Chamber and committees

All proceeds from a future bond issuance would be used exclusively for capital investment in line with the capital borrowing powers outlined in the Fiscal Framework agreement between the Scottish and UK Governments.

In November 2025 the Scottish Government published a summary Outline Business Case (OBC) assessing the case for the Bonds Programme. This provides an assessment of the range of total present value of additional costs in 2024-25 prices across different issuance options compared to borrowing via the NLF.

The Summary OBC can be accessed from Scottish Government bonds programme: outline business case summary - gov.scot

All Credit Rating reports will cite factors that could influence a rating action.

Importantly, the Credit Rating results confirmed the Scottish Government as high investment grade, after assessing the credit fundamentals of the Scottish economy, the Scottish Government’s financial stewardship and the approach to debt management. These strengths remain.

In the event of fundamental constitutional change, the Scottish Government would be rated as a Sovereign Government, under a different methodology.

Board trajectories against the 62 day cancer standard have been requested from all Health Boards.

These will be submitted to the Scottish Government's Health & Social Care Performance & Delivery Assurance Board for review and approval by the end of August.

Once agreed, performance against the trajectories will be monitored monthly by the Scottish Government and the East and West Subnational Planning & Delivery Committees to support delivery and ensure progress is maintained.

Public Health Scotland published data on 28 July, this can be accessed online- General practice walk-in centres - month ending 30 June 2026 - General practice walk-in centres - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02130 on 17 August 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government will in due course publish a breakdown of the appointments & procedures which will be delivered as a result of the additional £90m announced to tackle long waits.

The Scottish Government keeps farm animal welfare legislation under review to ensure it reflects the latest evidence and maintains Scotland’s high welfare standards. We have recently updated the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations and continue to work with stakeholders to identify and implement further improvements where appropriate. Scottish Government has committed to update the Welfare Codes of sheep and cattle in partnership with Defra and devolved administrations and we have recently published updated Codes for pig welfare. We are working with devolved administrations and Defra on improving welfare of lambs undergoing castration and tail docking by promoting suitable anaesthesia and analgesia.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving laying hen welfare and in 2024 consulted on proposals to phase out cages in Scotland’s laying hen sector. Analysis of the responses received continues. More recently we agreed to jointly consult with the other devolved administrations on phasing out the use of cages for laying hens, pullets and breeding hens.

The analysis of the responses to both consultations will inform future policy to ensure that improvements in poultry welfare are achieved and that Scottish producers are not disadvantaged compared to their wider UK counterparts.

We will continue to listen and work with the industry and stakeholders on how best to achieve improvements in animal welfare as well as monitoring industry information to allow us to determine how to ensure best practice is delivered.

The £1.3 million allocated in the 2026-27 Budget is supporting the development of skills needed for the transition to sustainable and regenerative farming and food production. We are targeting that funding, on provision of training, advice and knowledge exchange for farmers, crofters, new entrants and rural businesses. The aim is to encourage businesses to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them to adopt sustainable practices aligned to the principles contained in the Code of practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Practice. Final decisions on any adjustments to allocation will be taken in due course.