Chamber and committees

Local authorities are responsible for managing their school estate in line with statutory duties and ensure that capacity assessments reflect modern educational design requirements. The Determining Primary School Capacity guidance recognises evolving approaches to school design and supports authorities in assessing planning and working capacity accordingly.

It is for individual planning authorities to determine whether to seek developer contributions towards infrastructure delivery to enable development, whilst also considering the level of contributions and the potential impact on the viability of development. Developer contributions sought via Section 75 planning obligations should comply with the tests set out in National Planning Framework 4 and Circular 4/2025.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to manage their school estate, and determining appropriate Pupil Product Ratios (PPR). The Scottish Government does not hold national data comparing pupil yields with PPR assumptions, however, the Determining Primary School Capacity guidance supports local authorities in using locally derived evidence within their planning models. Any review of PPRs in light of future census data remains a matter for each authority.

Any changes to existing funded early learning and childcare arrangements will be a matter for an incoming government to address.

There has been no specific modelling carried out on how this proposal would support the retention of multiple-birth parents in the workforce.

The Scottish Government published updated statutory RSHP teaching guidance in February 2026. The revised teaching guidance reflects the issues currently facing children and young people, especially around inclusivity, consent and healthy relationships as well as online influences.

Regarding content of the Scottish curriculum, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-30034 on 3 October 2024, and S6W-32189 on 23 December 2024. 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 impact of deprivation on attainment is well understood and addressed through the Strategic Attainment Challenge Programme. The Scottish Government implements a range of policies, including Free School Meals, to mitigate the impact of poverty on pupils, support readiness to learn and contribute to the aims of the Scottish Attainment Challenge to close the poverty-related attainment gap. Taken together, these measures form part of our wider approach to equity in education and support our ongoing work to close the poverty-related- attainment gap. A summative evaluation report on the Scottish Attainment Challenge was published on 17 March, highlighting significant system-wide progress in embedding a culture of equity in Scotland’s education system and can be accessed on gov.scot.

While the Scottish Government does not evaluate the impact of Free School Meals on attainment, it does collect annual data on the number of registrations and uptake of meals, which are published on gov.scot. This helps inform decisions on future expansion of the programme.

Individual Local Authorities, as employers, are responsible for managing teaching vacancies and providing job opportunities across Scotland. Teaching vacancies are advertised across Scotland, throughout the year, through a process of fair and open recruitment. Local authorities must balance the teaching jobs they advertise with their local needs and contexts, including the type of contracts and posts they make available.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes annual data on the number of teachers employed across Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities through the Annual Teacher Census. This data can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/collections/school-education-statistics/

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of teacher permanence, and the stability and assurance this brings to teachers. That is why we continue to invest £186.5 million to help restore teacher numbers. We continue to work closely with COSLA on medium and long-term joint workforce planning, which will take into account the importance of responding to issues such as teacher permanence.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of walking for physical and mental wellbeing regularly reported in the Scotland Walking and Cycling Index. However, as with the response to PQ S6W-44458 on 24 March 2026 pavement maintenance is the responsibility of councils as entirely separate entities from the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has committed to respecting local government’s democratic mandate as part of the Verity House Agreement.

Local authorities have statutory duties under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to maintain footways and secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of people using their footways.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

It is for all external bodies, including local authorities, to ensure that they comply with all legal requirements. This includes the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act 2010. Responsibility for oversight of compliance with the Equality Act 2010 rests with the Equality & Human Rights Commission. The Commission is independent and cannot be directed by Scottish Ministers. Private individuals can seek to enforce their rights under the Equality Act in courts and tribunals.

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 social isolation and loneliness is a public health issue. Our social isolation and loneliness strategy, A Connected Scotland, outlines a number of actions we are taking to tackle this issue and is underpinned by a delivery plan, entitled ‘Recovering Our Connections’, that we published in 2023. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) as the key representative organisation for local government in Scotland, was a key partner in developing this plan. We continue to work with the Social Isolation and Loneliness Advisory Group to drive forward the actions in the plan and are providing £3.8m over three years to 53 community projects across Scotland through the Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund that is providing opportunities for people to connect.

As with the responses to PQs S6W-44458 & S6W-44459 on 24 March 2026, pavement maintenance is the responsibility of councils, as entirely separate entities from the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has committed to respecting local government’s democratic mandate as part of the Verity House Agreement and believes that locally elected representatives are best placed to make decisions at a local level. We would therefore not provide guidance to councils on what footway routes they should prioritise.

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.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to manage their school estate, including assessing the impact of all housing developments on school capacity.

The Scottish Government’s Determining Primary School Capacity guidance provides a consistent framework for assessing planning and working capacity, supporting local authorities to respond to pressures arising from windfall sites. Decisions on mitigating capacity pressures, including infrastructure timing, are matters for each local authority.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to manage their school and early learning and childcare (ELC) estate. While the Determining Primary School Capacity guidance focuses on primary school capacity, authorities are expected to consider ELC requirements in their wider estate planning and to secure any necessary developer contributions. The Scottish Government has no plans to issue updated guidance at this time, as decisions on forecasting and securing contributions sit with local authorities.

National Planning Framework 4 supports an Infrastructure First approach, recognising the importance of aligning development and infrastructure provision. Local development plans are expected to be informed by evidence on the infrastructure of the area, including ELC settings, primary and secondary schools. Where infrastructure is necessary to enable development, it is a decision for the planning authority whether it should be funded – in full or in part – through developer contributions, taking local needs and development viability into account.