Chamber and committees

The SPCB provides a wide-range of wellbeing services for the benefit of MSPs, their staff and SPCB staff.  This includes an online wellbeing platform which provides access to online fitness programmes, wellbeing podcasts and nutrition guides.  In addition to this, the SPCB provides access to discounts for staff via the Edenred MyLifestyle app, including discounts with a number of corporate gym groups.  Details of how to access these discounts can be found on the SPCB’s intranet.  The SPCB is always looking for ways to improve wellbeing services and welcomes feedback from MSPs, their staff and SPCB staff.

The Government’s Proposal for Reform of Local Governance is a starting point for discussion. It is intended to facilitate debate and discussion with the objective of establishing a measure of shared agreement about the scale and the broad shape that reform could take.

Our proposals should mean decisions are taken closer to people where that could improve local outcomes, on the services and functions most appropriate.

We are aware that there is a lot to explore with partners and to examine in greater detail to support decisions on the future of local governance at the end of the three-month dialogue.

The Scottish Government is committed to establishing Scotland as a leading start-up nation that fosters innovation, creates jobs, and accelerates economic growth.

The Scotland Government’s National Innovation Strategy noted the importance of investing in innovation and since its publication in 2023, we have delivered on a broad range of investments in innovation. This investment is spread across a number of agencies and areas of policy, many of which contribute to the four programmes.

University Research & Innovation

The Scottish Government has invested around £1.3b for core university research and innovation grant funding from Academic Year (AY) 2023-24 to AY 2026-27 to maintain high-quality research and innovation at our universities, in addition to enabling and supporting the First Minister's priorities, such as those outlined in the National Innovation Strategy.

In AY 2026-27, we are investing £355 million for core research and innovation grant, an uplift of 8.1% from the previous year. This includes £30 million invested in the Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund (KEIF) to support university-business interactions, with an uplift of 20%. We are also providing funding of around £14m in academic year 2026-27 to support a portfolio of knowledge exchange and innovation investments to maintain a strong platform for innovation collaboration and for attracting further investment.

Clusters

In 2025-26, the Scottish Government committed and spent £2.1m through the NIS Innovation Clusters programme, to lay the foundations for the systematic cluster development approach and to accelerate the development of seven of Scotland’s key innovation clusters in Critical Technologies, Space, Robotics, the Built Environment, FinTech, Offshore Wind, and Life Sciences.

Alongside investment into establishing and growing strong leadership in these key innovation clusters, this included spend on robust evaluation tools and methods to ensure cluster success is captured; supporting our quantum and photonics to internationalise; helping companies to understand the value and potential of adopting new robotic solutions; funding new opportunities in semiconductor technology for net zero.

Building on this success, the Scottish Government is investing a further £3m in 2026-27 through the NIS Innovation Clusters programme to scale activity to grow these key clusters and their economic impact - Critical Technologies, Space, Robotics, the Built Environment, FinTech, Offshore Wind and Life Sciences. This funding combines core support for Cluster Management Organisations (CMOs) to strengthen their capability and drive delivery of their growth roadmaps, alongside a stimulus fund to support innovative collaborative projects that increase growth, productivity and international competitiveness.

Ecosystem Funding

The Scottish Government has invested £9.5 million since June 2023 through the Ecosystem Fund and associated Community, Pathways and Entrepreneurial Education funds. This investment has supported projects across Scotland that strengthen the start-up ecosystem, widen access to entrepreneurship and develop entrepreneurial education. This includes £1.75 million committed to 44 projects in 2026-27.

Enterprise Agencies

Highlands and Islands Enterprise do not directly deliver the four national programmes, but does support innovation and entrepreneurship through their client engagement model and programmed activity. Annual reports provide a summary of results secured through innovation support including primary measures, and targets out-turns within which a number are attributed to innovation and productivity, including innovation investment. HIE’s Annual Reports and Accounts can be viewed at Annual Report and Accounts | HIE

South of Scotland Enterprise supports innovation through a range of enterprise support. Impact and expenditure is captured in Annual Reports, tracked against the strategic priority of ‘Advancing innovation and improving productivity’. More detail on this is in annual reports published here: Annual Accounts

Scottish Enterprise supports innovation through a range of enterprise support including its hugely successful Scaling Innovation mission. More details on this can be found via: Accessing our information - spending and accounts | Scottish Enterprise

The lead officer functions were aligned to NHS Boards with the capacity and resources required to support the operation of the East and West Subnational Planning and Delivery Committees. As the Chief Executives of those Boards, Professor Caroline Hiscox and Professor Jann Gardner were nominated to undertake the lead officer responsibilities. The roles were therefore not subject to a competitive recruitment process.

The Government’s Proposal for Reform of Local Governance is a starting point for discussion. It is intended to facilitate debate and discussion with the objective of establishing a measure of shared agreement about the scale and the broad shape that reform could take.

The role of authorities in the planning system will be part of this dialogue. Our proposals should mean decisions are taken closer to people where that could improve local outcomes, on the services and functions most appropriate. The existing framework for local development plans remains in place at present and we are supporting their timely delivery.

The Government’s Proposal for Reform of Local Governance is a starting point for discussion. It is intended to facilitate debate and discussion with the objective of establishing a measure of shared agreement about the scale and the broad shape that reform could take.

The possible functions of regional authorities, community authorities and the national parks will be a key part of discussions going forward.

The children and families who arrived under the Gaza medevac scheme in Autumn 2025 received 24-month Leave Outside the Immigration Rules (LOTR) visas from the UK Government. We are not aware that any of the arrivals have returned home to date.

It is right that Scotland has welcomed these child patients and Scottish Government will continue to urge UK Government to provide clarity on their options to remain in Scotland, should they wish to do so beyond the duration of their initial visas.

My officials completed a scoping exercise and considered evidence on: accommodation conditions and the results of engagement with farm employers, local authorities, Scotland’s Rural College, the Workers Support Centre and the National Farmers Union of Scotland.

Following this, the previous Cabinet Secretary for Housing wrote to COSLA on 13 March 2026 outlining our expectations regarding use of Section 315 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 by local authorities to make byelaws for seasonal agricultural worker accommodation, where appropriate to local circumstances.

Planning

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of staff employed in local authority planning services.

In 2025, the National Planning Improvement Champion (NPIC) published a workforce and capacity report, which is available at: www.improvementservice.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/64559/NPIF-Workforce-and-Capacity-Report.pdf. The NPIC is undertaking a survey of planning authorities in order to provide a refreshed evidence base for 2026.

The Scottish Government recognises the financial and capacity pressures facing the planning system and continues to implement a package of measures to provide planning authorities with additional support and resources, including through increased planning fees, support from the National Planning Hub and actions to grow the planning profession in Scotland.

Building Standards

Scottish Ministers appoint local authorities as verifiers to administer the building standards system in Scotland. Scottish Government carries out an annual workforce data collection to measure and monitor the building standards profession in Scotland.

Information is gathered from all 32 local authority verifiers on how the current supply of staff into job roles compares with the demand required to deliver the service. The data collection enables Scottish Government to monitor workforce at a national and local level. The workforce data is considered alongside performance data; this provides an overview of how resourcing challenges may impact the performance of building standards verification services across Scotland and informs ongoing engagement with verifiers.

The workforce data reports are available on the Scottish Government website - https://www.gov.scot/policies/building-standards/workforce-strategy/.

As with Planning, the Scottish Government recognises the pressures faced by local authorities administering the building standards system. The creation of the Scottish Building Standards Hub, increased building warrant fees and strengthened approach to competency management and learning and development, have all been introduced to help support the building standards profession in Scotland.

The Government’s Proposal for Reform of Local Governance is a starting point for discussion. It is intended to facilitate debate and discussion with the objective of establishing a measure of shared agreement about the scale and the broad shape that reform could take.

Our proposals should mean decisions are taken closer to people where that could improve local outcomes, on the services and functions most appropriate. The existing framework of local development plans remains in place at present and we are supporting their timely delivery.