Chamber and committees

A total of £41,649,182.68 was spent through Phase 2 of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB2) supporting delivery of 263 zero-emission buses and coaches. No additional funding was requested by participating operators.

With every £1 of public funding leveraging in £3 of private investment, ScotZEB2 has successfully demonstrated how collaboration between operators, manufacturers, energy providers and financiers can accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transport across Scotland.

The UK Marine Strategy Part 2: UK updated monitoring programmes available at:

Marine strategy part two: UK marine monitoring programmes - GOV.UK outlines monitoring programmes across the UK intended to inform assessments of Good Environmental Status in UK waters. Monitoring undertaken through these programmes contributes to the UK Marine Strategy assessment and often supports wider international obligations, including those arising from the OSPAR Convention.

The Scottish National Investment Bank publishes information on its investment portfolio, including the recipient and amount invested, on its website: Our investment portfolio supports businesses, projects and communities that align with our missions | Scottish National Investment Bank. Information on the financial return achieved on individual investments is not published as this is commercially confidential.

Information relating to the value of the contract for the provision of RPAS for Marine Directorate is publicly available within the contract award notice. The award notice can be accessed via the Public Contracts Scotland website. The notice sets out the contract value and other relevant procurement information.

The Scottish Government considers that consultees have sufficient information to provide informed views on the management options presented. The consultation is supported by a range of assessments, including a Strategic Environmental Assessment and a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment, which set out the likely environmental, social and economic effects of the proposals and the evidence underpinning those assessments.

The Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) assesses the potential economic and social impacts of the proposed fisheries management measures and proposed PMF management areas. It focuses on current fishing activity, including landings, employment and fishing effort data, to estimate the effects of the proposed measures at site level for MPAs and at a regional level for proposed PMF management areas.

The assessment primarily considers economic impacts on commercial fishing activities, social impacts on individuals, communities and society, impacts on ecosystem services and economic impacts on the public sector.

The methodology follows the Scottish Government’s guidance for undertaking SEIAs for MPAs in inshore waters, which was co-developed through stakeholder engagement. In assessing each management option, the SEIA considers the extent to which fishing activity may be displaced and whether affected vessels may be able to continue operating elsewhere without significant economic, environmental or social impacts.

The purpose of the SEIA is to assess the reasonably foreseeable impacts of the proposed management measures on existing activities. It was not designed to model future sectoral transition scenarios or predict the extent to which fishers may adopt alternative fishing methods.

The SEIA focuses on assessing the reasonably foreseeable impacts of the proposed measures on existing fishing activities, rather than modelling potential future transition pathways within the sector.

The latest data from the UK Innovation Survey shows that, between 2020-2022 and 2022-2024, the proportion of businesses innovation active decreased for Scotland, the UK and for most regions within the UK.

‘Energy prices’ was the most important factor given by survey respondents in constraining innovation activity for innovators in Scotland and UK-wide in 2022-2024: an estimated 23.2% and 23.9% respectively rated it as ‘high’ importance.

In both Scotland and UK-wide, the most common reason given for not innovating in 2022-2024 was ‘No need due to previous innovations’; this was a reason for an estimated 51.6% of non-innovators in Scotland and 47.4% in the UK.

More detail is available from the Scottish Government statistical release UK innovation survey 2025: results for Scotland - gov.scot, which was published on the 16th of September 2026.

The Scottish Government continues to work with the other governments of the UK to implement and review measures intended to support progress towards Good Environmental Status in UK waters.

The findings of the 2026 assessment of Good Environmental Status will inform the next review of the Programme of Measures developed under the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010. The Programme of Measures is kept under periodic review through the cyclical process established under those Regulations.

I will be meeting with representatives from Better Buses for Strathclyde and other stakeholders in the coming weeks to discuss their views on what proposals should be considered for the Better Buses Legislation programme. In addition, my officials will be undertaking further opportunities for engagement and discussion with a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of the Better Buses campaign groups, on the development of the proposals for the Better Buses programme.

We are at the very start of the engagement process with regards to these proposals, and I am happy to engage with all stakeholders who have an interest in this issue.

Suicide Prevention Scotland recently reviewed the academic evidence on teaching suicide prevention in schools. While the findings suggest there can be benefits from suicide prevention awareness education, some studies have identified an increased risk for students. Work is underway through the Creating Hope Together Action Plan to identify and evaluate delivery models which mitigate the risks and strengthen guidance and resources for schools to ensure appropriate safeguarding, staff training and access to support services are embedded.

Resources to support learning in mental health, self-harm, and suicide prevention are available from Education Scotland, including professional learning and links to NHS Inform. There is also a comprehensive package of resources including information on support organisations, designed to help primary and secondary school staff to support the positive mental wellbeing of learners.

It is for teachers, schools and local authorities to determine how best to deliver learning and teaching on suicide prevention, in line with the Curriculum for Excellence. We expect teachers to use their professional judgement, experience and understanding of their pupils to respond sensitively to complex and challenging issues.

Scotland has limited detailed data on the relationship between health and economic inactivity. In its 2025-26 Programme for Government, Scottish Government committed to evaluate the impact of changes to health and work services, following improvement to access in 2024-25.

Working Health Services Scotland (WHSS), which provides occupational health support to self-employed and people working in small-to-medium sized businesses, saw an expansion to its opening hours to 8am-8pm from January 2025.

WHSS holds a unique dataset on clients seeking support, some of whom are at risk of long-term ill health and extended time away from work. Analysts within the Scottish Government are taking forward work to explore the WHSS dataset for the years 2019-2025, to better understand client characteristics, health conditions, support received, and employment outcomes.

Particular focus will be given to individuals who remain out of work or unemployed following intervention, to improve understanding of factors associated with labour market disengagement. Findings will contribute to the evidence base underpinning Scottish Government policy on reducing economic inactivity and help identify opportunities for targeted support.

The project will also support WHSS in improving understanding of its clients and enhancing service delivery. A report will be published on these findings in early 2027.