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The Scottish Government is supporting plans for a more sustainable, productive, innovative and diverse construction industry.

Decisions on whether to install defibrillators in schools are a matter for Local Authorities.

The does not include a specific commitment to placing defibrillators in Scottish schools. Our policy is to work with Save a Life for Scotland partners, taking a data driven approach, to optimise defibrillator placement and ensure they are publicly accessible and registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The Scottish Government provided the Resuscitation Research Group funding for . PADmap is a free to use, data-driven service to help defibrillator guardians make informed decisions about where to place their devices in order to have the most impact.

Section 259 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 gives people with a mental illness, learning disability, dementia and related conditions a right of access to independent advocacy. It confers a duty on each relevant local authority and relevant health board to secure the availability of independent advocacy services and to take appropriate steps to ensure that those persons have the opportunity of making use of those services.

The Code of Practice Volume 1 for the 2003 Act states that independent advocacy organisations may provide individual or collective advocacy, but notes the Act is not specific about the type or types of independent advocacy services to which an individual should have a right of access. It goes on to acknowledge that any or all of the various types of independent advocacy may be appropriate depending on the circumstances and personal preferences of the individual concerned.

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 '', 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.

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:

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.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate and the Scottish Government expect them to exercise their statutory responsibilities and deliver a safe environment for all school users.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding a year to ensure access to school counselling services across Scotland.

As part of the commitment, local authorities provide reports on school counselling services which includes number of counsellors in post (this relates to number rather than FTE).

There is variation in how the access to counselling service is being delivered across authorities. Some authorities employ counsellors directly, while others procure third sector counselling.

The following table shows the numbers of counsellors local authorities reported were in post in each of the reporting periods.

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 service delivery. A summary of these reports can be found at: