Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s proposals for local government reform will not alter the constitutional, or statutory status of Scotland’s two National Park Authorities. The Scottish Government’s proposals for local government reform 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 relationship of regional authorities to Scotland’s two national park authorities will be taken into consideration during that dialogue.

Scotland's National Parks include board members representing all local authorities currently within their respective areas. 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.

There were 62 students in the final-year cohort of the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme in academic year 2025-26.

The Scottish Government is a core partner in the Partners in Planning network, which supports planning education and skills development across Scotland. This provides a forum for engagement with planning schools, Heads of Planning Scotland, COSLA, industry and other partners on the skills and workforce challenges facing the profession.

Over the past two months, officials have met with each of Scotland’s RTPI-accredited planning schools and a college provider. A key focus of this engagement has been around raising the profile of planning to attract more people into the profession, building future workforce capacity and ensuring education and training provision meets the needs of employers. We will continue to work closely with education providers to support these objectives.

We also recently endorsed the creation of a new Graduate Apprenticeship pathway into planning at Heriot-Watt University. The new course would provide an important new route into the profession, supporting efforts to expand planning education and develop the future planning workforce in Scotland.

For the 2026 graduating cohort, 62 ScotGEM students were nominated by the medical school. Of these, one individual withdrew prior to allocation and two withdrew following allocation, leaving 59 trainees allocated to Foundation Programmes.

Of the 59 trainees allocated in 2026, 47 were allocated to Foundation Programmes in Scotland and 12 were allocated elsewhere in the UK. The Scottish allocations are broken down by NHS Board in the following table.

The deadline for submitting evidence for the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) was 30 September 2026. As of 28 September 2026, 495 businesses that have submitted evidence for their FFIS grant and also claim BPS are still undergoing verification checks.

No payments have been delayed as the payment window for BPS runs between September and June. BPS payments are not guaranteed in a particular payment run.

A free, vibrant, and independent press is essential and the Scottish Government is committed to playing our part to ensure it is maintained.

We have ongoing engagement on these matters but have not specifically engaged with Smiths News PLC regarding its ten-year distribution agreements with News UK and DMG Media, nor on regional newspaper distribution in rural and island communities.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with ScotRail, Network Rail and the British Transport Police (BTP) to prevent and address crime and anti-social behaviour across Scotland's railway network, in order to maximise safety for all passengers and staff.

As part of this, the Scottish Government convened the Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group, which is comprised of key partners across the rail industry including BTP. This Group was tasked with mapping and assessing current enforcement powers and their effectiveness, with a view to considering where these can be strengthened or developed further to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. The Group published its final report and recommendations earlier this year, and officials at Transport Scotland are currently assessing the feasibility of them.

In relation to Lochgelly station, the BTP has recorded consistently low levels of crime in recent years. Since April 2026, BTP has recorded two offences at the station, both relating to trespass. In 2025-26, BTP recorded eight offences at Lochgelly, with a further eight offences recorded in 2024-25.

The use of planning frameworks, including marine planning, is listed in the current UK Marine Strategy Part 3: 2025 UK Programme of Measures. The programme of measures was developed through collaboration amongst the UK government and devolved administrations with input from scientific experts and policy makers and drawing on the information set out in other parts of UKMS. A copy of the current programme of measures can be found at Marine Strategy part three: 2025 UK programme of measures.

The number of pothole compensation claims made against trunk road Operating Companies and Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) companies that remained outstanding at the end of each year since 2021 is set out in the following table.