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The Scottish Government expects Scottish universities, as autonomous bodies, to carefully consider and manage the reputational, ethical and security risks associated with pursuing joint research ventures within global academic networks. Alliances that universities form within these networks are a matter for them and their governing bodies, as long as they are within the law.

As part of this, we expect universities to carefully consider advice and existing guidance on international partnership risk management from bodies like Universities UK and the UK Government’s Research Collaboration Advice Team.

Additionally, the Universities should conduct due diligence in relation to national security, which is a matter reserved to the UK Government, and compliance comply with relevant legal requirements, such as the National Security Act 2023 and National Security and Investment Act 2021.

The Scottish Government is clear that abuse, violence, including gender based violence, and harassment of any kind, will not be tolerated in our schools. Misogynistic behaviour was identified as an emerging concern in the 2023 Behaviour in Schools Research, and we are taking forward a range of actions to tackle it.

In 2024, we published a national framework for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence. It was developed by a working group, jointly chaired by Scottish Government, Rape Crisis Scotland, and Zero Tolerance. The framework provides guidance on how schools can address the underlying causes of gender-based violence, particularly gender inequality, and ensure appropriate action is taken in response to specific incidents.

Our Equally Safe Delivery Plan builds a robust and joined up approach to the prevention of violence against women and girls across all education settings in Scotland. In addition, we provide funding to Education Scotland to deliver the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme which engages young people to consider different forms of violence, including negative attitudes and behaviours to help them understand and speak out against gender-based violence, bullying, abusive and violent behaviour, as well as being able to safely challenge the negative societal attitudes and assumptions which underpin this behaviour.

No One Left Behind is the approach to devolved employability support between Scottish and Local Government, which empowers Local Employability Partnerships to lead the design and delivery of services in each Local Authority area. These services are influenced by local need, and guided by co-produced national products in areas that require consistency, such as the Employability Service Standards, the Customer Charter, and the Shared Measurement Framework. Local Authorities may supplement funding provided through No One Left Behind with resources from other sources.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes experimental statistics on outcomes linked to the No One Left Behind strategic approach. These include the cumulative number of participants supported into employment, and the number of individuals who have sustained employment for defined time periods. The most recent statistics for Scottish Government funded employability support are available at: Scotland's Devolved Employment Services statistics - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government does not currently publish estimates of costs per sustained employment outcome for No One Left Behind at either Scotland or Local Authority level.

My officials met with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), an agency of the UK Government, on 5 February 2025. Topics discussed included actions being taken to alleviate driving test waiting times and issues surrounding the use of bots to book and upsell driving tests to learners.

These issues are unacceptable and I welcome the actions announced on 23 April 2025 by the Department for Transport’s Secretary of State, Heidi Alexander MP to rectify the situation.

My officials met with officials from DVSA again on 6 May 2025 to discuss further the actions announced, and will be meeting with them quarterly going forward.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to expanding the beaver population across Scotland for the benefit of biodiversity, in line with Scotland’s Beaver Strategy.

Whilst we welcome the Glen Affric beaver translocation proposal, it is clear, that there remain concerns about the proposal among the local community.

NatureScot will therefore undertake some additional engagement to ensure the concerns around impact of beavers on land and fisheries managers has been fully explored ahead of any licensing decision. This process is in line with the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations in seeking to ensure there are acceptable mitigations in place.

We understand that there may be frustration around the timeframe for this licencing decision, but with proposals such as this we have to ensure the best chance of success for wildlife living alongside the people and communities most affected.

Formal teacher vacancy data has not been collected or published since 2010 following the results of a user consultation on proposals to cease a number of education data collections in order to minimise the response burden on schools and local authorities.

Informal teacher vacancy data was collected from local authorities between 2016 and 2019 for the purpose of informing annual teacher workforce planning. This data collection was stopped in 2020 to reduce the burden on schools and local authorities during the pandemic, and due to concerns about the effectiveness of the data in informing the teacher workforce planning process.

Current teacher vacancy information is available from individual local authorities or at www.myjobscotland.gov.uk.

No meetings were held with organisations or stakeholders to discuss the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers prior to the Supreme Court judgment as it is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on live legal proceedings. Following the Supreme Court ruling on 16th April, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice met with key LGBTQI+ Equality stakeholders on 17th April to discuss the judgment and understand how the Scottish Government can support the LGBTQI+ community. The Scottish Government remains committed to advancing equality for LGBTQI+ people and will regularly meet with LGBTQI+ Equality organisations to ensure we continue to promote, protect and realise the rights of every LGBTQI+ person in Scotland.

The courts, tribunals and judiciary are independent of the government. This is necessary in order to preserve the independence of the judiciary and to protect it from political interference. Decisions on the livestreaming or other broadcasting of court or tribunal proceedings are ultimately a matter for the judiciary, supported by the relevant administrative body. Scottish Tribunals are administered by the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS). As such, the Scottish Government has not produced guidance regarding livestreaming of tribunal proceedings.

Certain tribunals including the Employment Tribunal in Scotland, the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal, and the Social Entitlement Chamber are reserved and SCTS and the Scottish Government has no remit over these.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Management of Transgender People in Custody Policy 2023 is in place for managing transgender people in prisons who may need access to additional property to assist them to live in their affirmed gender.

The procurement of these items is subject to the same level of assurance and approval processes as it is for all items requested by individuals living in prisons.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Each establishment has a stock of clothing for all individuals in our care. This is included within the annual clothing budget and is not considered as extra expenditure.

The total spent by SPS from 2021-22 to 2024-25 on wigs and other gender-affirming items was £168.60.