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The Scottish Government firmly opposes the inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts and other non-standard types of employment that offer workers minimal job or financial security. We support the overall ambitions of the UK Government’s Employment Rights Bill and welcome changes being brought forward to strengthen workers’ rights, including the measures providing protections for workers on zero hours or low hours contracts. The gains this legislation will make for workers’ rights must be protected, and that is why we continue to advocate for the devolution of employment powers as the best way to protect workers’ rights in Scotland from any future UK Government actions that might remove these protections.

In the absence of devolved employment powers, Fair Work First criteria in procurement and grants, alongside provision of grant funding to the Real Living Wage accreditation scheme, are the tools we use to raise employment standards in Scotland. Since implementing more stringent grant conditionality from July 2023, requiring payment of at least the Real Living Wage and provision of appropriate channels for effective workers voice, between 1 July 2023 and 31 March 2025 it is estimated that over £6 billion in public sector grants was awarded with Fair Work First criteria attached. The number of accredited Living Wage employers is up from 14 in 2014 to over 3,900 in 2025, with at least 72,000 workers in Scotland getting a pay rise resulting from accreditation.

We expect NHS Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Standards and to work to improve their standards of care locally.

We know that meeting the Standards is challenging. That is why the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme team, reflecting on the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme 2025 annual national report, continue to work with individual boards and plays an important role in supporting service colleagues to drive forward improvements in stroke care throughout Scotland.

Every Health Board now has an accountable senior individual responsible for standards of stroke care. I chaired a roundtable meeting with these accountable individuals on 6 November to review progress.

The Scottish Government is aware of the decision by Maiden Life, to withdraw the Family Protection Plan, which is a commercial matter for the insurer and its broker, CMutual. We have engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) to understand the implications of the withdrawal and the support being provided to current policyholders. We will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that those affected receive clear information about their options.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41542 on 11 November 2025.

Status of major projects at outline business case stage or later – including NTC Forth Valley – is published on a 6-monthly basis in the Scottish Government’s major capital projects progress update. This is published on the Scottish Government’s website: Infrastructure Investment Plan: progress reports - gov.scot

As set out in the latest update (August 2025), the new ward continues to be delayed and an opening date is not yet confirmed for that ward. Work to agree a route to completion is ongoing. However, existing theatres (previously unused) have already been commissioned and in a phased opening, the National Treatment Centre began treating patients in October 2024.

There is an ongoing dispute with the contractor over final works required to bring the facility into appropriate condition for operational service. The final costs remain a point of negotiation and have not been finalised.

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.

Status of major projects at outline business case stage or later – including NTC Forth Valley – is published on a 6-monthly basis in the Scottish Government’s major capital projects progress update. This is published on the Scottish Government’s website: Infrastructure Investment Plan: progress reports - gov.scot

As set out in the latest update (August 2025), the new ward continues to be delayed and an opening date is not yet confirmed for that ward. Work to agree a route to completion is ongoing. However, existing theatres (previously unused) have already been commissioned and in a phased opening, the National Treatment Centre began treating patients in October 2024.

There is an ongoing dispute with the contractor over final works required to bring the facility into appropriate condition for operational service. The final costs remain a point of negotiation and have not been finalised.

Execution of warrants is a matter for Police Scotland, who remain focused on the investigation of crime and keeping our communities safe. The service has been clear that they prioritise all arrest warrants according to threat, risk and harm, deploying national specialist resources and intelligence techniques to locate and apprehend those who pose the greatest risk to communities.

The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.64 billion for policing this year, and our continued investment enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the last financial year than at any time since 2013, including an intake this month. Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales and recorded crime has fallen by more than half since 1991.

The figures recently reported in the media stem from a Freedom of Information request made to Police Scotland and relate to a single day snapshot of the situation as of 3 September 2025.

The Scottish Government requires Local Authorities to estimate future housing need and demand in a report called the Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA). This includes the use of National Records of Scotland (NRS) household projections and the Scottish Government also provides authorities with an Excel-based model, called the HNDA Tool, to help them do this.

The HNDA Tool includes the household projections, as well as several other data inputs, and is available on the Scottish Government website Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA): tool 2020 - gov.scot. The household projections take account of assumptions about migration into and out of Scotland.

Local Authorities also have the option to detail the housing needs of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in their HNDAs. HNDAs are completed by all Local Authorities every five years and they are used as an evidence-base to formulate local housing policies within their Local Housing Strategy (LHS) reports.

The SPPA is required to issue annual benefit statements to scheme members by 31 August of each year. Where statements have not been issued by that date, it is not solely due to delays on the part of SPPA. In some cases it is not possible due to insufficient data, and statements were subsequently issued when that data became available. In the years 2023 to 2025, there was an additional requirement to issue remediable service statements to scheme members eligible for the McCloud remedy. The following tables set the available information out, and reflect numbers reported to the Pensions Regulator in each year.

Table 1: Scheme members that did not receive an annual benefit statement in 2021 and 2022, by scheme.

SEPA, as Scotland’s independent environmental regulator, has set out its enforcement approach via a Regulatory Position Statement published on 29 October 2025. It is for SEPA to determine and apply regulatory decisions within its statutory remit, and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on those operational matters.

We support the permanent employment of teachers by providing £186.5m to local authorities in 2025-26 to restore overall teacher numbers across the country to 2023 levels and maximise the number of teaching posts available. In addition, we are also providing Local Authorities with £28 million to support better outcomes for children with ASN including the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce.

The recruitment of teachers including recruitment practices are matters for individual local authorities. The use of supply contracts is a long-standing feature of local authority recruitment practice.

Supply teachers play an important role in guaranteeing that any teacher's absence from the classroom can be covered, while also providing flexibility for teachers who choose to work part-time. It also serves as an opportunity for teachers seeking to re-enter the teaching profession after a break, as well as for retired teachers wishing to engage in part-time employment.