• Dunlop responds to embargoed PISA report
• Scottish Lib Dems seek urgent meeting with Justice Secretary over violence against women
• PISA shows almost two thirds of pupils suffering from lack of assisting staff
• Harley: A&E waits are totally unacceptable
• Chou Turvey comments on 14% rise in domestic abuse charges reported to Crown Office

Dunlop responds to embargoed PISA report

Responding to the embargoed news that Scotland has recorded its worst ever results for reading and maths in the PISA international comparison of 91 countries’ education systems, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Duncan Dunlop MSP said:

Once the best in the world, Scottish education just isn’t what it used to be. Under the SNP, our education system has tumbled down the rankings, lagging behind England on every measure of performance. This report makes for brutal reading.

Pupils with additional support needs aren’t having their needs met, too many pupils are frequently absent, and classrooms are more violent than ever before.

Pupils, parents and teachers feel let down. They deserve better.

Scottish Liberal Democrats want to give real power to schools, head teachers and communities because they know what pupils in their area need best. That’s on top of our plans to end the use of short-term and zero hours contracts for teachers and recruit 2,000 more pupil support assistants so that children who need extra help are able to receive it.

All of this is how we can give every child the best start in life and get Scottish education back to its best.

Scottish Lib Dems seek urgent meeting with Justice Secretary over violence against women

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Yi-pei Chou Turvey MSP has today sought an urgent meeting with Neil Gray, Scottish Justice Secretary, after failing to receive a response to her party’s letter to the First Minister about tackling violence against women, which was sent more than two months ago.

In her letter to Neil Gray, the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP said there is a “growing backlog of promised measures that seem nowhere close to being delivered”.

During First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called on John Swinney to act with urgency to tackle violence against women and girls. He said that it should not take victims, including those like Vikki Soloman and Stacy Hunter, to lose their lives before proper action is taken.

The party has also repeatedly criticised the delayed implementation of Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, which give police and courts to power to remove a domestic abuser from a victim’s home immediately after an incident.

These protections have still not been rolled out, despite parliament passing them over five years ago. At the start of July, Scottish Liberal Democrats wrote to the First Minister, asking him if he would set out a timeline for bringing them into force. As at the time of writing, he has yet to respond.

Yi-pei Chou Turvey’s letter to Scottish Justice Secretary Neil Gray is as follows:

Dear Neil,

I am writing to you following the Programme for Government published this week and your government’s statement commitment to tackling violence against women and girls.

You have rightly identified this violence as a “pernicious situation” and “a malignant malevolence”. You have highlighted that increasing reports of sexual crime are of “deep concern”, as they should be to all of us in this parliament.

As you will be aware, three Scottish women died at the hands of men this July. I want the Scottish Government to succeed in stamping out the violent and misogynistic attitudes that lay behind these deaths, but it should not take victims to lose their lives before proper action is taken.

There are still men in this country who do not see women as human beings. Rather, they see them as bodies that they can grab and hit, when they please. They see them as bodies that they can hunt and kill, when they grow tired. This has always been true, and it is still depressingly true now.

Far too many women are also suffering mental abuse and coercive control at the hands of their current or former partners. I am particularly concerned by the prevalence of abusers who weaponize and exploit our justice system, whether through the police or the courts, to exert further control over their victims

From the delays to the sexual offences court to the failure to implement key domestic abuse protections, there is a growing backlog of promised measures that seem nowhere close to being delivered. The only way to break this cycle is to translate warm words into action. Will you, therefore, meet with me to discuss how exactly the Scottish Government plans to implement measures to tackle violence against women, and will you also set out a clear timeline for bringing Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders into force?

Yours sincerely,

Yi-pei Chou Turvey
MSP for North East Scotland
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson

PISA shows almost two thirds of pupils suffering from lack of assisting staff

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Duncan Dunlop MSP has today said that reports in the 2025 PISA study of a shortage of teachers and school staff is directly linked to the mess the SNP have made of teacher training, which is “preventing children from reaching their full potential and getting on in life.”

The PISA study is an international comparison of 91 countries’ education systems.

It showed that in Scotland in 2025:

• 50.9% of pupils attended schools where headteachers reported that a lack of teaching staff hindered instruction to some extent or a lot- this compares with just 39% across other PISA countries.
• Almost two thirds of pupils attended schools where headteachers reported that a lack of assisting staff hindered instruction to some extent or a lot- this compares with just 38.5% across other PISA countries.

Duncan Dunlop MSP said:

This is directly related to the mess the SNP have made of teacher training. It’s preventing children from reaching their full potential and getting on in life.

The fundamental problem is that we are not recruiting enough teachers in the subjects we need, including STEM.

The government is also continuing to train far more primary teachers than schools need, with thousands of primary teachers either unemployed or sitting on short-term contracts for years on end. It doesn’t make any sense.

One practical solution would be to make it much easier for primary school teachers to requalify and go to work in our secondary schools. Ministers should also listen to our plans to recruit 2,000 more pupil support assistants, and 370 additional speech and language therapists across the country, making sure that children who need extra help are able to receive it.

Harley: A&E waits are totally unacceptable

Responding to new figures showing that in the week ending 30th August, 11,811 patients waited over 4 hours, the second highest number of people to wait over 4 hours in a week, while 4,457 waited over 8 hours, and 1,880 waited over 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Adam Harley MSP said:

When the SNP first took power, virtually no one was waiting more than 12 hours at A&E, but now over 1,000 people are experiencing these waits every week.

These waits are totally unacceptable and are happening because too many hospital beds are occupied by patients who can’t get the care package they need to return home.

John Swinney needs to make sure that any NHS reform directly addresses the daily pressures our NHS is facing and tackles the crisis in social care. That’s the only way we can help people leave hospital on time, free up bed space and get everyone the care they need when they need it.

Chou Turvey comments on 14% rise in domestic abuse charges reported to Crown Office

Commenting on 34,586 charges of domestic abuse being reported to the Crown Office in 2025-26, a 14% rise compared to the previous year, and the highest number of charges reported since 2014-15, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Yi-pei Chou Turvey MSP said:

With the majority of domestic abuse cases involving a female victim and a male perpetrator, this disturbing increase reveals there is still a long way to go in ending violence against women and girls.

Ultimately, there are still men in this country who do not view women as human beings. I am worried that efforts to address misogynistic and violent attitudes have stalled, including the extremely delayed implementation of domestic abuse protections, which parliament passed over five years ago.

I wrote to the First Minister about this issue at the beginning of the summer, but two months on, I have yet to receive a reply.

That is why I have now sought an urgent meeting with the Justice Secretary for clarity on how exactly the government plans to translate its warm words into action.