Seòmar agus comataidhean

The current NIFS contract is due to expire on 30 June 2028. Preparatory work to deliver the next generation of these services remains at an early stage. The detailed service requirements will be informed by a combination of stakeholder views alongside consideration of operational feasibility. There are no current plans to introduce shared cabins as part of the NIFS services.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly meet with counterparts in the UK Government to discuss reserved issues. Senior officials who lead on The Promise have recently engaged with their counterparts in both the UK and devolved governments regarding the Scottish Government’s work to keep the Promise.

On 1 April 2022 there were 134 men actively participating in the Caledonian System, and between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 a further 482 were given a Caledonian requirement. Currently 20 Local Authorities deliver the Caledonian System within Scotland, with another two areas, Moray and Shetland preparing to roll out this year. The Scottish Government is actively working with and encouraging those remaining local authority areas to consider adopting the Caledonian System over a phased period.

High quality, accessible and affordable early learning and school age childcare is critical to keeping children in Scotland out of poverty. That is why we continue prioritise investment of around £1 billion per year in delivering funded ELC to all eligible children, despite the significant financial challenges facing the Scottish Government as a result of budget choices made at Westminster.

As a result, families across Scotland have been benefitting from the provision of 1140 hours of high quality ELC since 2021. We also committed in the 2024 Programme for Government to work with local authorities to maximise the uptake of funded early learning and childcare for eligible two-year-olds.

It is important to recognise that the UK Government’s offer is not an expansion of universal ELC for children under three, as it is only available to working families in England. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has made clear that, despite billions of investment by the UK Government, ‘the poorest one third of families will see almost no direct benefit from the new entitlements’’.

The Scottish Government is committed to taking the time needed to deliver a childcare expansion that is both fair and affordable, giving children the best possible start in life and supporting parents and carers to work, train and take up education opportunities. Our approach is backed by international evidence which shows that high quality ELC is critical to giving children the best start in life, especially those experiencing poverty.

In this Parliament we are working with six councils on childcare early adopter communities (EAC), backed by £16 million over 2024-25 and 2025-26. The EACs are supporting the development of affordable childcare for low-income families with children from the early years through to the end of primary school, and evaluating the difference this can make.

The engagement and targeted delivery that takes place for younger children in the EACs this year will be a key element in developing our evidence base to inform a future expansion. We will also be drawing on research to understand what different approaches to early learning and childcare are best for younger children and piloting new approaches via projects funded by the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.

Most work on the Islands Connectivity Plan is being done by Transport Scotland’s Ferries Strategy Team, with support from other teams, stakeholders and, when necessary, commissioned externally.

As of 28 March 2025 there are 6 people working in the team.

The Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP) Strategic Approach and Vessels and Ports Plan were published for public consultation and community engagement last year, with the consultation report and Transport Scotland’s Initial Responses published in September 2024. Following the recent completion of the associated Strategic Environmental Assessment, it is anticipated that the final versions of these two documents will be published shortly.

Work on the ICP will continue through refreshed needs assessments for island and peninsula communities served by the Clyde & Hebrides and Northern Isles ferries. The first of these, for Cowal and Rosneath, was published last September. We intend to commission the remaining assessments in the coming year.

Other ICP workstreams, including those on fares, integration and low carbon are ongoing.

There are many factors that influence the average cost per offender for in-prison rehabilitation programmes, meaning that it is not possible to provide an average cost. These factors may include but are not limited to: the duration of the Offending Behaviour Programme (OBP), grades of staff involved in delivery/treatment management, training costs involved for staff to be able to deliver the OBP, and materials involved for delivery.

The current funding distributed by the Scottish Government to local authorities for the purpose of delivery of Caledonian includes: £2,557,547 for the Men's Programme and £1,910,119 for the Women and Children’s Service. For 2025-26 the total budget is £4,467,666. It is not possible to quantify an average cost per man on the Caledonian System, or that of women and children being supported, due to several varying factors. This includes: variation in cost to run the Men’s programme, as mentioned above, along with the intensity of the programme required which is equated to individual need. The Women and children’s service again will vary in cost per client, as support is very much tailored to individual needs.

Scotland does not have an equivalent body to NHS England, health services are managed by NHS boards, which operate within Scotland’s devolved system of government.

The UK Government’s decision to move the functions of NHS England to the relevant UK government department bring it in line with the situation in Scotland where NHS Scotland is already a part of the core Scottish Government civil service.

Regarding public bodies more widely our programme of Public Service Reform is addressing all opportunities identified to remove duplication from the public sector landscape, including consolidation of public bodies where appropriate and where a value for money case can be made. This work is part of our wider focus on driving a culture of continuous improvement to support efficiency and effectiveness across the delivery of public services.

The Scottish Government has already streamlined the public sector landscape by reducing the number of Scottish public bodies under our control from 199 in 2007 to 131 at the end of 2024. The Ministerial Control Framework also makes clear that establishing any new public bodies should be a last resort, ensuring any new bodies are established only when absolutely necessary.

My letter of strategic guidance for Skills Development Scotland in 2025-26 places an emphasis on the delivery of apprenticeships in the sectors that are most vital to Scotland’s economy and society. These include those that support the transition to Net Zero, and are most likely to result in high quality, long-term employment and meaningful career pathways for participants. In addition, we continue to fund in other sectors to help meet the skills needs of employers. A particular priority for the programme is on encouraging greater participation from small and micro businesses.