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The most recent mountain hare population estimate that NatureScot has available was published in 2018 (Mathews et al) which gives a figure of 132,000 (with a possible range of 79,500-516,000) and comes prior to the March 2021 amendment of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Since 2021, NatureScot have been running (in partnership with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Mammal Society and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT)) the Volunteer Mountain Hare Survey (VMHS) https://www.nature.scot/scotlands-biodiversity/biodiversity-what-can-you-do/volunteer-mountain-hare-survey. The survey encourages hill-goers and other interested volunteers to participate in citizen science mountain hare surveys in order to improve our understanding of mountain hare distribution, but there aren’t sufficient data as yet to generate any meaningful population trends.

There is some current trend information available via the BTO Breeding Bird Survey mammal data. Based on these data the 5 year trend from 2018 -2023 shows a statistically significant 50.51% decline for Scotland. However, due to the natural cycling that occurs within many mountain hare populations (typically occurring over approx. 10 year periods), it is unclear whether this reflects a genuine long-term downward trend or is indicative of the downward phase of a population cycle.

In 2024-25 the Scottish Government worked with the Scottish Funding Council and enabled a £13.4m ‘swap’ of capital for resource funding, recognising that colleges required additional resource funding for maintenance purposes.

Aware of the maintenance pressures colleges continue to face, actions are underway through the College Tripartite Alignment Group, comprising of Scottish Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland, to consider options for a current year and longer term solution. These discussions sit in the context of SFC’s ongoing work with the sector to develop a College Infrastructure Investment Plan, due to publish in autumn 2026.

The Tripartite Alignment Group provides strategic direction on the pressures and opportunities facing colleges. More can be found about its work here on the Scottish Government’s website. For example, the Group has increased the flexibility in the system with the introduction of the SFC’s College Transformation Framework in Academic Year 2025-26 which offers options around bespoke funding arrangements between colleges and the SFC to enable colleges to plan their curriculum more effectively over a number of years. The Group has also agreed a new asset disposals process which enables most colleges to retain a significant proportion of the value of any sale to invest locally.

The information as requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Government funds hundreds of organisations and does not monitor which organisations have campaigned for gender self-identification.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Decisions about the fees for hospital education services are a matter for local authorities and NHS boards to consider as appropriate.

ScotRail is not currently contracted or funded by Transport Scotland to operate rail services to Lockerbie. This has been investigated several times in the past but cannot be delivered efficiently by extending an existing service to Lockerbie.

It would require the leasing of additional trains and recruitment of staff resulting in an increased cost of several million pounds each year. It is therefore most cost efficient to the taxpayer, for cross-border operators to serve the station.

Options were explored to find a solution for Lockerbie station, however due to a range of factors, no sensible solution could be progressed at this time.

With public finances at their most strained since devolution, this government has made a long-term commitment to supporting the college sector by increasing teaching funding by 2.1% and capital maintenance by 4.9% compared to 2024-25.

The OECD report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future” commissioned by Scottish Government and published in 2021 commented that “significant efforts have been made to engage stakeholders throughout CfE’s lifecycle, which have contributed to successes with CfE.” (OECD Report, (p90) and also reported strong public confidence and interest in education (104).

The report by Professor Kenneth Muir “Putting Learners at the Centre” (published March 2022) conducted public consultation across a range of questions. That report commented that “just over half (58%) of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the existing vision for CfE reflected what matters for the education of children and young people in Scotland” (“Muir Report, p17). However, the Muir report (at pages 17 – 19 in the report) also identified a number of points that respondents to that consultation thought should be changed in order to further improve overall confidence in CfE.

The further National Discussion report (All Learners in Scotland Matter - national discussion on education: final report – May 2023) commented that based on its engagement with a range of people and organisations there was “general support for CfE” (p59 National Discussion Report) but also pointed to a range of comments on how to improve the curriculum.

It is important for the curriculum to retain strong confidence and support from pupils, parents, teachers/practitioners and the wider public. As the Member will be aware, the curriculum is currently being reviewed through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle to ensure that our 3-18 curriculum remains relevant, clarify the role of knowledge, declutter the curriculum and help to improve progression. Further information is available via the June 2025 publication “Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment Reform: progress to date and next steps” and via Education Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle website.

The Scottish Government, through NHS Research Scotland (NRS) provides core funding to promote and support excellence in clinical and translational research.

Within NRS, the Scottish Cancer Research Network works to increase, support and sustain cancer clinical trial activity across the NHS in Scotland. This work is underpinned by core funding from the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Cancer Research Network employs Clinical Research Nurses and Data Managers based on operational needs. The Network currently employs 2 dedicated Neuro-oncology Research Nurses and 2 specialist Data Managers.

On 7 August, the Scottish Government published the latest 6-month prison population projections, based on court activity and prison population data, up to the end of 2025. Due to the uncertainty surrounding factors that influence prison population flows - such as crime rates and justice system activity - the projections included several possible scenarios, including a reasonable upper estimate and a reasonable lower estimate. Taking the scenarios together and assuming that recent trends in justice demand, policy and practice continue, it was projected that the average daily prison population could be between 7,950 and 8,750 in December 2025. The design capacity of the prison estate is currently 7,805.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.