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The number of consultants employed by NHS Scotland has increased by 71% since September 2006 and now stands at 6,217.5 whole time equivalents (31 March 2025).

Despite this increase, NHS Scotland’s medical workforce remains under pressure due to steady, long-term increases in demand. This increase in demand is strongly linked to Scotland’s aging population profile and increasing epidemiological rates for some health care conditions.

The Scottish Government wants to ensure that the child’s best interests are at the centre of any contact case and that the voice of the child is heard. Family circumstances can vary considerably and so, beyond those general principles, there is no single approach which will fit every contact case.

Contact orders are made by courts under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Through these orders, courts can regulate the arrangements under which non-resident parents maintain personal relations or direct contact with children under the age of 16.

When the court is deciding whether, and in what terms, to make a contact order under section 11 the welfare of the child must be the court’s paramount consideration. The court must also – taking into account the child's age and maturity – have regard to any views the child wishes to express and have regard to matters such as the need to protect the child from the risk of abuse.

Those with parental responsibilities and rights (including in relation to contact) are also expected to exercise these in the interests of the child and, where appropriate, to have regard to the views of the child. If the arrangements provided for in a contact order are no longer considered appropriate the matter could, in appropriate cases, be brought back to the court (including by or on behalf of the child themselves) for the order to be varied or recalled.

The court may order contact to take place at a child contact centre. We expect child contact services to take a child-centred approach, using trauma-informed approaches. We would not expect a child who is distressed to be forced into contact.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Relationships Scotland who are the largest provider of child contact services in Scotland. Child contact services have practices in place to help support facilitation of contact orders, for example: familiarisation visits; gradual build-up of time in contact; signals if child wants contact to end; family support workers to support parents and children.

The education and training of the Scottish judiciary is the responsibility of the Lord President, who established the Judicial Institute for Scotland (the Institute) to conduct training for all sheriffs and judges in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s understanding is that consideration of domestic abuse has been an ongoing component of the Institute’s training since 2019. In response to the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 the Institute launched a learning programme for all judicial office holders at that time. This training included a Domestic Abuse Resource Kit, which has been extended to cover the implications of domestic abuse in civil cases and the interaction between criminal and civil cases.

Domestic abuse training has also been implemented into induction courses since 2019, ensuring that all those coming into post receive similar training, particularly covering the concept of coercive control in the context of domestic abuse. In addition, family and civil law courses consider the impact of coercive control and other forms of abusive behaviour in family disputes.

The Institute’s annual reports can be found on the Judiciary of Scotland website.

Solicitors in Scotland have to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) relevant to their roles in line with the Law Society of Scotland's CPD requirements. Training on domestic abuse is available and revisited regularly, for example, the recent webinar on: A Review of Domestic Abuse in Scotland | Law Society of Scotland.

However, there is no specific requirement for solicitors working in the civil system to undergo specialist training in domestic abuse, coercive control and the potential impact on children’s lives.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any recent review by Scottish Borders Council of its additional needs assistant allocation process for secondary schools.

Local authorities have existing discretionary powers to introduce local road user charging schemes under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, which was brought into statute by a previous Parliament.

We have committed, in our recently published 'Achieving Car Use Reduction in Scotland: A Renewed Policy Statement', to take the opportunity to conduct a regulatory check of the secondary legislation, given the passage of time since they were brought into statue to ensure that these existing discretionary powers remain fit for purpose. Once the necessary regulations and guidance are in place, it will be a decision for local authorities or RTPs whether and how to implement schemes.

We welcome local authorities’ commitment to local measures which support delivery of car use reduction in Scotland. We will continue to work with COSLA and local authorities to support equitable measures which encourage active travel and accompany greater investment in public transport for a fairer and greener transport system to ensure a just transition to net zero. Local authorities are best placed to determine whether a local road user charging scheme supports the objectives set out in their local transport strategy.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing are in the first instance the responsibility of the relevant NHS board working alongside General Practices. The model for General Practice will depend on local population health needs as well as local service planning priorities.

NHS Boards are required to undertake workforce planning to ensure a full range of services are provided, including working with independent contractors in primary care. These plans should align with the National Workforce Strategy.

The Scottish Government is aware of an increasing gap between the GP Registered Population and Scotland’s population as estimated by the census. A working group has been established to look at the disparity between the two in more detail.

The Scottish Government is working with Ferguson Marine and CMAL to understand fully the basis of the revised delivery plan for MV Glen Rosa. All requests for an additional budget for capital projects require detailed scrutiny processes before they can be approved and decisions taken on sources of funding within the overall Scottish Budget.

Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for education therefore the Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities may hold this information.

As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest in access to school counselling services, since 2021 local authorities have reported on key measures of their counselling provision. A summary of these reports can be found at: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I refer the member to the answer provided in S6W-38036 on 13 June 2025. The reporting information provided by Local Authorities is collated and held centrally and provided on request.

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 mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that all school pupils aged 10 and above and all secondary schools in Scotland have access to school counselling services.

In December 2020, all local authorities confirmed that access to counselling services were in place across Scotland.