³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

The SQA are currently located in the Lowden Building in Dalkeith and Optima Building in Glasgow. These locations will transfer to Qualifications Scotland and so there will be no relocation cost.

The transition from the Scottish Qualifications Authority to Qualifications Scotland through our Education Reform Programme in 2025-26 is forecast to cost approximately £0.3m for rebranding and £0.436m for restructuring, to meet the Bill requirements, as voted for by Parliament in June 2025.

I visited the site of a wildfire in Carrbridge on 17 July and I appreciate the concerns about muirburn licensing scheme with regard to fuel loads. I would like to repeat my thanks to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the gamekeepers, land managers, volunteers, partners, landowners, extended local community, wider land management sector and indeed to everyone who played a part in getting the recent wildfires under control.

Muirburn continues to be permitted and under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 a licensing scheme will come into force on 01 January. The introduction of the licensing scheme has been delayed slightly, which will allow time for us to better understand the circumstances and effect of the wildfires that have occurred this summer.

The purpose of the muirburn licensing scheme is to minimise risk of damaging effects and address potential benefits such as the reduction of fuel loads. It will ensure that muirburn is being undertaken in an environmentally sustainable manner, with due consideration of all the possible consequences. If muirburn is undertaken without due consideration of all the possible consequences, it undoubtedly has the potential to have a serious negative impact on wildlife and the wider environment. However, the Scottish Government is aware that muirburn can also have a positive impact, creating beneficial habitats for certain species or helping reduce fuel loads and lower the risk of wildfires.

I recognise that there are still some concerns over licensing and fuel load management, and we continue to discuss how best to implement the licensing scheme effectively with practitioners and the agencies involved. Everyone understands there are real benefits to the licensing scheme, from creating beneficial habitat to ensuring safe and responsible practices and where muirburn is taking place which is helpful in ensuring it is being done with due consideration.

The Scottish Government is taking robust action to tackle sexual offending through the Equally Safe Strategy – focusing on prevention, improving our laws, and encouraging more victims to come forward. The Scottish Government has provided funding of over £6 million to Rape Crisis Scotland’s National Advocacy Service over the last three years, and over £2 million in 2025-26. This funding provides a key support worker in every centre in Scotland, recognising the important role of advocacy services in supporting victims and giving them confidence to come forward to engage with the justice process. In addition, support for victims is available from the Victim Centred Approach Fund. We will provide £32 million to 23 organisations between 2025-2027 from this Fund, including £12 million to Victim Support Scotland.

The new Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Act introduces several measures to improve police complaints and misconduct systems, including enhancing integrity and accountability of police officers and providing for ongoing vetting throughout all officers' careers. We are consulting on proposals for further changes to police conduct regulations, including accelerated misconduct proceedings.

The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested as exits from the Scottish Landlord Register and changes in portfolio size are not tracked.

The following table shows active registrations on the Register in March 2024 and March 2025.

The Scottish Government commissioned a report into the security of supply of Scotland’s electricity system. This report, Electricity system security of supply in Scotland, was published on the ClimateXChange website in December 2023.

The Scottish Government has prioritised action on marine litter through the Marine Litter Strategy for Scotland. We published our refreshed Strategy in September 2022, which sets out a co-ordinated approach to address the amount of litter entering the marine environment and supports the removal of debris that is already there. The Strategy contains multiple actions on the most problematic types of marine litter, including sewage-related debris and wet wipes. We are working across the four nations to put an end to pollution caused by wet wipes containing plastic, with legislation forthcoming. Scottish Water are a valued member of our Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group, which oversees the work of the Strategy.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have asked for. This is because payment data available for reporting from the Scottish Government financial management system does not provide the level of detail needed to breakdown the individual items included within the total amount invoiced, therefore we are not able to split out the costs for advertising and consultancy fees.

Scottish Government marketing spend is published annually on and includes cost breakdown per consultancy.

The Scottish Government publishes monthly figures on the number of registered landlords and properties using information from the Scottish Landlord Register .

Scottish Government consultation with the trade unions is ongoing and at this stage of the process there are no outcomes to report.

All children and young people should receive the support they need to reach their full potential. Independent schools have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with disabilities. The Scottish Government encourages parents to discuss any reasonable adjustments that may be required for their child with their school in the first instance. Where there are concerns that a disabled pupil is being discriminated against in school, families have recourse to the

Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, education authorities have a duty to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of pupils for whose education they are responsible. These duties apply when an education authority has placed a child or young person at an independent school.

Where a child or young person has been placed in an independent school by their family, education authorities have a discretionary power, rather than a duty, under the 2004 Act to provide support. In these circumstances, it is a matter for individual education authorities to decide whether support should be provided. Education authorities are supported in implementing the 2004 Act through the .