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The Scottish Government has been in touch with Rockstar Games after concerns were raised about the unfair dismissal of staff. We have re-iterated our strong position that we expect all employers to treat their workforce with respect and to engage with workers and their representatives including relevant trade unions in an open and transparent way. A progressive approach to industrial relations and an effective voice for workers is at the heart of a fairer, more successful society.

National Records of Scotland publish a wide range of statistical data with regards to population and migration in Scotland.

Skills Development Scotland publish annual Regional Skills Assessments (RSAs), which provide detailed information on regional labour markets. The latest RSA for the South of Scotland region was published in October 2025. The data included in these publications, including Oxford Economics forecast data, is the most up-to-date available at the time of writing. Forecasts are provided by sector, occupation and for the medium and longer term up to 2035.

rsa-college-region-report-scottish-borders.pdf

rsa-college-region-report-dumfries-and-galloway.pdf

rsa-college-region-report-south-of-scotland.pdf

The Home Office is leading the cross-government Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) to deliver the new Emergency Services Network (ESN) critical communications system, in which the Scottish Government is a Funding Sponsor Body.

In addition to funding the Scottish share of the programme, the Scottish Government is responsible for working in partnership with the Home Office and the Scottish emergency services to ensure that ESN meets their operational needs, and that the network coverage is at least as good as Airwave, the existing communications system. In addition, the Scottish Government provides funding directly to the Scottish emergency services to support and de-risk their transition to ESN.

The regulatory regimes for offshore oil and gas licensing and consenting are matters currently reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government to approach decisions for North Sea oil and gas projects on a rigorously evidence-led, case by case, basis – with climate compatibility and energy security as key considerations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36263 on 22 April 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 do not hold the information being requested. Building owners or those responsible for its management have the responsibility for maintenance and repair, including as a consequence of storm damage.

Levels of uptake of the winter flu vaccine

As of the 16 November, 941,833 adult flu vaccinations have been administered. Around the same point last year (17 November 2024) 861,472 adult flu vaccines had been administered. Therefore, this year 80,361 more adult flu vaccines have been administered at this point.

For week ending 16 November, Boards administered 117,026 adult flu vaccines, an increase from the previous week, where they administered 113,936. Clinics and appointments are continuing and we will continue to monitor uptake. The flu programme will run until Sunday 29 March 2026.

Whether there is a significant risk of death as a result of a lack of vaccination

Vaccination is offered to those at the highest risk of complication from flu on the basis of JCVI recommendations. Public Health Scotland (PHS) advises that it is currently too early in the flu season to understand how circulating strains will affect risk of death among unvaccinated (and vaccinated) populations in Scotland.

To note, it is difficult to estimate the impact of vaccination - or lack thereof - on risk of death in the UK (or in Scotland), even at the end of the season, as there are insufficient events to produce precise estimates of differential risk over one year. Instead, PHS produces Scotland-specific and UK-wide estimates of vaccine effectiveness against severe disease, as measured by hospital admissions due to flu. These vaccine effectiveness estimates are typically published on an interim basis in February and finalised for the following June; however, given the early start to this season, PHS is working on a four-nations basis to provide more timely estimates.

Scientific advice has underpinned the decision to authorise derogations permitting licensed fishing vessels to catch, land and sell razor clams while participating in the trial.

The biological and ecological goals describe the areas in which the scientific trial has sought to further our knowledge. These are:

NHS Highland operates a Hospital at Home service as part of the Scottish Government’s wider programme to provide acute hospital-level care in people’s own homes. NHS Highland currently have a service running in Argyll & Bute and a new service being developed in Inverness.

The board has been allocated up to £3,513,797 for 2025-26 to support further development of these services.

The Argyll & Bute service managed a median of nearly 20 patients per month in 2024-25. Board level data for the Older Adults pathway is a matter for Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) who collate and manage this data. HIS provide an annual publication on services with information on patients managed here - https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/publications/hospital-at-home-services-annual-report-july-2025/.

There is a commitment to a process of inquiry into the circumstances of the malicious prosecutions. This process of inquiry including the details of the inquiry process will be progressed once all related investigations and proceedings are concluded.