Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools guidance remains up to date and fit for purpose. As with any significant legal or policy developments, we are considering whether the guidance requires to be updated to reflect these. That consideration is ongoing.

The Scottish Government will engage with organisations representing a range of interests, as appropriate.

The Scottish Government recognises that this will be a worrying time for transgender young people and their families.

Education authorities and schools provide a range of wellbeing support to children and young people which is planned and provided using the Getting it right for every child approach, ranging from pastoral care and support to targeted support, such as counselling provided through schools.

The approaches to provision of support will be tailored to the individual needs of the young person concerned.

The Scottish Government published revised guidance for education authorities and schools in November 2024. This guidance includes advice on prejudice-based bullying and is available from Anti-bullying guidance for adults working with children and young people - gov.scot. In addition, in 2025/26 we are providing £298,480 to respectme, Scotland’s national anti-bullying service, to provide advice and resources to schools, parents and carers to support and educate young people on the impact of bullying and build confidence and capacity to address bullying.

Since 2021, Scotland has led globally on embedding LGBT inclusive education across the curriculum, providing online resources, staff training modules, teaching toolkits, and creative materials like Scots-language poetry, all aimed at helping schools integrate LGBT+ themes and foster equality. In December 2024, the Scottish Government published the National Approach to LGBT inclusive education guidance for Scottish schools and teachers, which sets out the steps we have put in place to ensure LGBT inclusive education can be delivered consistently in schools across Scotland. The Scottish Government also continues to support LGBT and other organisations to help address concerns about bullying in schools. This includes support for LGBTQI+ equality by funding organisations such as respectme, LGBT Youth Scotland and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE).

LGBT Youth Scotland’s Charter Programme also helps schools, colleges, and universities create safe, inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ learners and staff, an effort made more urgent by rising attacks on the community.

Any planning application is required to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless there are material planning considerations that justify a departure from the development plan. In reaching a decision, full regard will be had to all material planning considerations, including the views of consultees as well as any representations submitted. The independent reporters held hearing sessions to gather evidence from the local community and expert witnesses (including those for the applicant, NatureScot and environmental charities) on the proposal’s potential impacts on protected sites, wildlife, and plants, as well as its anticipated socio-economic effects.

The Scottish Ministers are following the statutory planning process in considering the application. Any planning application is required to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless there are material planning considerations that justify a departure from the development plan. In reaching a decision, full regard will be had to all material planning considerations, including the views of consultees as well as any representations submitted.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) announced on their website that they have delayed publication of their breast screening report to December 2025. This is due to data quality concerns identified during their standard quality assurance process. PHS are in communication with their data supplier to investigate and resolve these concerns to ensure accurate data is published in the report. These identified issues have not affected the operation of the breast screening programme itself or participants’ results.

Some ScotRail performance metrics requested by the Member and including the period up to March 2025 are published on Office for Rail and Road website: TOC key statistics | ORR Data Portal. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail, as the train operating company directly, to secure the remaining information.

The Scottish Government has received the final report from the Breast Screening Modernisation Board, and is grateful for their work. We are working with the organisations responsible for screening to implement the recommendations from the report. Funding has been provided to Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland to oversee and progress this work.

The final report will be published in the coming weeks. In line with the prioritisation of recommendations suggested within the report, immediate work is focused on exploring possible changes to the way in which breast screening is managed.

The Scottish Government will confirm the breakdown of up to £4.9 billion in the Scottish Budget and Scottish Spending Review.

As colleges operate independently of Government, it is for them to decide on operational matters such as their campus footprint, taking into account the needs of the people, region and communities they serve.