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The Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance for public bodies in Scotland on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. The Scottish Government has committed to reviewing this guidance on collecting data on sex and gender by the end of 2026. The Scottish Government has not issued other specific guidance to Police Scotland on the recording of sex and gender in criminal justice processes. These are operational matters for the Chief Constable, who is responsible for ensuring compliance with legal obligations and for maintaining accurate and consistent recording practices.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

All overflow events at Helensburgh wastewater treatment works arose through a Settled Storm Sewage Overflow after being screened and receiving primary treatment. This process is licensed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and all overflows are monitored and reported.

The Scottish Government strongly supports the production of accurate statistics, based on the transparent recording of information. In terms of crime-related Official statistics in Scotland, it is a matter for relevant public bodies that collect information on sex to establish the best approach in their individual institutional settings. For all Official statistics, producers are required to follow the Code of Practice for Statistics, which states that organisations should commit to releasing their statistics in an open and transparent manner that promotes confidence. In 2021, the Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance on the collection of data on sex and gender for public bodies in Scotland. This guidance recommends that statistics producers should collect and publish data that best serves the needs of users in their specific context, an approach that aligns with the guidance published by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2024. The Scottish Government has committed to reviewing its guidance on collecting data on sex and gender by the end of 2026 as part of the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-04747 on 4 June 2025 which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament.

Whilst the Scottish Government is not a social care employer, we are working with key stakeholders, including COSLA, trade unions and provider representatives to introduce sectoral bargaining for commissioned social care services.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a specific analysis of the impact of the recent NHS pay deal on recruitment and retention in the adult social care sector, however for this financial year we are investing £125 million to enable adult social care workers in the third and private sectors to be paid at least the Real Living Wage rate, which takes the estimated total investment to deliver this policy up to £950 million.

This £12.60 per hour minimum pay rate that came into effect in April 2025 represents an increase of 5%.

The Scottish Government recognises that achieving net zero is more than a moral imperative: it is an economic necessity and an opportunity to grow our economy. The Green Industrial Strategy sets out actions to achieve growth in priority areas, ensuring Scotland secures the maximum economic benefit from the energy transition, including the enormous opportunities provided by offshore wind and other net zero opportunities. Our Circular Economy Act (2024) can help grow the economy, by opening up new market opportunities, improving productivity and saving money. Both of these approaches are underpinned by our focus on growth in our National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

We are also clear in our support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments and energy security.

We are supporting businesses to transition and grow, including through our £500m 10-year Just Transition Fund and our investment of up to £500m over five years to help anchor the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is not planning to review ovarian cancer surgery provision nationally at this time as we see improvements following positive action taken by regional cancer networks and NHS Boards. The Scottish Government continues to monitor the improvement activities and support progress in improving overall care for patients experiencing ovarian cancer.

According to the most recent published data (October-December 2024), 98.4% of women are receiving their first treatment for ovarian cancer within 31 days of a decision to treat. The maximum wait during this quarter was 43 days, a decrease from 90 days in the same quarter in 2023. This includes a range of treatments, such as surgery.

I will be meeting with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde board members and clinicians in September to seek further clarity in terms of progress they have made. Officials continue to seek regular updates from all the regional cancer networks on the improvement work being undertaken.

Spending on additional support for learning by local authorities reached a record high of over £1 billion in 2023-24. The latest finalised local government statistics show that Scottish Borders spent £13.912 million on additional support for learning last year.

Local government will receive an additional £28 million of investment from 2025-2026 to help improve outcomes from all children and young people with Additional Support Needs (ASN) through an enhanced offer of support to develop the ASL education workforce.

The Allocation for Scottish Borders Council was £0.554m

The allocation of the £28m investment to individual authorities is based on pupil numbers, as agreed through the standard CoSLA Settlement & Distribution Group process, agreed by Leaders.

We acknowledge there was an error in sharing an FOI response to S6W-37209 on 12 May 2025.

Formal multidisciplinary processes have been established for second opinions regarding treatment between the regional cancer centres, when required. Boards can explore the option of referral to other boards to facilitate earlier surgical dates where they feel clinically necessary.