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Equality Law relating to equal opportunities is generally reserved under the Scotland Act 1999. It is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - as the regulator of the Equality Act 2010 - to produce, review and update any technical guidance in relation to such matters.

We note that the EHRC are now reviewing their guidance following the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of woman under the Equality Act 2010. The Scottish Government are taking time to consider any implications the Supreme Court’s ruling may have on our own guidance to ensure that it is compliant with the judgment and takes account of any updated guidance that will be provided by the EHRC in due course.

We remain committed to protecting everyone’s rights and will continue to work to ensure that our guidance is inclusive of all of Scotland’s communities. This includes using communication which is plain, clear and concise, both in language generally, and in published guidance, as far as the subject-matter allows.

There can be no doubt that the tariffs that have been imposed by the United States will cause damage to the global, UK and Scottish economies. The USA is the most valuable export market by far for Scotch Whisky, worth £971m in 2024 (18% of total Scotch Whisky exports by value). The USA imported nearly $12 billion worth of distilled spirits in 2024, with Mexico ($5.4 bn), France ($2.1 bn) and the UK ($1.8 bn) being the largest trading partners by value. Scotch Whisky is subject to the 10% baseline tariff which may be passed through to higher prices for US consumers and weaken demand. Additionally, the uncertainty in future global trading arrangements more broadly is widely expected to lead to weaker growth, higher inflation, financial market instability and increased borrowing costs which could impact consumer confidence generally and impact demand for Scotch Whisky. We will continue to closely monitor and assess the impact of US tariff policy on Scotland’s exports across key sectors, including Scotch Whisky.

ScotAccount meets the Scottish Government’s legal obligations and requirements under data protection law. Throughout the development of ScotAccount, we have engaged with the Scottish Government’s Data Protection Officer, who is responsible for data protection assurance and compliance. We have used Data Protection Impact Assessments as part of ScotAccount product development, which are reviewed regularly to monitor the use of data held within the system to ensure individuals’ rights are protected. We have also engaged with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), directly and as part of the Scottish Government’s Digital Identity Expert Group, which includes an ICO representative member.

The Scottish Government is not currently looking into developing such a portal.

We make decisions about channels to best meet our communications objectives and to reach target audiences with important public messages. We regularly review the accessibility and availability of those channels to help inform our communications mix. Key announcements are published across a variety of communications channels, and there is no reliance on any one platform.

The Scottish Government does not collect specific information on temporary accommodation placements within hotels and guest houses. These are both captured under a broader ‘other’ category (via HL3 data collection).

Information is captured on Bed & Breakfast (B&B) temporary accommodation placements. The following table shows the number of children and young people that were placed in Bed & Breakfast (B&B) temporary accommodation at some point during each year from 2017-18 to 2023-24.

Data on temporary accommodation placements (HL3) is only available from 2017-18.

Children and young people are defined as when a household member is aged 24 and under.

ScotAccount is designed with privacy in mind. As part of maintaining and securing their account, ScotAccount stores a user’s email address and telephone number. Once users have verified their identity successfully, they can also choose to save their verified personal information into their ScotAccount, if they wish to do so, to enable re-use. Currently, users can choose to store their name, date of birth and address. Users can also choose whether or not to give permission to share the personal information they have saved, with specific public services, if they seek to access an online service or benefit from that organisation. Public services cannot access personal information held in ScotAccount, without the permission of the account holder.

All accounts are subject to data processing as set out in the ScotAccount Privacy Notice, which states that information will not be held for longer than is reasonably necessary and legally justified.

There are no legal mechanisms in place to mandate the use of ScotAccount for access to public services.

Decisions concerning the recruitment of on-call firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Changing demographics can make the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters particularly challenging in some communities. However, this picture is not replicated across the whole of Scotland which means a national campaign may be of limited benefit and a more targeted approach might be more appropriate.

In my recent letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), I made it clear that we expect the SFC to consider the financial sustainability of individual institutions, and needs of learners, as part of any decisions around funding allocations.

Francesca Osowska, Chief Executive of the SFC, wrote to Angela Cox, Principal of Ayrshire College, on 1 April advising the SFC intended to take more time before publishing its indicative funding allocations to allow time to consider the feedback provided, including that from Ayrshire College. Francesca also provided reassurance that colleges will receive additional funding for lecturers’ pay and additional funding for pensions; and advised that the SFC are happy to have further discussions with Ms Cox and her colleagues in relation to support for flexibility within the credit model. The SFC published the indicative allocations on 10 April.

Specifically in relation to the financial sustainability of Ayrshire College, Francesca urged the College to contact the SFC’s institutional sustainability team to discuss its projections. I too would urge Ayrshire College to engage fully with the SFC on these matters at the earliest opportunity.

In relation to supporting the growth of Ayrshire College, the College plays an important role in supporting Ayrshire’s regional economy. There has been engagement on regional skills planning between the College, my officials, Colleges Scotland and the Ayrshire Regional Economic Partnership. My officials have engaged extensively with the Regional Economic Partnerships Network, sharing initial guidelines for how to collectively strengthen regional skills planning, building on existing best practice. I would encourage further engagement of this nature between Ayrshire College and other parties to ensure that the College is at the forefront of the development of future models of regional skills planning.

The Scottish Government is also investing £103 million over 10 years in the Ayrshire Growth Deal, matching the investment of the UK Government. This is supporting a series of projects which will transform the regional economy and support long-term inclusive growth, and Ayrshire College is a key partner in a number of those projects.

Further to this, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) oversees the national apprenticeship programmes and administers funding on behalf of the Scottish Government. SDS regularly conducts an open procurement process via Public Contract Scotland, and throughout the year, implements in-year reallocations of Modern Apprenticeship (MA) starts to ensure flexibility in responding to employer demand. Depending on budget availability, training providers are informed of the policy and process to request an increase in volumes, and SDS may reallocate MA starts on an ongoing basis based on evidence of performance. I would encourage Ayrshire College to continue to liaise with SDS and raise any concerns about their contracts with them in the first instance if the College feels that its potential for growth in this area is not being fulfilled.

More generally on support for the sustainability and growth of our colleges, the college Tripartite Alignment Group (comprising of Scottish Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland) continues to work on identifying and implementing workable flexibilities to ease colleges’ financial pressures while ensuring accountability for public funds.

A fresh set of priorities for the Group were agreed last year, and work is underway across those areas, namely diversification of funding into the sector, establishment of a new way to flexibly fund investment in Curriculum Transformation, and exploration of the breadth of delivery via colleges.

Formalised changes to guidance on college asset disposals have been issued as a result of the work of the Tripartite Alignment Group, enabling colleges to retain a more significant proportion of the value of any sale to invest locally. Here is the link to the Group’s webpage where you can view the Terms of Reference, members, and minutes from the Group’s meetings: Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group - gov.scot

To our knowledge, there are currently only two public bodies operating in Scotland which allow sex markers to be changed on official documents (HM Passport Office and the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency). As both of these public bodies are reserved to the UK Parliament, it would not be within the devolved competence of the Scottish Government to mandate them to keep records of the number of documents changed annually.

The Scottish Government would not mandate any action for Scottish public sector organisations that is not legally required. It would be for respective public bodies to determine the best process for its staff and users. This includes matters relating to allowing sex markers to be changed and keeping records of the number of documents changed annually, with basic demographic information included.

However, we do expect all public sector organisations in Scotland to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty, which is not a duty to achieve any particular results, but a duty to have “due regard” to the need to achieve the three goals of:

• eliminating eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation
• advancing equality of opportunity and;
• fostering good relations between different groups of people.