Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government welcomes the Scottish Land Commission’s report Learning from international cadastral systems for transparency, tax, and valuation, which provides a comparative analysis of cadastral and land information systems for land taxation purposes in Scotland, the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia and Belgium.

The Scottish Government will continue to consider relevant evidence, including the findings of this report, as part of its ongoing consideration of tax policy

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 established the framework for integrating health and social care services in Scotland. It required local authorities and NHS boards to create Integration Authorities responsible for the governance, planning and funding of integrated services.

Integration aims to improve care and support for people who use services, their carers and their families. It does this by putting a greater emphasis on collaboration, joining up services, and focussing on anticipatory and preventative care. We support Integration Authorities to do this through regular dialogue between officials, myself, the Cabinet Secretary and the networks of Integration Authority Chief Officers, Chairs and Vice-chairs.

For 2025-26, we provided £144,812.30 in Scottish Government funding to Health and Social Care Scotland (HSCS) for their work supporting key networks, including IJB Chief Officers. HSCS work closely with IJBs and Chief Officers to promote good practice, strengthen IJB leadership networks, support meaningful engagement with communities and the third sector, and enhance independent sector involvement in local governance.

More recently I met with the leadership of the IJB Chief Officer network to discuss current priorities and challenges facing integration authorities, and to support continued collaborative working across the health and social care system. I look forward to continued engagement with them.

Officials across the Justice and Environment and Forestry Directorates are currently working with stakeholders before taking the required action needed to commence section 61 of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act. This work will be completed in due course.

The latest Public Health Scotland statistics show that 4.4 million courses of treatment were delivered under the new dental payment system in the year up to 31 March 2026, highlighting that our significant and continuing investment in NHS dentistry is supporting access at a national level. However, we recognise areas of challenge remain, including rural and island areas such as Shetland. The 2025 NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan therefore committed to reviewing and refreshing existing financial incentives for the dental sector, to better support patient access in areas like Shetland, and this work is progressing well. The Scottish Government’s National Islands Plan also includes a commitment to explore alternative models of care and workforce incentives to further support the role of the Public Dental Service (PDS) in island areas. Additionally, in 2025-26, the Scottish Government provided £265,000 of extra funding to NHS Shetland to provide a temporary dental therapist and locum dentist support.

While the law covering the sale of fireworks is mainly reserved, the Scottish Government has taken steps wherever possible to strengthen the law around access to, and use of, fireworks. The Scottish Government’s most recent legislation, the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, introduced a package of measures intended to reduce harmful and antisocial use of fireworks and pyrotechnic articles, while supporting the safe and responsible enjoyment of fireworks. Animal welfare matters were considered and the Act introduced new discretionary powers for local authorities to designate firework control zones. In some areas, zones have been used to minimise the impact of fireworks on animals during the Bonfire Night period.

The UK Government has recently launched a consultation on fireworks and pyrotechnics in the UK which can be found at: Fireworks and pyrotechnics in the UK - GOV.UK. Within the consultation animal welfare considerations are referred to and views are sought on a number of issues, including on restricting the availability of noisier fireworks to the general public.

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 provides the wider statutory framework for sustainable marine planning and management in Scotland. The allocation of fishing opportunities is, however, governed more specifically by section 25 of the Fisheries Act 2020 and by the Joint Fisheries Statement.

The Joint Fisheries Statement requires UK fisheries policy authorities to keep policies on the distribution of fishing opportunities under review. The Scottish Government has done so, including through the Future Fisheries Management programme and subsequent work on the allocation of Scotland’s share of Additional Quota.

That work has considered the role of the Fixed Quota Allocation system and how Scotland’s fishing opportunities can support environmental, social and economic outcomes, including for coastal and island communities. Following consultation, the Scottish Government introduced revised arrangements for Additional Quota, including allocations based on historic track record, targeted support for the non-sector fleet, and a pilot application-based approach for West of Scotland cod.

Separately, the Scottish Government also uses the Economic Link licence condition to help ensure that the benefits from access to Scottish fishing opportunities are realised in Scotland’s coastal and island communities, including through landings into Scotland.

The Scottish Government is considering the timing and scope of further consultation on the allocation of Additional Quota.

We will continue to keep quota management arrangements under review, including longer-term options such as community quota initiatives, to support sustainable fisheries management and the continued contribution of fishing to Scotland’s coastal and island communities.

The Scottish Government is still in the process of developing its position on the keeping of exotic animals as pets. To ensure our position is balanced and informed by evidence, we continue to engage with relevant stakeholders and review available research, reports, and data, including reports produced by the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission and Scotland's Rural College.

International trade is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government regularly engages with the UK Government on trade negotiations and has consistently emphasised that agri-food trade agreements should uphold Scotland’s high animal welfare and food standards.

We have also highlighted the importance of trade to Scotland’s food security. The Scottish Government welcomed the outline UK-EU SPS and Veterinary Agreement announced on 19 May 2025 and will continue to press for Scotland’s interests, including high agri-food standards, to be reflected in future trade negotiations.

The Scottish Government is committed to meeting its obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including the Public Sector Equality Duty. Responsibility for the accessibility and affordability of outdoor areas is shared across Scottish Government and a range of other public bodies.

Equality and human rights considerations are taken into account throughout Government with an expectation that the impacts of policies on protected groups, including disabled people and minority ethnic communities are assessed. This is supported through impact assessment processes, stakeholder engagement and the use of equality evidence. Closing the gaps in participation in the use of outdoor spaces is challenging, but the Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS), commissioned by Nature Scot, has showed some progress in the last ten years with respect to equalities groups and it remains an important priority for this Government.

Registers of Scotland maintains the Land Register, which, together with the older Sasines Register, record who owns land and property in Scotland. The Land Register is map-based and includes the statutory cadastral map. Further information on the cadastral map is available on the Registers of Scotland Knowledge Base.

Scotland’s Land Information Service (ScotLIS), maintained by Registers of Scotland, provides online public access to information on land and property in an accessible map-based format combining information from the Land, Sasines, Crofting and Judicial Registers.

The Scottish Government has not announced any policy to change the Land Register or introduce a different land information system.