Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has taken steps to address the historic school meal debt accrued by local authorities by increasing the funding available through the School Meal Debt Fund from £1.5m to £2.8m in 2024/25. This increase has fully met the requests made by local authorities on school meal debt.

The 2025/26 budget will deliver a really strong deal for councils that means they can avoid families building up significant debt. This funding along with the measures outlined in the COSLA guidance on this matter, will ensure that future school meal debt is managed appropriately, as far as possible, for families.

The Scottish Government are making £3 million available to help tackle retail crime which costs businesses millions each year and has a knock-on effect on the prices we pay in the shops. Police Scotland will work in partnership with the Retail Industry Leadership Group on how best to use this additional funding for maximum impact. The Scottish Retail Consortium, through their membership of the Retail ILG, will have the opportunity to contribute to these discussions.

In 2025, the Scottish Government will distribute a portion of West of Scotland cod based on an application process which will place environmental considerations at its heart. This seeks to incentivise the use of selective fishing gear and fishing techniques or vessels with a reduced impact on the environment.

This approach is distinct from the process in England. Scottish Government officials regularly meet to discuss fisheries management matters with officials from all UK and devolved administrations, and officials have been in dialogue with Defra to learn from their experiences in launching and administering the Quota Application Mechanism pilot.

Following record investment in digital this financial year, the draft budget allocates £166 million for investment during 2025-26. This total includes income to the Scottish Government of around £68 million from legacy programmes and will support continued delivery of the Reaching 100% (R100) contracts and the Digital Strategy. The Scottish Government has also secured UK Government funding for investment in digital infrastructure through the Project Gigabit programme which will further increase planned digital spend in 2025-26.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31932 on 11 December 2024 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

Household estimates showing the total number of dwellings and long-term empty properties by the Scottish Government 8-fold rural classification are published on the National Records of Scotland website - [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Household and Dwelling Estimates by Urban Rural Classification (2011 Data Zone based) | National Records of Scotland. Data for council areas are available in the Data file for the publication Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2023 (total dwellings – table 2, long-term empty properties – table 6c). The latest data are for 2023.

Please note that the links take you to the archived version of the National Records of Scotland website. A new version of the website launched this month but is not yet fully populated with content from the previous website.

The Scottish Government agrees that Scotland’s school libraries play a key role in supporting literacy and cultivating a love of reading.

Responsibility for school libraries rests with local authorities, who have a statutory duty to ensure there is adequate provision of library services.

At a national level, the Scottish Government worked with key partners to develop and publish the National Strategy for School Libraries. Over the course of 8 years we have provided over £1.72 million via the School Libraries Improvement Fund to enhance school library provision.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Membership of the PVG Scheme is available for an individual coaching or training children in sports. It is the responsibility of the recruiting organisation to make use of the PVG disclosure checks. Membership of the PVG Scheme will become a legal requirement on 1 April 2025. Currently, though, many organisations (including sports governing bodies) treat the Scheme as though it is a legal requirement. This de facto requirement is primarily because, if an organisation was to employ a barred individual to do regulated work, they would be guilty of an offence under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

In cases where a self-employed individual (and that includes paid, and unpaid or voluntary work) teaches or trains children scheme membership is available to that person. The individual can use their scheme membership to satisfy parents or carers of children in receipt of teaching or coaching that they are not unsuitable for that type of regulated work.

Particularly since the 2017 Health and Sport Committee report on Child Abuse in Sport, Disclosure Scotland has worked closely with all sports governing bodies (“SGBs”), including sportscotland and the Scottish Youth Football Association, to ensure that PVG disclosure checks are undertaken on sports coaches eligible for scheme membership. This includes providing guidance to SGBs on specific duties and requirements under the Scheme, and carrying out compliance audits. It is our assessment that most, if not all, SGBs require PVG membership as part of any role that involves working with children or protected adults.

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 will make PVG scheme membership a legal requirement for all individuals carrying out a regulated role in Scotland, which includes sports coaches and agents. It will be an offence for an organisation to employ an individual into a regulated role if that individual is not a member of the PVG Scheme.

Since 2018, the number of education psychologists in training has more than doubled from a total of 29 in 2016-2017 to over 76 in 2023-2024. This is due to the continued investment Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA make to deliver the training programme for educational psychologists which has risen to nearly £2m per year.

The living costs grant for educational psychologist trainees, in addition to tuition fee funding, is not income assessed and does not need to be repaid. Most post-graduate students studying other subjects are eligible for a £6,900 living costs loan for the duration of their course.

Since 2022, work has been undertaken by Scottish Government, COSLA officials, supported by the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists (NSSGEP) and Dundee University, to establish a 3-year doctorate model of training. This package equates to £29,000 per student, per annum, for the duration of the 3-year training programme.

CMAL Board appointment campaigns are carried out in line with the Ethical Standards Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers consider the recommendation presented to them by the selection panel appointed to take forward Public Body Board appointment campaigns. The selection panel includes an advisor appointed on behalf of the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

In this instance the CMAL Board required a candidate with specialist risk and assurance expertise and experience. The selection panel evaluates the evidence presented by each candidate as part of the Board appointment process, this is tested when reviewing each application form and also at interview. The selection panel recommend to Scottish Ministers the candidates they consider as being most able to meet the requirements of the role or roles as advertised. This is based on merit and is in line with the Ethical Standards Commissioner’s Code of Practice.