The Scottish Police Authority Budget has not decreased. We have increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013. This includes a record £1.64 billion investment in policing in 2025-26, an increase of £90 million compared to 2024-25.

In addition, £3 million has been made available to Police Scotland to enable it to work in partnership with the Retail Industry Leadership Group, to help tackle retail crime. We recognise that this issue costs businesses millions of pounds each year, and has a knock-on effect on the prices we pay in the shops.

Energy price setting and regulation is fully reserved to UK Government and the Scottish Government has limited powers to intervene. However, we continue to do what we can, within devolved competence, to support households in rural areas with their energy costs.

Our energy efficiency delivery programmes – Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes – support households across the entirety of Scotland who are living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty.

Households in extreme fuel poverty in rural and island areas are able to benefit from energy efficiency improvements worth up to £21,100 as part of our local Area Based Schemes. These councils can apply a higher maxima of grant-in-kind for zero/low carbon heating measures of £9,000, which reflects the greater delivery costs in rural and island areas.

Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) is our national fuel poverty scheme, designed to help those living in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty through installing insulation and heating measures into individual properties. The scheme is delivered by Warmworks and applications are assessed by Home Energy Scotland (HES) under eligibility criteria based on “proxies” such as Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which are an indication of the likelihood of the household living in or being at risk of fuel poverty. To ensure that customers have access to the same set of measures in rural and island areas we use a National Customer Price, this ensures measures are charged at the same level whether they are in rural and remote areas or in the central belt.

We are also aware that island communities, in particular, experience acute financial pressures due to often higher costs of fuel, a colder climate, and a lack of consumer choices compared to the UK mainland. Since 2022, our Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund (ICCEF) has distributed £3.4 million, through local authorities, to support islanders most impacted by the cost of living. The 2024 Programme for Government commits the Scottish Government to continue delivery of this fund and we anticipate that it will be worth a further £1 million in 2025-26. This is in addition to our Winter Heating Benefits which provide guaranteed support to people who have an identified need for additional heat over the winter months, including low-income households, families with disabled children and young people, and pensioners.

However, the fundamental fiscal and policy levers to make a real difference lie with the UK Government. The Scottish Government has recently led and concluded a Social Tariff Working Group with energy suppliers and consumer organisations. We repeatedly called on the previous UK Government to introduce a social tariff mechanism as a means of targeted support for those who need it most and have written to the UK Government seeking urgent delivery of an automatic and targeted discount on energy bills to address unaffordable bills at source. We believe that a sophisticated set of metrics should be developed to determine eligibility, including rurality, recognising the additional costs faced by these households.

We have been clear that market reforms need to deliver tangible benefits and ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition. Rural households face a particular set of challenges and we will continue to advocate for their interests through our engagement with the UK Government, Ofgem, and wider industry.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37086 on 6 May 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

The Scottish Government recognises that pulmonary rehabilitation is an important element of respiratory care and acknowledges the significant impact this treatment can have on people living with respiratory conditions.

In 2024 we worked with stakeholders, including many respiratory physiotherapists and nurse specialists, to develop a service specification for effective pulmonary rehabilitation services across Scotland. These recommendations have been shared with NHS Boards.

We will continue to work with NHS Boards and key partners, including the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, to ensure these recommendations are implemented.

The Scottish Government has had regular engagement with the UK Government at both official and Ministerial level on US developments and the implications of tariffs. I met with the UK Minister for Trade Policy twice recently to discuss this, and the First Minister also met with the Prime Minister on 11 April.

Through these engagements we have welcomed UK Government commitments to uphold high food standards and exclude the NHS from any negotiations, however despite our repeated requests, we have not received further details on the scope of trade negotiations with the USA.

Scottish businesses and interests must not be forgotten and we are therefore continuing to call on the UK Government to share details of the negotiations so that we can assess likely impacts on Scotland and ensure our interests are appropriately represented in any final agreement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37086 on 6 May 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

The Scottish Government recognises the significant impact that bereavement can have on young people and is committed to ensuring that schools are equipped to provide appropriate support.

We published a professional learning resource and a Whole School Approach Framework to assist school staff in supporting children and young people’s mental health. This framework encourages all schools to help young people develop resilience and personal coping skills while ensuring that measures are in place to support those who experience bereavement.

Education Scotland provides a range of materials, including resources specifically focused on bereavement, to aid teachers in delivering sensitive and effective learning on this topic. These resources are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect best practice.

Schools may also refer to the Seasons for Growth programme which contains support around bereavement and trauma. This is in addition to local policies in place for bereavement.

Under Scots law, there are established legal avenues for addressing concerns arising from deaths in the prison estate.

The Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016 requires a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) to be held where the deceased was in legal custody at the time of death. This requirement arises unless the Lord Advocate is satisfied that the circumstances of the death have been sufficiently established during the course of another formal investigation, such as a criminal investigation. FAIs are designed to establish the circumstances of a death and to consider what steps might be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances, including identifying any defects in systems or practices that contributed to the death.

Additionally, individuals employed by Crown bodies can be prosecuted for health and safety offences. There are also relevant statutory offences that could apply following a death in custody, most notably, corporate homicide under the UK-wide Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, for which the Scottish Ministers, via the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), could potentially be held criminally liable.

There are currently no plans to bring forward legislative proposals in this area given the existing Parliamentary timetable.

In consultation with the Lord Advocate, I have commissioned an independent review of the FAI system to focus on improving the efficiency, effectiveness and trauma-informed nature of investigations into deaths in prison custody. The review will also identify the specific barriers that families face in engaging with the process and propose concrete solutions to shortened timescales. From 7 April 2025 close family members who are involved in deaths in custody FAIs also now have access to non-means-tested legal aid.

The retention or otherwise of Crown immunity from prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is a reserved matter for the UK Government. The Scottish Government is committed to working with the UK Government on the removal of corporate Crown immunity from prosecution, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

I recently wrote to the Secretary of State for Justice asking to meeting, with this being one of the several agenda items for discussion. The Secretary of State for Justice has now responded and a meeting will be held in due course.

The Scottish Government provided a Policy Design Specification in October 2023 for formal impact assessment by the DWP, which set out how the Scottish Government would like the split policy to be delivered. I also recently met with Sir Stephen Timms MP, on 30 April, to discuss the UK Governments UC review, highlighting the work being carried out on split payments policy and the need for the UC review to include a gendered analysis. The Scottish Government remains committed to working with the DWP towards delivery of split payments for Universal Credit.