Seòmar agus comataidhean

Powers over maternity leave and pay are reserved to the UK Government and we know that in comparison to OECD countries, maternity payment rates in the UK are amongst the lowest, with less than one-third of gross average earnings replaced by the maternity benefit.

The Scottish Government recognise that families with a child under the age of one are at greater risk of poverty and that families will see a considerable reduction in their earned incomes following the first 6 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay. Support through Statutory Maternity Pay is also only payable for 39 weeks, which can leave a period where parents receive no support if they decide to stay home with their baby.

Tackling child poverty is a key priority for the Scottish Government. Our investment in Scottish Child Payment has seen more than £786 million worth of Scottish Child Payments already issued by 30 June 2024; that is money directly in the pockets of those families who need it most.

Our Best Start Grant which aims to help tackle the impacts of child poverty by giving eligible families additional money at key stages in children’s early years, adding to the family budget and avoiding the need for borrowing. Between launching on 10 December 2018 and 30 June 2024, Best Start Grant has provided over £107 million to those families who need it most.

As an employer, the Scottish Government is fully committed to providing support and flexibility to parents. This includes providing full pay for 27 weeks followed by statutory maternity pay up to 39 weeks which far exceeds statutory entitlements.

We continue to use our Fair Work policy to drive up labour market standards for workers across Scotland to tackle poverty by using all the levers at our disposal to encourage employers to adopt inclusive and family friendly workplace practices to support pregnant workers and new parents.

The Scottish Government is committed to doing all it can to bring forward investment at Grangemouth and across Scotland. We have given clear signals to investors and prospective developers at Grangemouth that we want to work with them to make the projects outlined in Project Willow a reality including establishing the £25 million Grangemouth Just Transition Fund. Additionally, we have established an investment taskforce, led by Scottish Enterprise and the UK Office for Investment, which is working at pace to identify and attract inward investors at Grangemouth.

I refer the member to the answers provided in response to S6W-36894 and S6W-36895 on 13 May 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.

On Monday 2 June the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains was lifted and replaced with new rules, allowing alcohol consumption at certain times.

The ban was upheld by Railway Byelaw 4 (2) which states that a passenger with intoxicating liquor can be prevented from entering, or be asked to leave the railway. This Byelaw will also support the new timed restrictions and intelligence-led alcohol bans.

Enforcement of the alcohol ban has always been the responsibility of the British Transport Police (BTP).Having timed alcohol restrictions and intelligence-led bans will allow BTP to target its resource to specific services and permit a more focussed enforcement.

The Scottish Government recognise that antisocial behaviour is complex and no single factor can explain why some people or groups are at higher risk of committing acts of antisocial behaviour. Our Vision for Justice in Scotland commits to tackling underlying causes through a public health approach, supported by the ecological framework. This considers how individual, relationship, community, and societal factors interact to influence behaviour. Evidence also shows that reducing crime, including antisocial behaviour, requires a combination of strategies: addressing root causes, deterring offending by increasing perceived risks of offending, and reducing opportunities to offend.

The total number of free bikes distributed to school aged children in Scotland since May 2021 is 13,244. This includes bikes distributed under the Free Bikes for School Children pilot programme between August 2021 and March 2023, the Free Bikes Partnership from April 2023 to March 2024, and under the Regional Transport Partnership-led People and Place programme in financial year 2024-25.

Due to reporting schedules, the final evaluation of the People and Place programme for financial year 2024-25 has not been completed at the time of writing. The free bikes data for 2024-25 may therefore be subject to change.

Skills Development Scotland publish the number of Modern Apprenticeships starts aged 16-24 in their statistics release available here – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/modern-apprenticeships.

SDS also publish Foundation and Graduate Apprenticeships. These will also contain some 16-24 year olds in their starts figures. The latest releases are available here – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/foundation-apprenticeships– and here – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/graduate-apprenticeships.

The Scottish Government resumed the GP Sustainability Loan Scheme in February 2025.

The Agricultural and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 requires Scottish Ministers to publish reports on the implementation of the Rural Support Plan and the schemes delivered under it. These schemes constitute the Scottish Government’s primary mechanism for promoting the adoption of low-carbon technologies and sustainable practices in agriculture. A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework to support this work is currently under development.

The framework will adopt a hierarchical structure, with programme-level monitoring and evaluation informed by tier- and intervention/scheme-level assessments. At the programme level, indicators are being developed to track progress against the strategic outcomes framework, with a baseline set for 2025 and reporting scheduled every five years. Strategic Outcome 3—Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation—aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in line with the Climate Change Plan (CCP) envelope and to enhance the sector’s capacity to adapt to climate change. This outcome is supported by sub-outcomes related to carbon storage, livestock and soil emissions, machinery and slurry emissions, and adaptation measures.

Analysts are currently identifying and quality-assuring indicators to measure progress in these areas, including uptake of sustainable and regenerative farming technologies and practices. Additional monitoring will be conducted at the tier and scheme levels, with appropriate baselines and reporting schedules established for each. As part of the M&E framework, analysts will consider how the uptake of schemes or measures may differ across different regions, communities or business types.

Alcohol harm prevention is firmly embedded in the Scottish Government’s approach to improving Scotland’s health, as demonstrated by our world leading policy of minimum unit pricing. Work is underway to consider the range of options for any future uprating of minimum unit pricing. There will be full engagement with all stakeholders on any options considered.

The Scottish Government remains committed to progressing work on protecting children and young people from exposure to alcohol marketing. Public Health Scotland has been commissioned to carry out a review of the evidence for the range of options that are available to the Scottish Government under devolved powers.

The Population Health Framework, to be published in the coming weeks, will set out what more can be done in the coming decade to mitigate against the social and economic drivers of ill health and health inequalities to build a Scotland, with places and communities, that positively supports health and wellbeing. This includes factors that can harm health including alcohol.

As part of this approach, work has also begun on developing the future approach to addressing the harms caused by drugs and alcohol, with a focus on ensuring that alcohol deaths and harms are a key area of focus and priority. We will be working with partners to build on learning and progress to date, including from the national mission, and consider how we tackle both drugs and alcohol related harms and deaths with equal emphasis.