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The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Decisions about the fees for hospital education services are a matter for local authorities and NHS boards to consider as appropriate.

The Scottish Funding Council’s final allocations to the college sector for 2025-26 provide a 2.6% sector increase in teaching funding compared to last year. Additionally no college sees a reduction in teaching funding in 2025-26 when compared with 2024-25.

Operational decisions, including course provision and staffing, are a matter for individual colleges, who are best placed to respond to emerging trends in skills needs at local and regional level.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Decisions about the fees for hospital education services are a matter for local authorities and NHS boards to consider as appropriate.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data. The General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) is best placed to advise on how many newly qualified teachers progress each year to meet the Standard for Full Registration, through the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or by the Flexible Route.

I recognise the importance of housing co-operatives and the need to support and encourage them. While we already have powers to make amendments to this section, given the importance of HMO licensing in protecting tenants in Scotland, any decision to make such a change should not be taken lightly, and certainly not before full consideration of any unintended consequences and mitigations had been undertaken. On that basis, the Scottish Government has no immediate plans to change the legislation relating to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing requirements.

England and Wales operate a different HMO licensing regime from Scotland.

The Scottish Government is not planning to undertake a Council Tax revaluation. Any suggestion of a revaluation could only proceed if a broad political consensus in favour existed – no such consensus currently exists.

Any changes to Council Tax must also be informed by robust evidence and wide public consultation. Our joint programme of engagement with COSLA on options for reform is intended to inform that public debate. This process will run for a number of years. Consequently, any substantial reform thereafter, including any suggestion of revaluation, would require a mandate from a Scottish Parliament Election and will not be possible this decade.

The powers relevant are contained within the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and related regulations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38980 on 23 July 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 currently developing the mandatory planning training for elected members. This includes commissioned research by Planning Aid Scotland to inform the development of the content and roll-out of the training, working with stakeholders in the creation of a training package and piloting and evaluation of the training. This is to ensure the end product meets policy objectives to build trust and confidence in the planning system and to ensure the effective implementation of the mandatory training. The Regulations will be brought forward following the completion of this work, which is scheduled for 2026, to be ready in advance of the Scottish Local Government elections in May 2027. In the meantime, based on a survey that was completed at the start of the year, by Heads of Planning Scotland, a high number of Councillors receive planning training at the local level.

The Scottish Government engages with Local Authorities on a wide range of education-related issues.

In Scotland, the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 place a duty on an employer and other dutyholders who have control of safety obligations in respect of non-domestic premises, which includes educational establishments, to carry out a fire safety risk assessment, take adequate fire safety measures and keep the assessment under review. Fire safety measures include formulating an emergency fire action plan with evacuation arrangements for all people likely to be in the premises, including disabled people.

For staff and children in educational premises who may not be able to self-evacuate, a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) should be discussed and developed as part of their enrolment and subsequently practiced, to ensure any necessary amendments to the plan are made.

Scottish Government guidance on Practical fire safety guidance on the evacuation of disabled persons from buildings is well established and is available on the Scottish Government website for those who seeking further information and guidance on this issue. Scottish Government Education officials have highlighted this important guidance again to Local Authorities through their Scottish Heads of Property Services and Association of Directors of Education in Scotland networks.

Westminster austerity does continue to impact on public services. For example, the increase to employers’ national insurance without fully funding the impact of this on public service delivery has the impact of reducing the actual funding for delivery of programmes and was taken forward by the UK Government irrespective of the impact of that reduction on the outcomes of those programmes and activity.