Chamber and committees

Section 47 of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 requires the Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish an environmental policy strategy. There is no deadline set in the Act for the publication of a strategy. The Scottish Government published the Environment Strategy Vision and Outcomes in 2021. Updates are in progress.

Sub-contracting arrangements within the Small Vessel Replacement Programme Phase One vessel contracts are ultimately determined by the main contractor and may reflect existing supply chain relationships. The wider programme of works to support the new vessel deployment and operation includes around £40 million of shore power upgrades, power connections and port improvement works. These works will be progressed across the network over the coming years to enable delivery from around summer 2027 and may present further sub-contracting opportunities.

Adult to child staff ratios are set by the Care Inspectorate as the regulatory body for the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) sector and as experts in assessing high quality, safe and nurturing ELC provision.

The Care Inspectorate has no plans to update the current guidance, published 2018. Therefore, the Scottish Government has made no assessment of the potential impact on the average cost of childcare provision relating to ratios.

Scottish Government has no plans to make such representations.

Since 2017-18, more than £1 billion of Pupil Equity Funding has been allocated to 97% of Scotland’s schools. Headteachers use Pupil Equity Funding to support activity over the academic, rather than financial, year, and the National Operational Guidance provides flexibility to carry forward Pupil Equity Funding, in agreement with local authorities, over the financial, and in some cases academic, year, where that best meets the needs of the children and young people. The Scottish Government has therefore not requested the return of any Pupil Equity Funding at the end of any financial year: the Guidance focusses instead on ensuring that the funding is invested to beneficial effect.

As of 3 April 2025, the number of postgraduate medicine training places occupied by individuals who studied as undergraduates in Scotland is 4081, the number of places occupied by individuals who studied as undergraduates in the rest of the UK is 1558. NHS Education for Scotland do not record UK citizen status or permanent UK residency status specifically.

The Scottish Government recognises the value and special characteristics of Scotland’s traditional and protected buildings, and we are taking a range of action to ensure they are preserved in a way that supports the reduction of carbon emissions. Traditionally built properties make up around 18% of all homes in Scotland. These homes may have different requirements to other homes based on their construction type, location or status.

In 2025-26 the Scottish Government is investing over £300m in heat and energy efficiency programmes, including for traditional properties. Households can access advice and funding through Home Energy Scotland, funded by the Scottish Government.

Home Energy Scotland specialist advisors are trained to provide advice on traditional homes, working closely with Historic Environment Scotland, who we continue to work closely with to ensure that Scotland’s traditional and protected buildings are properly maintained and preserved. Through Historic Environment Scotland’s Grants programme, we invest around £13.5 million a year to support building repairs, ancient monuments, archaeological work, and conservation.

The Scottish Government also continues to work to ensure the availability of the traditional skills needed to undertake retrofitting work. On 3 April 2025 it was announced that a new national training centre for Scotland, focused on traditional skills, had secured £3.7 million of National Lottery support.

The Scottish Government will also continue to make representations to UK Government requesting the implementation of a VAT reduction in the context of encouraging maintenance and energy efficiency improvements in traditional buildings.

I engaged with the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and the Crown Agent during the 2025-26 budget process which informed the allocation to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The portfolio received a resource budget of £225.2 million for 2025-26, an increase of 10.7% compared to 2024-25. The funding uplift was allocated to support the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to manage a range of demand led pressures

This information is not held centrally. However all recommendations are published on the website of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and are publicly available.

Community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians gained access to the Emergency Care Summary (ECS) on 2 October 2023. The ECS provides information on recent acute and repeat prescriptions and allergies. They also have access to the Key Information Summary (KIS) where available, which provides information about a person’s health issues, a carer’s name and contact details, preferences on how a person would like to be cared for, the treatment they would like and where they would like to be cared for.

In addition, several health boards are providing community pharmacists access to their clinical portal which provides additional clinical information. Clinical portals support Health Boards to allow healthcare professionals to access information about an individual, including in some cases those from other Health Boards when required, with their permission.

Community pharmacists can create, read and edit Pharmacy Care Records (PCRs) to record details of consultations they have undertaken (for example Pharmacy First consultations) as well as details of any items that have been prescribed and/or dispensed in their community pharmacy. The PCR also allows them to create a structured report which can be sent to any other healthcare organisation.