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The aim of the four-day working week public sector pilot is to assess the environmental, health and wellbeing benefits, and efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring.

The Scottish Government will continue to provide vital assistance to enable older people to heat their homes, to help disabled people live independent lives and will keep thousands of children out of poverty. The Scottish Government is committed to doing all it can to ensure that the finances remain on a sustainable trajectory. We have delivered a balanced budget every year since 2007, while taking forward action to improve the overall sustainability of the public finances. Scottish Ministers have been clear that this Government will continue to direct resources to the most impactful interventions to support our priorities. We will continue to drive forward our public sector reform programme to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of our public services.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Scottish Government has invested almost £1.7bn in our Enterprise Agencies. In 2023-24, the three agencies were able to help companies unlock over £2 billion of capital investment.

As part of our Green Industrial Strategy, the Scottish Government has committed to strategic investment of up to £500 million over five years in order to leverage £1.5 billion of private investment in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to growing the offshore wind sector.

We continue to ensure that Scotland is seen as an attractive investment opportunity, and also refer you to Parliamentary Question response S6W-36526 on 29 April 2025 which offers further information.

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 aim of the four-day working week (4DWW) public sector pilot is to enhance collective understanding of the benefits and costs of implementing a 4DWW in the public sector.

Prior to the beginning of the pilot, there was a review of economic literature related to shorter working weeks, and this informed modelling of different scenarios for reduced hours of work across the economy. The modelling demonstrated how the impact of reduced hours could be offset by productivity gains or increased investment, consistent with the economic literature. As such, the pilot has been carefully designed and implemented in order to capture a range of evaluation metrics to assess the environmental, health and wellbeing impacts and efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring.

The pilot will conclude with a report on findings, which will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes statistics related to the No One Left Behind strategic approach as a totality of all funding. Therefore, no breakdowns for Parental Employability Support, including a cost per person, are available.

The most recent statistics for Scottish Government funded employability support by all parents are available at: Scotland's Devolved Employment Services statistics - gov.scot.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37192 on 9 May 2025. 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 extension of Free Personal Care to people under the age of 65, also known as Frank's Law, came into effect in April 2019.

The Scottish Government do not hold data on how many adults aged 18-64 were paying for or receiving personal care prior to 2019.

The Scottish Government began collecting data on the number of adults receiving Free Personal Care in each local authority from late 2018-19 (prior to the introduction of Frank’s Law). This information is published annually on the Scottish Government website.

The Council Tax (Variation for Unoccupied Dwellings) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023, which came into effect on 1 April 2024, provide local authorities with discretionary powers to apply a Council Tax premium of up to 100% on second homes.

Council Tax is a local tax, and it is for individual councils to determine the appropriate balance of housing in their areas based on local needs. The Regulations give Councils greater fiscal empowerment, in the spirit of the Verity House Agreement. They enable Councils to charge Second Homes anywhere between a 50% discount, and up to a 100% premium. It is for Councils to take decisions about the tax treatment of second homes, including where exclusions may apply.

The Scottish Government is committed to monitoring the impact of these regulations and will consider their effects as more data becomes available. The first set of data reflecting the implementation of the premium was collected in September 2024. This data indicated a 10% decrease (2,455 properties) in the number of second homes compared to the previous year. This decline may be related to the introduction of the 100% Council Tax premium on second homes. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the impact of the Council Tax premium.

The following link sets out the Councils that introduced a second homes premium on 1 April 2024, Second homes and long term empty policies and discounts 2024-25: data

The following link provides the published data on the numbers of second and empty homes as at September 2024, Second homes and empty properties in September 2024 - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling inequalities and equality is the thread running through our homelessness strategy, Ending Homelessness Together.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) 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 discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the 2010 Act;
• advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
• fostering good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The Scottish Government expects all public bodies in Scotland which are subject to the PSED to pay due regard to the duty as they carry out their functions The duty applies to local authorities in their role as housing and homelessness support providers. The duty also applies to bodies who are not public authorities but who ‘exercise public functions’.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37192 on 9 May 2025. 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