Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish Government monitor the performance of NHS 24 and regularly engage with the service to discuss any performance related issues. We are satisfied that the Service continue to meet their statutory and clinical obligations and are committed to continuing to support them to enhance the service they provide to patients.

A total of £2,826,472.75 over two years has been allocated to the University of Strathclyde (who submitted a bid in partnership with the Coalition of Racial Equality and Rights) to host and support the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland.

Our Fisheries Management Strategy sets out actions to support the fishing fleet to modernise, and for appropriate use to be made of new and additional technology, including remote electronic monitoring (REM). As part of this the Scottish Government has already delivered on our commitment to introduce REM requirements for pelagic and scallop vessels, with legislation being passed in June 2024. The legislation can be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2024/165/contents/made

Our commitment to improve the inshore fisheries evidence base through the use of appropriate and proportionate onboard electronic technology monitoring on under 12 metre vessels is currently being progressed.

Further rollout of remote electronic monitoring to other fleets, including offshore trawl vessels, is under review and options will be developed alongside our Future Catching Policy.

The Scottish Government remains committed to reducing class contact time, and we will continue to explore with COSLA and the teacher unions, through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), how best to deliver this commitment.

Local Government are also undertaking local scoping and modelling work to inform delivery of this commitment. This work is scheduled to be completed by summer 2025.

The intention behind the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 is that we have an inclusive approach to Education with a needs-led approach in Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the inclusive approach to meeting the needs of all young people, in-line with the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child.

The nature of ASN is individual to each child or young person, highly varied, and encompasses a wide range of needs; therefore, some variation should be expected in how this is reported. All children and young people with identified needs which require additional support are entitled to this, they do not require a diagnosis to receive this.

The Audit Scotland review into ASL recommended that the Scottish Government and councils fundamentally evaluate, both nationally and locally, how ASL is planned for, funded and staffed as part of core education provision.

In partnership with our local authority colleagues, we are giving careful consideration to the recommendations set out within the briefing and I am meeting with the Auditor General in the coming weeks to discuss in more detail.

The introduction of body-worn video footage by the Police Service of Scotland is a significant development and has the potential to bring enormous benefits to the criminal justice system and beyond.

Body-worn video provided promptly can enable prosecutors to take informed initial marking decisions by providing them with not only evidence of offending, but an insight into the nature of the offending behaviour, and its impact on individuals involved.

Considerable work is being undertaken within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to measure and monitor impact the impact of submission of BWV footage on both operational processes and prosecution decisions.

This monitoring will inform resource allocation within the service and any future funding requirements.

Discussions with the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) have confirmed that the organisation welcomes Police Scotland’s roll out of body-worn cameras (BWC). BWC will provide valuable and incontrovertible evidence which will assist PIRC to undertake its statutory functions of investigations and complaint handling reviews, which contribute to upholding public confidence in policing in Scotland.

Police Scotland commenced its roll out of BWC on 26 March 2025, and use of BWC recorded footage is an operational matter for PIRC. Any additional operational requirements will be considered by PIRC, as this new technology is fully rolled out.

Four organisations submitted a tender to host the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland:

1.Edinburgh Innovations Ltd and University of Edinburgh

2.Impact Funding Partners

3.University Court University of Glasgow

4.University of Strathclyde

The bids were evaluated in line with standard procurement processes.

The bid received from the University of Strathclyde, in partnership with the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights, outlined that the Observatory would be hosted at the University of Strathclyde.

The National Fertility Group, (formerly the National Infertility Group) held meetings in the current parliamentary session on the following dates:

1 June 2021

24 February 2022

10 August 2022

22 March 2023

22 August 2023

23 November 2023

29 April 2024

17 September 2024

27 February 2025

Ministerial pay is set and administered by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government has no role in this. You may, therefore, wish to direct any detailed questions on pay to the Scottish Parliament. A breakdown on Ministerial salaries is provided on the Scottish parliament website - MSP salaries | Scottish Parliament Website.

I can confirm that all Ministers accepted the equalisation of the MSP element of their salary, with the exception of the First Minister who chose not to do so to avoid any perception that he was personally benefiting from his own decisions on Ministerial pay.