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The 2018 GP contract committed Health Boards to set up Community Treatment and Care (CTAC) services to transfer workload from GP practices to NHS Board-employed staff allowing GP practices to focus on what only they can do. Territorial Health Boards and Integration Authorities are responsible for designing and delivering these services in their areas, working with local partners and teams. The Scottish Government publishes annual progress reports on GP contract implementation based on data provided by Integration Authorities. The most recent report uses data from March 2024 - Primary care improvement plans: implementation progress summary - March 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

In addition to making it possible for same sex couples to marry, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 made some changes to marriage procedures. These changes included putting belief celebrants on an equal footing with religious celebrants and making provision so that civil marriage ceremonies can take place anywhere, other than in religious premises, agreed by the couple and the registrar.

We have no plans to review the procedures for getting married but we plan to consult in the next few months on whether the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership should be raised to 18 from 16.

The member is welcome to raise any specific concerns regarding the legal process of getting married with me in writing.

The ability to undertake ear wax removal depends on an individual’s role, scope of practice and competence and this is dependent on workforce and requirements of services within their respective Health Boards and HSCPs. Whilst the Scottish Government set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of Health Boards is to ensure that they plan and deliver services which best meet the needs of their local population.

The Scottish Government has not held any specific discussions with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and its respective HSCPs on home ear wax removal. The Scottish Government has regular engagement with all HSCPs areas on GP contract implementation progress.

The proportion of schools reported as being in good or satisfactory condition has increased to 91.7% (90.9% in 2023). This is 29 percentage points higher than in April 2007 (62.7%).

The proportion of pupils educated in schools in poor or bad condition has decreased from 8.5% of all pupils (around 60,000) last year to 8.0% (around 56,000) this year. This represents a drop from 37.6% of all pupils (around 257,000) in 2007.

Since 2007-08, 1,139 school builds or substantial refurbishment projects have been completed.

A) Proportion of pupils being educated in schools with a good condition rating in each Local Authority

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role of retailers in our society and want to ensure that they are protected. We also recognise the distress caused by retail crime, particularly to staff. The investigation of criminal activity and deployment of resources is a matter for Police Scotland and they remain focused on keeping communities safe from harm, and investigating criminal activity. However, Policing itself also remains a priority for this Government. We are aware that some of the perpetrators of shoplifting offences have links to organised crime.

In our 2025-26 draft budget, the Scottish Government has proposed up to £3 million in funding to be used for the purpose of exploring the implementation of a partnership between the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and Scotland’s retail sector in an effort to combat organised retail crime. This is in line with our Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to address organised crime, which is an area of significant and growing concern to retailers.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are fully committed to tackling serious organised crime in all its guises and reducing the harm it causes to our communities.

We are disappointed that the UK Government failed to engage with us on this change and are concerned about the additional pressure this decision places on third sector organisations across Scotland. It is not right that these organisations should be disadvantaged by the UK Government’s policy change.

The Scottish Government greatly values the essential role of Scotland’s third sector in working across communities to tackle tough social issues at source. We recognise that the third sector needs stability and the opportunity for longer term planning and development. We are committed to developing a Fairer Funding approach for the third sector, despite the financial restraints we face.

Eradicating child poverty is a national mission and the top priority of this Government. We remain firmly focused on supporting the six priority family types identified as being at a higher risk of poverty within our first Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, which includes families with a child under one.

The first 12 months of a child’s life are an absolutely crucial time and we have taken action to ensure there is wide-ranging support for parents of babies and young children. Our Universal Health Visiting Pathway directs Health Visitors to enquire about family finances and signpost families to appropriate support services. The Family Nurse Partnership also offers intensive support for young, first time mothers in up to 4,000 families a year. In addition, we are increasing perinatal and infant health services in Scotland leading to new or expanded Community Perinatal Mental Health Services, Infant Mental Health Services and Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention Services.

We are also providing financial support to families on low incomes through our five family payments, which include our three Best Start Grant payments, Best Start Foods and Scottish Child Payment. For eligible families with a child under one, support includes the Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, which provides £754.65 for a first child and £377.35 for all subsequent children, support through Best Start Foods which is worth £42.40 every four weeks for each child from birth until they’re one year old, as well as the ‘game-changing’ Scottish Child Payment of £26.70 per eligible child per week. To ensure investment in our benefits is protected, we will amend the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 to ensure all benefits are increased each year to reflect inflation, giving financial certainty to households.

We are absolutely committed to meeting the 2030 child poverty targets, and will continue to do everything within the scope of our powers and budget to deliver the change needed including for families with a baby.

The Scottish Government will publish the third Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2026, covering the period 2026-31, which will set out the actions we will take as a Government to meet the ambitious child poverty targets set for 2030.

The first meeting of the Tree Planting Taskforce took place on 28 November with Ministers representing the Scottish, UK, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments in attendance. The Scottish Government outlined the importance of forestry in Scotland, and our recent successes in delivering the majority of woodland creation across the UK.

The Taskforce was an opportunity to highlight the importance of all types of trees, both native and productive, as part of increasing biodiversity and driving woodland creation.

There was broad agreement within the group about the value of further cross-border collaboration and the collective challenges we face, such as future woodland management, addressing the skills shortage in the sector and tackling the threat of pests and diseases. The next steps and detailed future work of the Taskforce is still to be decided and agreed by its members.

Social Security Scotland make awards on an on-going basis. This means that awards do not have a set end date after which the client must re-apply. Instead, we conduct light-touch reviews to ensure that the existing award continues to be right for the individual.

In most cases, a review date is set as part of a determination decision to ensure continuous evaluation of a client’s eligibility. Review dates are often set based on when a person’s circumstances are likely to change in the future.

Clients have a duty to notify Social Security Scotland when there is a change in circumstances, including a change in medical condition, which could impact their entitlement. This leads to a review of their existing award and a new decision on their entitlement. In house Health and Social Care practitioners are available to provide advice during the case review process.

For some people, even long review periods are inappropriate, and indefinite awards have been introduced for people who receive Adult Disability Payment or Pension Age Disability Payment whose needs are highly unlikely to change.