Through the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act (AFSA) 2007, the Scottish Government requires satisfactory measures to be in place at fish farm sites for the purposes of the containment of fish and the prevention of escape of fish. Where satisfactory measures are found not to be in place, Scottish Ministers may serve an enforcement notice. Fish farm operators are required to report the details of any circumstances which caused or might have caused an escape of fish from a fish farm site. In this case, the site operator has followed reporting protocols and reported the incident to the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI). The FHI has attended the site and is conducting an escape investigation and enhanced containment inspection. In addition, the details of this incident will be published on Scotland’s Aquaculture website. Any escape of farmed fish is regrettable and we expect all farmers to minimise the risk of escapes.

We will continue to work with the sector to reduce the risk of escapes, supported by existing legislation and the FHI’s associated inspection regime. The Scottish Government supports innovation in the sector, including where it helps to reduce the risk of fish escaping from fish farms.

The proposed constitutional convention is being taken forward by the Scottish National Party.

Since July 2025, the Scottish Government has published Your Right to Decide which sets out the Scottish Government’s view that that it is for the people of Scotland to decide on their constitutional future. The Scottish Government is committed to improving how citizens are able to be involved in decisions that affect them.

The Scottish Government has not considered the potential impact of removing Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) on the purchase of a primary residence and has no plans to remove any element of the tax.

Removing any element of LBTT would result in less funding being available to support public services in Scotland. In 2024-25 for example, £899m was raised from total LBTT, resulting in a net positive contribution to the Scottish Budget of £274 million.

We recognise the pressures facing the college sector, which have been set out clearly by both Audit Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and I will continue to work collaboratively with the college sector on those challenges.

Despite the challenging financial climate during the current financial year, the Scottish Government is investing more than three quarters of a billion pounds in our 24 colleges to support a wide range of skills and qualifications, including apprenticeships. The most recent SFC allocations provided a 2.6 per cent increase in teaching funding for 2025-26 and an increase of almost 5 per cent in capital maintenance to help colleges to invest in the learning experience of students and in the skills that Scotland needs for the future.

a) As a result of the Government’s investment and our approach to the education system, 93 per cent of young people who leave school go on to positive destinations such as work and further training, 9 months after the of the school year.

b) Faced with the most unprecedented financial pressures since devolution, we have maintained a responsive and agile college workforce, which is critical for adapting to evolving demands and ensuring long-term sustainability. Throughout recent periods of challenge and change, college staff across Scotland have upheld a strong reputation for professionalism, adaptability and commitment to learner outcomes.

c) Decisions made by the UK Government since the financial crash in 2008, and their overall austerity policy position since 2010, continue to have a profound and negative impact on the finances available to the Scottish Government, the economy, and to the college sector. In recent years this challenging scenario has been exacerbated by increased national insurance costs, high energy costs and high inflation. Rising national insurance contributions have added over £11 million of extra cost on to our colleges. The Scottish Government is seeking to mitigate the impact of these costs by providing an additional £5.5 million in this current financial year, but the added costs to our public sector from increased national insurance contributions are not helping us to realise our potential for economic growth.

The Scottish Government engage regularly with Glasgow City Council regarding plans for the upcoming Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Any decision regarding the timeline for the refurbishment of George Square is a matter for the Council.

The Scottish Government has consistently proactively published information on costs for independence papers, once all costs have been incurred.

Costs associated with the publication of the A Fresh Start with Independence paper will be available in due course.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) provides guidance for the public on how to exercise their access rights responsibly. Having a fire or BBQ is an activity covered by access rights in certain circumstances. However, the circumstances are limited and the SOAC clearly sets out when and where it would not be considered responsible to have a fire, including:

• when - such as periods of high or extreme fire risk; and
• where - such as in woodlands, on peat soils, and on farmland;

and guidance on how to have a fire responsibly.

NatureScot, the National Access Forum (NAF) and the national Visitor Management Co-ordination Group also undertake other activity to promote responsible behaviour with respect to fires and BBQs, such as:

• A fires messaging framework to ensure national consistency in messaging which includes very clear “no fires” at times of high or extreme fire risk.
• Fires and BBQs in the outdoors guidance for managers, rangers and land managers
• Media campaigns annually promoting the SOAC and fires messaging at times of high or extreme fire risk.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Wildfire Forum also provide Wildfire Danger Assessments which help prioritise communication and engagement activity.

The information sought by the Member is not available in the format requested.

Since 2014 the Scottish Government has invested over £500m in 43 Charitable Bonds. To date, the scheme has supported the delivery of more than 4,000 new affordable homes through direct loans to social landlords. This has generated £157 million in charitable donations to fund additional local authority priority projects for social rent.

Loans have been issued to Registered Social Landlords operating across a number of local authority areas. For a list of all charitable bonds and donations made (up to 2023), I would refer the member to: Scottish Government Charitable Housing Bonds: FOI release - gov.scot

The Scottish Government has previously released the following information regarding court fees, counsel's fees and judicial expenses paid in relation to court action in which the Scottish Information Commissioner, as regulator for Freedom of Information law, was the opposing party:

Similar information to that in the above table has previously been published by the Scottish Government on our website and is accessible through the following links:

• Cumulative costs of Scottish Government legal fees from 2020
• External legal fees for Court of Session appeal XA10/23
• Scottish Government legal fees contesting Scottish Information Commissioner

Decision Notices of the Scottish Information Commissioner are published on the Commissioner's website: Decisions | Scottish Information Commissioner.

For the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, ‘the Scottish Ministers’ Scottish public authority includes the Scottish Government and its executive agencies. The Commissioner's website shows the following Decision Notices issued to 'the Scottish Ministers' and executive agencies in each year since 2021: