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National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. The NRS Chief Executive is supported by an advisory board in the effective discharge of their statutory responsibilities. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Ministers to attend these meetings.

In the last twelve months, I have met the NRS Chief Executive on 11 separate occasions. The NRS Chief Executive also provides me with routine written updates.

NHS Highland received financial support from the Scottish Government of £49.7 million to deliver a breakeven position in 2024-25. This support is repayable once the Board returns to financial balance.

A breakdown is available from NHS Highland in their 2024-25 Annual Report and Accounts and publicly available Board papers.

The Scottish Government is committed to forging a constructive relationship with nations across the UK and collaborating on issues of mutual interest. The First Minister meets a range of people from across the UK and abroad and is supported in doing so by civil servants as appropriate.

The meeting on 30 October 2025 was requested by Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru, and covered the close relationship between Wales and Scotland, and the challenges both countries face, such as tackling child poverty.

This engagement was separate and distinct from any engagement that may take place between Plaid Cymru and the SNP, which is not supported by the civil service.

In the past three years, SFRS has procured the following 4x4 and multi-role vehicles:

• 10x Ford Ranger Wildfire Units for dedicated wildfire management @ £44,050 each (£440,500);
• 4x Iveco Daily Wildfire Support Units for supporting and providing additional equipment to Wildfire Units @ £95,394 each (£381,576);
• 10x Polaris Ranger 4x4 All-Terrain Vehicles for dedicated wildfire management @ £33,450 each (£334,500);
• 21x Ford Ranger Multi-Role Units for use in rural communities, adverse weather, towing, and off-road access as needed @ £35,402.93 each (£743,461.53); and
• 8x Ford Ranger Ultra-Light Pumping Units for wildfire management at volunteer stations, road traffic accidents, and other operational activities as needed @ £123,043.40 each (£984,347.20).

The Scottish Government has considered the impact of single-year budgets on court backlog recovery and does not consider them to have constrained progress. Despite the challenges of annual settlements, the criminal court recovery programme has delivered substantial results, supported by over £181 million of targeted investment through our Recovery, Renewal and Transformation Fund since 2021.

The number of scheduled trials across all criminal business types is now below 16,000, compared to a peak of 43,606 in January 2022 - a reduction of over 64%.

While this demonstrates the success of recovery efforts, court modelling shows that criminal business has yet to stabilise. Solemn case volumes remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, with current levels around twice those seen in 2019-20. COPFS plans to register approximately 600 indictments per month over the coming year, well above historic levels, further demonstrating the sustained increase in solemn business.

Future planning must also take account of major reforms, including the establishment of a standalone National Sexual Offences Court, which is expected to ease pressure on High Court and Sheriff and Jury courts.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of sustainable funding for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and is committed to supporting its work. While budgets are currently set annually through the Scottish Budget process, Scottish Ministers are committed to engaging with Parliament and stakeholders to shape our multi-year spending plans. In line with the approach taken last year, we aim to build broad support across Parliament for the 2026-27 Scottish Budget and will listen to stakeholders to ensure their views inform future spending plans.

We remain committed to improving the sustainability of the Scottish public finances, and our Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan published in June sets out how we plan to close the fiscal gap by the end of the forecast period in 2029-30.

We will provide further detail on this when we publish our multi-year Spending Review in January alongside the 2026-27 Budget. Our Public Service Reform Strategy published earlier this year sets out our commitment to public services over the longer term, ensuring people experience high-quality services while also ensuring they remain fiscally sustainable.

Statistics on the overall number of teachers in promoted posts are published as part of the teacher census statistics, available on the Scottish Government website here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of teachers promoted to a senior leadership position within secondary schools.

While the Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of teachers who have completed a formal management training programme, we provide funding of over £800,000 per year for the Into Headship programme which aims to ensure aspirant head teachers are supported to develop and build the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding required in senior leadership roles, and the In Headship programme for headteachers early in post to support them to build the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding required of headteachers.

The Scottish Government continues to offer a competitive non-domestic rates regime and the 2025-26 Budget delivered the lowest Basic Property Rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row.

Over 95% of shops in Scotland are liable for the lowest rate in the UK, and this is estimated to have saved them £11.5m over the same timeframe compared with what they would have been liable for under English rates (note that this is a gross estimate and has not been adjusted for any reliefs).

In addition, the Small Business Bonus Scheme remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK, and the retail sector continues to be one of its main beneficiaries, with 30,000 shops receiving SBBS relief, reducing their collective rates bill by £86 million as at June 2025. Overall, 34,000 shops receive rates relief, worth over £110 million. Half of all shops in Scotland pay no rates.

These figures relate to the ‘shops’ property class, as defined by the Scottish Assessors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property and does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

In its 2025-26 Budget, the Scottish Government maintained a competitive non-domestic rates regime delivering the lowest property rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row, ensuring that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

The retail sector continues to be one of the main beneficiaries of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) with 30,000 shops receiving SBBS relief, reducing their collective rates bill by £86 million as at June 2025. Overall, 34,000 shops receive rates relief, worth over £110 million and half of all shops in Scotland pay no rates.

These figures relate to the ‘shops’ property class, as defined by the Scottish Assessors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property and does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

Tax policy decisions are made annually at budget in line with prevailing economic decisions and Government priorities.

The Scottish Government offers a competitive non-domestic rates regime delivering in 2025-26 the lowest property rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row, ensuring that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

The package of rates relief to support businesses and communities is worth an estimated £730 million in 2025-26, with nearly half of all non-domestic properties in Scotland paying no rates. This includes the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS), the most generous relief scheme of its kind in the UK, which reduces the rates bill for small businesses by nearly £250 million as at June 2025.

The retail sector continues to be the largest beneficiary of SBBS relief, with 30,000 shops receiving SBBS, reducing their collective rates bill by £86 million as at June 2025. Overall, 34,000 shops receive rates relief, worth over £110 million, and half of all shops in Scotland pay no rates.

Decisions on non-domestic rates, including the poundage and any reliefs, are generally considered in the context of the Scottish Budget in line with other government priorities.

The figures above relate to the ‘shops’ property class, as defined by the Scottish Assessors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property and does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.