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The operational guidance used to keep firefighters safe is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Currently every frontline fire appliance has 4 sets of Breathing Apparatus (BA), 2 of which have integrated radio communication. SFRS will shortly be procuring BA sets to an upgraded standard and all of these will have integrated communication as standard.

The equipment used by firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. SFRS has invested over £600,000 in purchasing 300 new thermal imaging cameras and every front line appliance with breathing apparatus has a thermal imaging camera (TIC). Spare TICs are stored at SFRS Asset Resource Centres rather than in fire stations.

The operational guidance used to keep firefighters safe is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Firefighters in Scotland do not currently have wearable tracking devices but this is an area that SFRS are exploring for the future.

The operational guidance used to keep firefighters safe is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Firefighters in Scotland do not currently have wearable tracking devices to record their heart and breathing rates. SFRS is exploring whether the specification for replacement Breathing Apparatus can monitor breathing rates as part of the integrated communication capability.

Microsoft 365 licences are required for the 1654 users of the Parliament IT systems to access their emails, SharePoint, MS Teams, and MS Office applications as well as providing advanced security features. The annual cost for these licences is £549K and covers the period 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39324 on 31 July 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 support provided to young disabled people during their transition to adulthood should be person-centred and tailored to the young person and their specific needs and goals.

Young disabled people are entitled to support in planning for transitions through The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and associated Regulations and through the non-statutory Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) Child’s Plan. They may also be entitled to wider support – for example, financial support through the child disability payment and adult disability payment.

The National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy was published on 30 June 2025. Through this Strategy, the Scottish Government has committed to:

• continuing to invest in the Independent Living Fund Scotland’s Transition Fund to support young disabled people to make a smoother transition from childhood into adulthood by promoting independence, community participation, social inclusion and confidence, including referring applicants for grant funded person-led planning support where it is needed;
• funding the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) in 2025-26 to build on their Time to Talk Next Steps Scotland Pilot to:
  • promote and support person-led and relationship-based approaches to planning amongst practitioners; and
  • support the wider use of Promoting a More Inclusive Society (PAMIS)’ digital passport in person-led communication and transitions planning to empower young people with complex needs to have their voices heard; and
• working with the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland to promote the use of Compass for young people as a tool to support person-led planning within existing planning mechanisms.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39324 on 31 July 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 Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is the regulator for the social work, social care and early years workforce in Scotland. The Council protects the public by registering workers in social services; setting standards for their conduct and education. While the SSSC will set the minimum level of qualification required for an individual to maintain their registration, it is the duty of employers to ensure their workers are equipped with the appropriate specialist skills to safely and effectively carry out their role.

Ensuring a sustainable, skilled and supported workforce is fundamental to the future of secure accommodation and other care settings where children with complex needs require care and protection. Pages 16-17 of the Scottish Government’s response to reimagining secure care, published on 26 June, sets out a number of actions the Government is taking to support this:

• a commitment to continuing to pay for up to 16 beds across the secure estate in 2025-26 and 2026-27, to maintain capacity and to provide a level of financial security and resilience to secure providers.
• a commitment to raise the status of children’s social care as a profession, which is key to delivering quality care to vulnerable children.
• a further investment of £1.4 million in 2025-26 to the secure care workforce as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to Fair Work in children’s social care. This investment will continue to address recruitment and retention challenges in the sector and contribute to its sustainability now and in the future.
• supporting improved implementation of national policy informed by frontline practice, and oversight of social work and the issues affecting the workforce through the establishment of the NSWA by April 2026.
• bringing both national and local government together to address workforce issues through the establishment of the Scottish Social Work Partnership.
• uplifting the value of the social work postgraduate bursary administered by the Scottish Social Services Council to £11,000 per year of an eligible qualifying course, from academic year 2025-26.
• working at pace with industry leaders and Skills Development Scotland to introduce a Graduate Apprenticeship, a new work-based professional social work qualification for academic year 2025-26.

The community transport sector provides many of our most vulnerable groups with access to essential goods and services and to social or leisure activities.

These services assist those who can’t or don’t use conventional public transport, providing ways to help them connect better with their local areas and wider communities. I recognise that these organisations may not be able to access finance afforded to commercial entities so I am pleased to announce that we will be launching a further round of our successful Plugged-in-Communities fund with a current budget of £4 million in 2025-26 which will be administered again by Energy Saving Trust.