Chamber and committees

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads and associated infrastructure in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

As part of the record funding package for Local Government, in 2026-27, Moray Council will receive £246.3 million to fund local services which equates to an extra £12.3 million or an additional 5.3% compared to 2025-26 alongside full discretion over decisions on Council Tax.

The vast majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on maintenance of local roads and bridges, on the basis of local needs and priorities

Scottish Government officials meet quarterly with the Trading Standards Policy & Co-ordination Group, attended by COSLA and representatives of Local Authorities, and regularly with Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards (SCOTSS) to discuss issues around enforcement of existing legislation on tobacco and vapes.

Scotland is the only country in the UK with a Tobacco and Vape retail register, which is designed to support the enforcement of regulation on age restricted products given the public health harms of tobacco and vaping.

As set out in our Tobacco and Vaping Framework, we are committed to considering how the register could be improved including possible further conditions on registration to support public health aims of reducing the use of tobacco and vapes.

Work on the Health and Social Care app—developed through the Digital Front Door programme and now branded MyCare.scot—has progressed since 2021, including technical development, secure digital identity work, and early service design. The initial MVP is live for dermatology patients in NHS Lanarkshire to support testing and MyCare.scot will be available across Scotland from April 2026. Further services will be developed and expanded as already set out in our rollout plan, published in September 2025, with further information to be published this Spring.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) provide an all-age career service in every local authority, with SDS Careers Advisers in secondary schools and SDS centres and community locations nationwide. Careers advisers highlight the career options available across all sectors - including the Print industry - to people across Scotland, including Apprenticeships.

SDS also works with partners and employers to highlight the importance of Apprenticeships particularly through Scottish Apprenticeship Week which took place in 02 – 06 March 2026. We continue to work closely with SDS to support the promotion of Apprenticeships throughout Scotland.

There is already a one-stop breast clinic operational within the NHS Dumfries & Galloway’s Royal Infirmary which has been the case from some years.

The Scottish Government has not carried out any economic analysis of delays to the conclusion of missives between buyers and sellers of residential properties.

The consultation closed on 27 October last year. Analysis of the responses has now been completed and a summary of the responses has been published on the Scottish Government Website

Respondents to the consultation provided a wide variety of views in relation to options to amend the existing permitted development rights (PDR) for the conversion of agricultural and forestry buildings to residential use.

There was limited support for, and significant opposition to, the introduction of PDR for new-build homes in rural areas.

The vast majority of respondents opposed the idea of introducing PDR for ‘town centre living’, although some respondents supported the option.

After carefully considering all of the responses received, we have decided not to make changes to the permitted development rights at this time.

Child Disability Payment (CDP) provides financial support to help families with the additional costs of being disabled or living with a long-term health condition. Entitlement is not dependent on a specific diagnosis and a child or young person with long COVID could be eligible if it significantly impacts their care or mobility needs. Being disabled impacts people in different ways and awards relate to the levels of needs that reflect individual circumstances.

Pre and post-campaign surveys provide essential insight into the performance of marketing activity and help ensure campaigns are targeted and cost-effective. The two surveys related to the Tackling Stigma campaign together cost £7500.

Data from the pre-campaign survey directly informed the campaign’s development and design, including media activity, social media content, and stakeholder toolkit. The results of campaign surveys will be used to evaluate the campaign’s overall impact and improve performance of future activity.

Under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, the Scottish Government has a statutory duty to promote the take-up of devolved benefits. The Poverty Alliance’s Get Heard Scotland report (2024), commissioned by the Scottish Government, highlighted the impact of stigma on benefit take-up and recommended a public awareness campaign to normalise social security as a human right and improve awareness of entitlements. The Tackling Stigma campaign was developed in line with the Poverty Alliance’s recommendations.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to Save a Life Scotland to purchase and deploy the equipment. Save a Life for Scotland will work with partners on decisions regarding defibrillator placement. All defibrillator placement as part of the scheme will be evidence-based and ensure they are placed in areas of greatest need.