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Whole Family Wellbeing Funding continues to be provided by the Scottish Government to deliver transformational change to improve holistic family support so that families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. By the end of this financial year the Scottish Government expects to have invested over £110m across financial years 2022-23 - 2024-25. This includes £96m provided directly to Children's Service Planning Partnerships (through the General Revenue Grant) to build local service capacity and transform family support services at the local level. CSPPs have responsibility for deciding how to spend their allocation and do so in a variety of ways in line with set criteria. We do not hold figures of how many families have received support via WFWF funded activity, but examples of how CSPPs are spending their allocations can be found in our Evaluation of year 1 activity which was published on 31 January 2024 (https://www.gov.scot/publications/whole-family-wellbeing-funding-wfwf-year-1-process-evaluation-final-report/) and CSPP annual reports published at a local level.

Despite the tight fiscal position, we have once again protected our £50m investment for 2025-26. This investment will ensure that CSPP allocations will remain the same as 2024-25 protecting the good work already being delivered. The following table provides a breakdown of the distribution to date of funding per Local Authority. The allocations for 2025-26 will be published in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-03953 on 13 November 2024. All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

I can also confirm that in autumn 2024, Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner set up a short life working group to draft and propose a live facial recognition policy within twelve months, either having found sufficient evidence of how this can support policing in a legal and ethical way, or a recommendation to the contrary. When the SPA policing performance committee met on 10 December 2024, it was confirmed that the first session of the short life working group had been held on 25 October 2024. The publicly available paper submitted to the 10 December meeting confirms the remit of the short life working group; its sub-groups; its Terms of Reference; and a high level timeline of its intended activities.

Commercial sea fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. We need to do all we can to make fishing as safe as possible, and encourage more people to see fishing as a desirable career, which will help to ensure the sustainability of the industry in the long term. The Scottish Fishing Safety Group, established in May 2019 aims to do just that. This industry led group works alongside established safety bodies such as the Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) - on how we can improve health, safety and wellbeing on Scottish vessels. The group supports fishing industry efforts to achieve zero deaths annually and the reduction in accidents across the whole Scottish fishing industry.

Remote and rural communities can be hugely impacted by wildfire incidents, which can cause significant environmental and economic damage. SFRS works closely with a number of key partners to establish a common understanding of the risk, prevention measures, and response procedures to wildfire in Scotland. The Service works closely with land managers, communities and other safety partners to prevent these incidents ever occurring.

SFRS will always maintain fire cover and ensure it continues to attend at every emergency. As a national service, SFRS also has the capacity and flexibility to operate as a network. SFRS has strategically placed wildfire resource capability within the following tiered locations, and these resources can be deployed as a network to support rural areas where required.

Tier 2 Stations

New Galloway, Langholm, Fort Augustus, Kingussie, Aviemore, Kyle of Lochalsh, Fortrose, Gairloch, Dunbeath, Insch, Alyth, Callander, Coldstream, Lauder, Lybster, Balintore, Cromarty, Carrbridge, Newtonmore and Spean Bridge.

Tier 2 Wildfire Stations with 4x4 Support Vans

Alford, Oban, Galashiels and Dornoch.

Tier 3 Stations

Helensburgh, Kilwinning, Ballater, Elgin, Invergordon, Ullapool, Dunblane, Pitlochry, Stornoway and Musselburgh.

I can confirm that I have written to the Chief Constable to draw the attention of her and her colleagues to the recent range of questions lodged on the use of e-bikes and e-scooters.

The Scottish Government works with local authorities in several ways to improve access to active travel, primarily through our ‘Active Travel Infrastructure Fund’ (ATIF) that supports infrastructure building, and our ‘People and Place Programme’ that supports behaviour change services tackling barriers to using that infrastructure. Through these programmes Aberdeenshire’s councils received over £4.2m of support in 2024-25.

In terms of infrastructure, in 2024-25 Aberdeenshire Council received £1,232,393 for their ATIF Tier 1 allocation, and Aberdeen City Council received £1,557,324. These funds are used to design, develop and deliver active travel infrastructure according to local needs and priorities. Both councils have used their funding across a number of current projects as well as designing future works, creating a construction pipeline

In terms of behaviour change, in 2024-25 Aberdeenshire Council received a direct grant of £210,141 through the Local Authority Direct Award (LADA) , and Aberdeen City Council received £178, 622. In addition, Nestrans, the Regional Transport Partnership for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, received £1,113,240 through the People and Place Programme. These funds are used to support active and sustainable travel behaviour change interventions that improve the uptake of walking, wheeling, and cycling for short everyday journeys.

The evidence of the relationship between increased uptake of active travel and positive health outcomes, including maintaining a healthy weight, is proven beyond doubt. This is why active travel is a key Strategic Delivery Outcome in the Physical Activity for Health Framework published on 4 October 2024. This framework applies a systems-based approach with all parts of government, including transport and health, joining the call to action behind the collective aim and ambition of promoting the crucial role of physical activity in improving the health of people in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the positive contribution older people make to their communities. We aim to enable better access to services for older people as and when they need them, and to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age.

Our 2021 Population Strategy sets out our ambition that as Scotland’s population lives longer - which is to be celebrated - that people are healthy and active, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our public services.

An example is NHS Education for Scotland's National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, launched in October 2023. The Centre is working with Health Boards and Health and Social Care partnerships to drive improvements in sustainability and the capability of rural and island primary and community care services, aligned to the specific needs of communities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32584 on 14 January 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.

Yes. All FONE group members have the responsibility to report opportunities for new entrants. This includes the Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS), which actively engages with public and private estates to explore what land opportunities they have available. 35 matches have been formalised through the SLMS and they are actively working with 263 individuals on further joint-ventures, including those on private and publicly owned land.

In December 2024, the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity wrote to every Scottish Council leader and Chief Executive asking for their support to consider what land opportunities they can offer agricultural new entrants with the view to engage with each of them directly further.

Yes. FONE has provided considerable and ongoing governance support to each of these Scottish Government funded programmes. FONE group members discuss the SLMS’ progress against its objectives and highlight opportunities for succession that are relevant to the service. It scrutinises progress made against the Scottish Government’s initiative to relaunch the Next Generation Practical Training Fund and takes a similar approach regarding the Land-Based Pre-Apprenticeship Programme. The FONE group is actively considering what further new entrant and next generation support the Scottish Government could consider in the future.