³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

The number of convictions and sentence imposed in Scottish courts where the main charge was under section 2(1) of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 since it came into force on 20 December 2017 to 2022-23 are as follows:

The following table shows the number of crimes involving the illegal use of an air weapon, by Local Authority, split by main perpetrator age (where identified). This is sourced from the Crimes and offences involving a firearm Official Statistics, for which the latest published year is 2021-22. Future updates will follow the conclusion of a review by analysts from Scottish Government and Police Scotland into the methodology for producing this data. Unlike other crime-based official statistics, the current approach relies on the manual review of crime records to identify relevant cases, which is resource intensive and requires significant time to complete. An update on the outcome of this work is planned for early Autumn, and users can register for this through the .

Crimes involving illegal use of an air weapon 2018-19 to 2021-22

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish employment rate estimates for 16 to 64 year olds by Scottish parliamentary constituency from the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS). The latest available estimates are for January to December 2024:

ONS state that although the APS estimates are robust at headline regional level, there are concerns with the quality of the estimates in recent years for smaller groups of the population such as local authority and Scottish parliamentary constituency level estimates.

We recognise the importance of the shipbuilding sector for Scotland’s economy including its strategic importance in shaping Scotland’s future workforce. That is why we are already undertaking a major programme of reform to the skills system to ensure that it meets Scotland’s needs, including investing up to £2 million to develop engineering skills in the Glasgow City Region, designed by the Clyde Maritime Cluster in partnership with Skills Development Scotland. We are also actively engaging with the UK Government on the development of its forthcoming Industrial Strategy and its planned review of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, emphasising Scotland's strengths in shipbuilding and maritime technology. However, the Scottish Government’s long-standing policy position is that neither the Government nor its agencies use public money to support the manufacture of munitions.

The Scottish Government provides direct funding for Business Gateway but does not hold information on how that funding is spent within each hub. Please contact Business Gateway on [email protected] if you would like to address this question to them directly.

The Scottish Government supports the full range of businesses primarily through its enterprise agencies, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise. As such the allocation of this direct funding to the size of businesses is held by each agency along with the number of businesses supported outside the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Please email Scottish Government Enterprise Sponsorship team on [email protected] if you would like to contact the agencies directly.

This information is available from the Office of Rail and Road statistics portal, published on its website. The Member may wish to access the following link, which will provide the information requested:

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent, as confirmed by the Accounts Commission.

As part of the record funding package for Local Government, in 2025-26 North Ayrshire Council will receive £383.8 million to support day to day services, which equates to an extra £21.2 million or an additional 5.8 per cent compared to 2024-25. Taken together with the decision to increase Council Tax by 7 per cent, North Ayrshire Council will have an additional £25.7 million to support front line services in 2025-26.

Decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and announced as part of the outcome of future Scottish Budgets.

However, the record funding settlement for Local Government in 2025-26 was the result of early and meaningful engagement between Scottish Government, COSLA and Councils. We remain committed to ensuring the sustainability of local services going forward and budget engagement ahead of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget has already commenced.

We do not have the specific information requested. However, we know that people who are neurodivergent can find it more difficult to secure and maintain employment. Some of the barriers were highlighted in responses to the public consultation on the proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill. The Scottish Government wants to ensure that neurodivergent people are supported to work and that our economy can benefit from their skills and talents as much as possible.

In 2016, we committed to halving the Disability Employment Gap, outlining the initial steps that would be taken to achieve this by 2038 in A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan, published in 2018. To improve employment opportunities for those who face many structural barriers on the labour market, we have carried forward several actions into our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Fair Work Nation by 2025, published in December 2022. Input was provided by disabled people and their representative organisations.

Local Government have the statutory responsibility for education so this information is not held centrally.