its recommendations ahead of the summer recess.

We thank the Scottish Human Rights Commission for their detailed report. We expect to issue our formal response to the report before the Scottish Parliament's summer recess.