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Ensuring that workers and communities currently reliant on oil and gas are protected and indeed, stand to benefit from the transition to net zero is central to the rationale underlying our wider Just Transition policy.

The Grangemouth Just Transition plan will be an iterative document that is subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation and this will inform wider policy development around the transition to net zero at a local level.

We will continue to work with stakeholders across Scotland’s energy system, doing all we can within our power to identify priority areas for action.

Information on public bodies for which either the Scotish Government or Scottish Parliament are responsible is publicly available on the National Public Bodies Directory Executive non-departmental public bodies - National public bodies: directory - gov.scot.

Each entry on the national directory includes staff numbers and details of Scottish Government funding where the information is held. There is also a link to the respective public body website where details of the public bodies functions and board members can be found.

Decision-making on Scotland’s vaccination programme continues to be guided by the independent, expert advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI currently advises flu vaccination for all those aged 65 years and over, along with individuals who have specific underlying health conditions.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCVI advised routine flu vaccination for those 65 years and over, as well as those with underlying health conditions. Scotland followed this advice.

Our programme was expanded during the pandemic in order to protect the people of Scotland, the NHS and the wider health and social care sector, while it was under severe COVID-related pressure. The programme was expanded to those aged 55 years and over in 2021, and then to those aged 50 years and over in 2022 and 2023.

In winter 2024, as we moved beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, we reverted to the standard JCVI-advised groups and those aged 50-64 years were no longer included. This is in line with JCVI advice, endorsed by Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer.

The Scottish Government’s Respiratory Care Action Plan (RCAP) sets out our priorities from 2021 to 2026 for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions. A number of areas included in the RCAP are broad priorities requiring continuous work rather than finite commitments that can be completed.

We have undertaken action against every area of the Plan.

To give just some examples, significant steps have been taken on preventing respiratory disease with the launch of the Cleaner Air for Scotland Strategy, Warmer Homes Strategy and the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan that have their own specific recommendations and targets, and all of which embed respiratory prevention into wider Scottish Government policy.

In 2024, we published the Quality Prescribing Strategy for Respiratory: A Guide for Improvement 2024-2027 that sets out our ambitions for better access to respiratory care. This can be found here --https://www.gov.scot/publications/quality-prescribing-strategy-respiratory-guide-improvement-2024-2027

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery based at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital is developing national patient pathways for respiratory conditions including severe asthma, COPD and sleep apnoea. This work aligns closely with the commitments in the RCAP.

In 2023, the Scottish Government provided Public Health Scotland with funding to undertake a scoping exercise with a view to developing a respiratory audit programme. However, due to current fiscal challenges, it has not yet been possible to progress this work further.

We recognise the importance of having access to meaningful data in relation to respiratory services and we are carefully considering the best way that this can be achieved going forward.

There is no funding solely allocated to the Respiratory Care Action Plan (RCAP) in 2025-2026. However, a number of the commitments in the Plan are being addressed by work that is part of other Scottish Government strategies– such as the Cleaner Air for Scotland Strategy, Warmer Homes Strategy, and the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan - or by additional funding we have provided to NHS Boards on a broader basis to make improvements that apply regardless of condition. This means it is difficult to break down funding we provide to various areas and organisations that is spent on delivering commitments listed in the RCAP.

For example, we are investing a record £21.7bn in our NHS in Scotland in 2025-2026, this includes £200m to reduce waiting times, which will deliver additional MRI, CT, ultrasound and endoscopy procedures and supports the delivery of the RCAP commitment to improve and simplify access to appropriate diagnostic tests.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical challenges and opportunities in transitioning towards a circular economy within the textiles and mattress sectors.

As set out in the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030, we are considering textiles and mattresses as priority products and have committed to publishing a Product Stewardship plan by 2026. We will continue to engage with stakeholders across these sectors to develop policies and actions that will tackle the environmental impact of priority products throughout their lifespan, including disposal options.

Furthermore, from 31 December this year, we will end the practice of landfilling biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) in Scotland from 31 December 2025.

We are presently running a Call for Evidence (CfE) on the potential extension of the BMW ban. This CfE seeks to support consideration of extending the landfill ban to include non-municipal biodegradable wastes by:

• filling information gaps on the types of waste that could fall under an extended ban, as well as their characteristics and environmental impacts;
• filling information gaps on the feasibility of alternative (non-landfill) treatment options for wastes that could fall under an extended ban;
• supporting consideration of any barriers to diverting wastes from landfill;
• To understand if there are wastes for which landfill remains the best option and;
• considering other policies, their timings and interactions with an extended ban that could support the diversion of waste from landfill.

The CfE is being run as part of a wider consultation on potential changes to waste management services in Scotland which also includes a consultation on whether textile collections should be a mandatory requirement for local authorities in Scotland.

The consultation launched on 25 March 2025 and will close on 17 June 2025. You can access and respond to this consultation here: Changes to waste management services - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space.

The extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme pays local authorities for an efficient and effective collection and disposal system for household packaging waste. This includes costs for incineration.

The Independent Review on the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy (2022) recommended that no further planning permission for incineration facilities, beyond what was already in place, should be granted. This was reflected in National Planning Framework 4, which came into force on 13 February 2023 and is clear that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except under very limited circumstances.

The key policy levers on this matter exist within the planning system. We will continue to work with SEPA, planners and the wider sector to ensure appropriate management of incineration capacity issues.

Extender Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) applies the polluter pays principle, ensuring that packaging producers pay for the disposal costs of their packaging when it becomes waste. It incentivises businesses to reduce excess packaging, to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable, and encourage use of reusable and refillable packaging. pEPR funding will go to local authorities to support effective and efficient collection systems for household packaging waste.

Scotland’s whole-system approach to residual waste treatment is set out in the final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map. It includes measures making incineration a less attractive waste treatment method, such as the proposed Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) expansion to include incineration. The Route Map also includes measures that limit the production of plastic upstream and increase its removal from the waste stream prior to incineration, including pEPR.

Table 1 provides information on average gross revenue expenditure in Scotland per child attending pre-school, and per primary and secondary pupil alongside allocations (accounting for teaching and tuition fees funding) per college and university place.

2024-25 figures for Pre-School, Primary and Secondary School will be available after the publication of the 2024-25 Scottish local government finance statistics in February – March 2026.

The Scottish Government do not hold data on Pre-School registrations prior to 2010.

Indicative University and College funding allocations for 2025-26 were published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) earlier this month. These include a cash terms increase in teaching funding for colleges, and a cash terms increase to the Main Teaching Grant (and teaching price) for Universities, compared with last year. These indicative figures have not been included in this table as the underlying calculation requires further details, including the number of controlled and non-controlled funded places, which are not yet available to SFC.

Further detail of College and University Indicative Funding Allocations for 2025-26 can be found at:

College Indicative Funding Allocations 2025-26 - Scottish Funding Council

University Indicative Funding Allocations 2025-26 - Scottish Funding Council

Table 1: Average Expenditure Per Place for each Education Level (Cash Terms)