Seòmar agus comataidhean

The total number of children and young people that have accessed school counselling services in the last three years can be found in the following table:

Part 9 of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015, which updated and simplified allotment legislation, placed a number of duties on local authorities in relation to allotments including a duty to prepare a Food Growing Strategy and annual allotment reports. Part 9 came into force on 1 April 2018.

To date, the Scottish Government has not collated the data contained from the published annual allotment reports as there is neither a statutory obligation for local authorities to update Scottish Ministers on the publication of their annual allotment plans or for the Scottish Government to collect these data. The data is not held in a consistent format to allow for monitoring at a national level.

Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold historic data on allotment provision or waiting lists.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting communities across Scotland to access land for growing food. While there is no dedicated national funding stream specifically for community established allotments, given the cross-cutting benefits delivered by community growing projects, communities may be able to access support through broader programmes that promote community-led regeneration and increased access to nutritious food.

We continue to work with partners to promote good practice and facilitate access to resources that support community growing. Communities are encouraged to engage with their local authority and explore opportunities through existing regeneration and community development programmes.

In addition to this, since 2021 we have awarded over £491,000 to enable Green Action Trust to deliver the Growing Food Together Fund. The fund is hugely popular and enables community groups to expand their growing area and season with new and improved infrastructure including new raised beds, polytunnels etc. This year a further 14 eligible community groups across Scotland were successful and have been awarded a share of £100,000. This brings the total number of community organisations and projects supported over the last five rounds to 55.

‘Unallocated’ and ‘Functionless’ are not terms which are applied to the categorisation of roles within the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government continually monitors its operations to ensure its resources are deployed as effectively and efficiently as possible. This is achieved through prioritisation, effective vacancy management and adapting to changing needs.

The Scottish Government recognise the invaluable role of the social care workforce. Whilst not an employer, we continue to work closely with COSLA and key partners to progress joint commitments in the National Workforce Strategy and recently published Service Renewal Framework, which both support efforts to recruit and retain social care staff.

For the 2025-26 financial year, the Scottish Government will be investing £125 million to enable adult social care workers in the third and private sectors to be paid at least the Real Living Wage. This takes the estimated total investment to deliver this policy to £950 million.

The workstreams of the Joint Social Services Taskforce have achieved real change to improve the workforce experience, through supporting career opportunities and staff development, these include:

• creation of a portable national induction framework;
• development of a social care career options tool;
• publication of an earn and learn blueprint;
• agreement of the introduction and trial a new Care Technologist role; and
• publication of our Funding Landscape resource.

Additionally, we continue to provide funding for the NES Social Care Centre for Workforce Supply (CWSS), who support employers ethically and sustainably recruit international works, who play a vital role in our care sector workforce. The CWSS are working with the Home Office to engage with displaced workers in England and promote opportunities to move to social care roles in Scotland.

Collectively these actions make it easier for employers to recruit and retain staff.

Organic farming statistics for the UK are published annually by Defra. The following table shows the area of fully organic land farmed in Scotland since 2007:

The Scottish Government recognises that access to social care services can vary significantly depending on where people live.

Through the Care Reform (Scotland) Act and the work of the NCS Advisory Board, we are taking decisive steps to end the postcode lottery and deliver care based on need, not geography.

The Care Reform (Scotland) Act introduces wide-ranging reforms that enshrine rights in law. Key measures include:

• Anne’s Law which recognises family and friends of care home residents as essential contributors to their care—not merely as visitors, but as integral members of the care team
• Introducing a statutory right to breaks for unpaid carers
• Expanding access to independent advocacy
• Improving information sharing across care settings
• Establishing a National Chief Social Work Advisor and National Social Work Agency
• Reforming procurement routes for the third sector

The interim NCS Advisory Board brings together people with lived experience of care, frontline workers, service providers, and representatives from local government and the NHS. Their role is to advise on how we build a fairer, more responsive system that puts human rights and equity at its core.

The Board will work alongside established national programmes to drive improvement and ensure that services are consistent, fair, and high-quality, regardless of where people live in Scotland.

Transport Scotland has had no requests for support from Argyll and Bute Council regarding the closure of the B8035. Transport Scotland has responsibility for the trunk road network, and as such has no responsibility for the maintenance or repair of any local road.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

My officials have engaged with all health boards to understand what provision they have in place to deliver adult neurodevelopmental assessments. In relation to NHS Ayrshire and Arran, we are exploring how to address current issues that may be limiting access to assessments for all adults who may seek them. Our understanding is that neurodivergent adults in Ayrshire and Arran can be referred for neurodevelopmental assessments where they have been diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health condition.

The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which is currently supporting NHS Ayrshire and Arran to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. We continue to scope the work required to improve Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways nationally, understanding that a stepped care model is needed to reduce waiting times for adult neurodevelopmental assessments and ensure a consistent approach across Scotland.

Between January 2021 and July 2025 a total of £2,463,260.88 of Payment Adjustment Factors (PAFs) have been applied to our Trunk Road Maintenance Contracts. The table below provides and annual summary and totals.