To avoid accusations of bias or undue influence in planning and consenting decisions, Minsters cannot undertake any discussions with developers or objectors about the merits or otherwise of forthcoming, or live applications.

Ministers may of course undertake meetings with companies, as part of everyday Scottish Government business. However, these meetings do not contain conversations about specific planning applications and are properly recorded to ensure full transparency.

The Scottish Government will invest over a billion pounds (£1,148 million) in 2025-26 in the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (RALRI) budget to support Scottish farmers, crofters, land managers, islands and rural communities.

We continue to directly support Scottish farmers, crofters and land managers by providing over £660 million, including by maintaining our direct payments to the sector and in ensuring support for those farming and crofting in our upland and most challenging areas of Scotland through the £65.5 million Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS). The 2025-26 budget includes returning £20 million to support transformation and reform in Scotland’s farming and food production industry, as pledged to the sector.

Our Vision for Scottish Agriculture states that farming, crofting and land management will continue to play an important role in maintaining thriving rural and island communities and this is further reaffirmed in the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 objective of enabling rural communities to thrive.

We fully recognise that this is a challenging time for families. Importantly, no-one needs a formal diagnosis to apply for Child or Adult Disability Payment; decisions about eligibility are based on the individual’s level of needs, rather than a diagnosis.

Once a decision is made the award will commence from the date of application where the conditions of entitlement were met at this point.

We urge anyone applying on behalf of a terminally ill child to use our fast-tracked route so that they and their family can access the maximum level of financial support they are entitled to – quickly and with dignity.

The Scottish Government has made £25m of funding available to the Scottish Funding Council to support the sector. The Scottish Funding Council has allocated £22m of this to the University of Dundee to support the university in addressing its immediate financial challenges.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council will continue to explore all means possible and consider any reasonable asks to further support the University of Dundee as it develops a plan to secure a sustainable future. The Scottish Government will carefully consider any approaches for further emergency funding in relation to the financial challenges faced by the university.

Ministers listened closely to the sector in the development of this year’s budget, and we are investing over £1.1 billion in university teaching and research. In addition, the Scottish Government has made a further £25m of funding available to the Scottish Funding Council to support the sector in mitigating financial challenges.

The Scottish Funding Council monitors financial sustainability across the sector and Ministers have confidence in their ability and expertise. There are many factors impacting universities at the present time, including UK migration policies and the UK Government’s increase to employer national insurance contributions. The latter is estimated to cost Scottish universities over £48 million.

The Scottish Government would be willing to look at proposals from either the Scottish FA or SPFL. To date, we have not received any proposals.

The project is approaching construction stage and has been assessed by Transport Scotland for construction-ready funding through Tier 2 of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF). Our operating company, BEAR Scotland, has been working with project designers to progress the remaining elements of the design.

In recent weeks, work on the drainage design has concluded while work remains ongoing on the electrical design for the traffic signals. In addition, BEAR Scotland’s environmental team has carried out updated tree and winter hibernation site surveys as well as drafting a site environmental management plan for tendering purposes.

The Raigmore Interchange project applied for in 2024-25 has been included in the 2025-26 ATIF prioritisation list, without the need for reapplication. Since the project has already been assessed, and as early funding allocations remain a key focus, we expect to allocate funding early in the 2025-26 financial year, subject to Scottish Government approval procedures.

The Scottish Government has regular communication with the UK Government and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on a variety of issues affecting the maritime industry in Scotland including related to seafarer welfare.

Whilst shipping safety, seafarer welfare and employment conditions are reserved functions, the Scottish Government is committed to working with the UK Government and the MCA to ensure that these matters are given the highest priority on those vessels accessing Scotland’s waters and ports.

The requested information is not held by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Whether VAT applies to a visitor levy is a decision for the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is clear that any local authority thinking of introducing a Visitor Levy needs to consider the potential VAT implications that it would have for relevant businesses in their area.