Chamber and committees

As the Care Inspectorate is an independent non-departmental body, it operates at arm’s length from Government. The Care Inspectorate issues its own guidance independently from the Scottish Government to maintain its role as an impartial and objective regulator.

The Scottish Government does not have all the information requested because it does not retain data in relation to office usage for a period of time greater than 24 months. Furthermore, the Scottish Government can only provide data on those buildings where its own data systems are in place. Some locations have landlord data systems in place and the Scottish Government does not have access to that data.

Average occupancy levels are shown in the following table for the buildings where we hold this data, these are taken as an average of attendance levels for a full day every second Tuesday. Bothwell House closed for use by SG core staff in April 2025.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting rural employment and providing ongoing opportunities for those involved or wanting to be involved in our land-based sectors, which each contribute to climate action. We do this through many different initiatives.

As set out in the Land Based Learning Review Implementation plan, which was published on 29 January 2025, acting on the recommendations of the independent review will contribute to attracting and equipping more people with the right skills and knowledge that are vital for economic growth, building sustainable communities and addressing the nature and climate crises.

We fund LANTRA Scotland, to contribute to increasing the number and diversity of skilled employees in the land-based, aquaculture and environment sectors by promoting the diverse and rewarding careers available and the economic and environmental benefits of investing in skills.

We support initiatives such as the Farm Advisory Service, the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund, the New Entrants programme, the Next Generation Practical Training Fund, and the Land-based Pre-apprentice Programme.

Within the forestry sector, examples include: supporting the Industry Leadership Skills Group to establish Forestry Training Services (UK); the delivery of the Women in Forestry and Future Foresters practical training funds; and the Working Woods Scotland course available through the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers.

Through the publication of our upcoming Land use and Agriculture Just Transition Plan and Rural Delivery Plan, we also seek to cover a wider range of key areas that impact on rural employment, such as agriculture, marine, land reform, transport, housing, skills, digital connectivity, economic development, and health and social care.

As the way we use our land evolves and adapts to meet the climate challenge, these activities will ensure the people who work in our agricultural industry and other land-based sectors are supported to continue to deliver both sustainable food production and improved integrated land use.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a sustainable future for our livestock sector - one that reduces emissions while maintaining high-quality food production and rural livelihoods. We are investing in a just transition that helps farmers adopt low-emission practices without simply offshoring our environmental responsibilities through increased imports of high-emission meat and dairy.

However, trade is reserved to the UK Government, and recent UK trade deals risk seriously undermining Scottish producers by allowing imports of food produced to different environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards. These agreements threaten to undercut our farmers and increase the consumption of products with a higher carbon footprint. It is deeply disappointing that neither the current nor previous UK Governments consulted the Scottish Government or undertook any impact assessment that reflected Scotland’s specific circumstances - despite our repeated calls for this. Scotland’s agriculture sector faces unique challenges and must be fully considered when trade deals are negotiated. We will continue to press the UK Government to properly consider the needs of Scottish agriculture and to protect the high standards our farmers and consumers expect.

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of farmed fish very seriously and has committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for production.

We are developing guidance for the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter, which has been developed with the industry and animal welfare bodies.

As stated in my previous response the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are responsible for considering welfare complaints and investigating potential breaches in welfare legislation, and will continue to apply their professional knowledge and training to assess fish welfare against the provisions set out in The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

Scottish Government does not hold this information.

As part of our over-arching Just Transition approach, key sectors are taking steps to support our rural and island communities as we work to reduce our carbon emissions, in particular providing equitable access to funding, ensuring anyone who meets the eligibility criteria can access the financial support they need. Examples include:

• The Small Producers Pilot Fund, where we are helping producers regardless of location to access vital services such as private kill facilities at abattoirs. This approach is part of our broader commitment to empowering small producers to contribute meaningfully to the Vision for Agriculture, ensuring that support is inclusive and regionally balanced.
• The Forestry Grant Scheme, available across Scotland, with over half of the applications being for small woodlands, many from farmers and crofters. A small woods loans scheme is available to help those developing small scale applications access grants, and the level of support for smaller woodland projects has been increased to help counter inflationary pressures. There are also targeted grants with enhanced rates to support crofters for native woodland creation in the crofting counties, including the Western and Northern Isles.
• Peatland ACTION funding, which primarily supports on-the-ground peatland restoration activities and is open for applications from eligible land managers who have peatlands that would benefit from restoration. There are no geographical restrictions or target areas for Peatland ACTION funding.
• The Scottish Government's Nature Restoration Fund, which supports projects that are planning and delivering on the ground activity to protect and restore Scotland's biodiversity while helping us build resilience to climate change. There are no geographical restrictions for the Nature Restoration Fund.
• The FIRNS grant scheme, to support projects that shape and grow the use of private investment and market-based mechanisms to finance the restoration of Scotland’s nature.

Forecasts for the Scottish economy, including inflation, are produced by the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission. Their most recent forecasts were published on 29 May (https://fiscalcommission.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Scotlands-Economic-And-Fiscal-Forecasts-May-2025.pdf).

The Scottish Government has costed the one percentage point above inflation that the Agenda For Change pay deal for 2025-26 and 2026-27 guarantees and is monitoring monthly.

The Scottish Government has committed to co-design the development of future support structures and delivery with rural partners. It is right that we take the time necessary to develop the detail of our policies with the people directly affected by them, which is important if we are to deliver on our commitment to a just transition for our farmers and crofters.

This work is being undertaken within the Agricultural Reform Programme and activity includes stakeholder, customer and public communications and engagement, interviews, surveys, workshops, user testing and trials.

The Agricultural Reform Route Map publicly outlines the phased transition from legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support into the new four-tier framework. It currently sets out the detailed changes for 2025 alongside initial information on the proposed changes for 2026. The Scottish Government has committed to keep the Route Map updated, as additional detail becomes available.

In 2024 our Agricultural Reform Programme Road Show visited 26 events across the country, to talk directly to farmers and crofters about the changes and we will continue to attend shows and markets in 2025. On 2 June 2025, we wrote to everyone that had submitted a Single Application Form this year, to let them know about changes to agricultural support that are coming in 2026. The Scottish Government also funds the Farm Advisory Service, which has also promoted the changes to farmers and crofters, including through in person and online events, podcasts and videos.

The Scottish Government’s Land Use Strategy supports our ambition to achieve sustainable land use in Scotland.

The third Strategy was published in March 2021 and resets our focus on the integrated nature of land use, by showcasing the range of demands and benefits we get from our land.

It is through understanding these multiple and sometimes conflicting relationships that we can look to secure the fine balance that will be needed to allow our land to contribute sustainably to our multiple long term national priorities.

The initial development of Scotland’s fourth Land Use Strategy began in late 2024, with the final strategy due for publication in 2026. It will continue our focus on integration and deriving multiple benefits from land.

We are currently working to finalise the Bioenergy Policy Statement (BPS).The draft BPS sets out the ambition for the future of bioenergy, including outlining principles and priorities for biomass use, pathways for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and the potential to scale up the domestic planting of perennial energy crops. Developing a thriving and homegrown market for the domestic production of energy crops can help deliver a just transition for our energy sector and provide opportunities for rural communities.

Our draft BPS highlights that expanding the domestic planting of energy crops must only be done where it does not negatively impact wider land use needs, and requirements, such as sustainable food production, and development of the bioenergy sector must align with and support Scotland’s goals for protecting and restoring nature.