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The Scottish Government monitors the numbers of empty homes annually when it publishes the statistical bulletin on empty properties, unoccupied exemptions and second homes. The data is sourced from council tax base returns collected from local authorities and includes stock of all tenures i.e. social housing, private rented housing, and owner-occupied homes. Further information is available from the Scottish Government website at: .

Short term empty homes are a natural feature of the housing market. However when homes in private ownership lay empty for longer than 6 months the reasons can be complex and building relationships with owners is often the key to unlocking them. That is why we continue to invest in the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership and our network of empty homes officers. Our investment of £3.7 million has helped to bring more than 11,000 privately owned empty homes to active use since 2010. Building on this success we are investing a further £2 million in 2025-26 that will enhance the support local authorities receive from the Partnership, increase the numbers of empty homes officers and fund a range of initiatives aimed at overcoming common barriers. This record level of investment seeks to increase the scale of work taking place and enable better targeting of resources to help return more homes to active use in places where they have the most impact. On enforcement we are taking forward a compulsory purchase reform programme which aims to make the process clearer, fairer and faster. In the meantime, the Partnership are working with local authorities to increase the use of the existing system through the development of a new hub project which aims to provide support to help identify suitable cases and bring them forward.

For homes in the social sector we have placed a specific focus on bringing voids back in to use and are already seeing the impacts of this work with numbers reducing significantly. In Edinburgh, for example, the Council’s management information shows that void levels have been cut by over 50% since June 2023. This progress is down to work of local authorities together with the £40m acquisition and social voids funding which Scottish Government has provided. We are now taking this learning to other areas.

The guidance on the education of children and young people unable to attend school due to ill health was published in June 2015 and remains current.

Ministers have committed to ensuring the national guidance remains up to date and will review, if appropriate, whether or not amendments require to be made. The overall decision making, in relation to charging however, is ultimately a matter for Local Authorities and Health Boards.

The shipbuilding sector plays a vital role in supporting jobs and driving economic growth across Scotland. We are committed to promoting manufacturing and innovation, and Ministers continue to engage with businesses in the sector as part of that commitment.

Scotland has significant naval shipbuilding expertise and we would expect that any future UK Government contracts will provide a substantial contribution to the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government’s long-standing policy position is that it does not use public money to support the manufacture of munitions.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The assessment of requests and permission for officers seeking additional jobs or business interests are matters for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government values the dedication shown by police officers in Scotland. That’s why our police officers remain the best paid in the UK recognising the hard work and valuable contribution they make daily as well as our commitment to investing in policing.

The assessment of requests and permission for officers seeking additional jobs or business interests are matters for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland has confirmed that an assessment is undertaken of every application for additional business interests, many of these agreed to are voluntary or charitable posts.

The Scottish Government values the dedication shown by police officers in Scotland. That’s why our police officers remain the best paid in the UK, recognising the hard work and valuable contribution they make daily, as well as our commitment to investing in policing.

Marketing expenditure of £3.8m was spent on the Let's Do Net Zero campaign, covering the period from its development in 2020-21 through to the current financial year 2024-25.

This campaign is delivered as part of the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Public Engagement Strategy and specifically supports the strategic objective to ensure that people are aware of the action that all of Scotland is taking to tackle climate change and understand how it relates to their lives. The campaign seeks to motivate households to take action in the areas that will have the biggest impact in reducing emissions. Evidence, including from the Climate Change Committee’s Citizen panels, suggest that communications of this nature are both necessary and welcome as part of Scotland’s journey towards net zero.

The Scottish Government recently published the Climate Change – public engagement strategy:mid point review (April 2025) which reflects on the results delivered to date and includes a summary of outcomes and learning related to the Let’s Do Net Zero campaign. Independent evaluation shows that:

• Paid-for Let’s Do Net Zero campaigns typically reach a large proportion of people in Scotland: for example, the October 2021 communications activity reached 3,475,000 (75%) of adults in Scotland, who saw the activity on average 9.7 times.
• Seeing messaging relating to the need to take action to tackle climate change has a positive impact on the target audience’s commitment to taking action: for example, 76% of campaign recognisers were motivated to take action in November 2024 versus 49% of non-recognisers.

The Review’s findings indicate that the public want to see more mass communication on climate change from the Scottish Government and want to hear more on the urgency of the climate crisis from Government, balanced with communication on the practical actions that people can take, and their co-benefits.

Universities are autonomous bodies and operate within a legal framework which places duties on them to uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom, most notably under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016. These duties apply alongside legal obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality (Scotland) Act 2010. This includes the Public Sector Equality Duty reporting and the statutory requirement that Universities undertake Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessments of their policies.

Universities must also comply with the Scottish Code of Good Higher Education Governance. Institutions are required to report on their compliance with the Code in their annual accounts.

Compliance with the Code of Good Governance is a condition of grant from the Scottish Funding Council. Regulatory bodies including the Scottish Charity Regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman also have an interest in how institutions exercise their legal responsibilities.

Bullying, harassment and unacceptable behaviour of any form cannot be tolerated within society or within policing. Police officers do an incredibly difficult job and the vast majority conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism. However, when things do go wrong, it is essential there are robust, clear and transparent mechanisms in place to investigate complaints or other issues of concern.

The new Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Act, which became law in March, introduces several measures to improve the police complaints and misconduct systems and enhance the accountability of officers. It will allow for gross misconduct proceedings to continue or commence following an officer’s resignation or retirement and ongoing vetting throughout officers’ careers. The Scottish Government is also consulting with policing partners on proposals for further changes to police conduct regulations.

Ensuring public trust in police officers is vital and this legislation is building on the range of changes already delivered since Dame Elish Angiolini’s independent review of policing in November 2020.