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It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Capital funding for the play park renewal programme is distributed to all 32 Local Authorities based on population of 0-14 year olds and rurality. In the first year, the formula was:

1.95% on population 0-14

2.5% on rurality

From 2022-23, the formula was:

1.93% on population 0-14

2.7% on rurality

The full table of allocations to each local authority by year is:

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding a year to ensure access to school counselling services across Scotland.

As part of the commitment, local authorities provide reports on school counselling services which includes number of counsellors in post (this relates to number rather than FTE).

There is variation in how the access to counselling service is being delivered across authorities. Some authorities employ counsellors directly, while others procure third sector counselling.

The following table shows the numbers of counsellors local authorities reported were in post in each of the reporting periods.

We are not aware of any reports by the Accounts Commission that local authorities are facing unsustainable budget shortfalls.

Councils are statutorily required to set balanced budgets, and the Accounts Commission appropriately highlights that the use of one-off measures, such as the use of reserves, in place of established recurring measures and robust longer-term financial plans to bridge notional budget gaps is unsustainable.

The Scottish Government has a long history of working with COSLA and local authorities to make sure council finances are sustainable and that available resources can meet long-term commitments.

The record funding settlement for Local Government in 2025-26 provided a real terms increase in funding of 5.5 per cent, as confirmed by the Accounts Commission, and was the result of early and meaningful engagement between Scottish Government, COSLA and Councils. We remain committed to ensuring the sustainability of local services going forward and budget engagement ahead of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget has already commenced.

The Scottish Government does not receive data from Local Authorities on the inclusion of accessible or inclusive equipment in play parks renewed using the renewal funding. As noted in the answer to S6W-38036 on
13 June 2025, Local Authorities report annually every April on their play park renewals carried out as a result of the Scottish Government’s £60m play park renewal funding.

As noted in the answer to S6W-38037 on 13 June 2025 the Scottish Government has chaired quarterly network meetings of Local Authority play park leads. The network allows Local Authorities to provide updates and how funding is being used and to share best practice and common issues.

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 £60 million play park renewal funding is allocated to local authorities to use across their whole play estate. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them based on local needs and priorities. The Scottish Government recognise that the extent of renewal and refurbishment will be influenced by local plans and investment priorities and engagement with children and young people.

The Scottish Government does not hold data centrally on the geographic and socio-economic spread of play parks within local authority estates.

The Scottish Government works closely with Local Authorities on the delivery of the renewal programme and use of the funding through the annual reporting process and the quarterly network meetings referenced in S6W-38037. As agreed with COSLA at the start of the funding programme in 2021, Local Authorities are not required to report any such issues.

Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for education therefore the Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities may hold this information.

As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest in access to school counselling services, since 2021 local authorities have reported on key measures of their service delivery. A summary of these reports can be found at: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government makes decisions in relation to local government funding as part of the annual Scottish Budget process. For 2024-25, Ministers provided £147 million to fund the Council Tax freeze - equivalent to the income from a 5% increase - and every local authority in Scotland accepted that offer.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 27 March 2024 by Liam McArthur MSP (Liberal Democrats). As such, this is a Member's Bill, not a Scottish Government Bill.

Alongside the Bill, Mr McArthur submitted a Financial Memorandum, setting out an assessment of the projected costs of implementing the Bill. He also wrote to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 17 June 2024, and again on 14 October 2024, to provide updates to the figures in the Financial Memorandum.

A Scottish Government memorandum was provided to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 30 September 2024. This advised that the Scottish Government considered that the costs provided by the member responsible for the Bill were likely to be underestimates. This same memorandum also set out the Scottish Government’s view that the Bill, as introduced, is outside of the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, and that the Scottish Government would be taking a neutral position on the Bill.

A further letter was sent to the Committee on 27 February 2025, following the Scottish Government’s oral evidence session, to provide estimates of the costs associated with providing initial and refresher training to NHS staff. This noted that all cost estimates provided at this stage are purely indicative, and that this is something that will need to be kept under careful review as the Bill moves through the Parliamentary process.

Significant issues were raised about various aspects of the Bill in the Committee’s Stage 1 report, and during the Stage 1 debate. As highlighted in the Stage 1 report, the Committee made a number of recommendations in relation to the detail of the Bill including about areas for further debate and potential amendment. As such, we are considering our own position moving forward, in light of Parliament's decision to support the general principles of the Bill, and we will be paying close attention to any amendments put forward by non-Government MSPs to consider the practical, financial and legal implications of these.