Chamber and committees

No meeting have been held between Scottish Ministers and Offshore Solutions Group Limited in the time period specified.

Following the Stakeholder review of the Sea Eagle Management Scheme in 2024, the Scheme was revised for 2025 with an uplift of £300 for all holdings in receipt of Standard Measures support, meaning a new minimum payment in this support tier of £800 per annum and maximum payment of £1800, with a sliding scale based on holding size.

The previous Enhanced Measures annual support cap of £5,000 was doubled to £10,000 per annum. The rates used to inform Enhanced Measures support calculations were also updated with Farm Management Handbook 2024-2025 costings used for 2025 Enhanced Measures Management Agreements.

The Sea Eagle Management Scheme was the focus of review work in 2024-2025. In 2026 the White-Tailed Eagle Action Plan review will be one of the priority areas of work for the National Sea Eagle Stakeholder Panel, which is chaired by NatureScot.

Due to the complexity of this issue, NatureScot does not hold annual data on the instances of predation of livestock by white-tailed eagles. Confirming the number of white-tailed eagle predation instances on individual holdings is challenging, especially in extensive sheep systems, where often lambs go missing without trace or there is very little carcass material left for analysis.

NatureScot work closely with farmers and crofters to better understand white-tailed eagle interactions with livestock on individual holdings.

This work includes analysis of flock performance data, white-tailed eagle prey remains analysis, installation of cameras on white-tailed eagle nests and funding for measures such as enhanced shepherding, which supports additional shepherds on extensive areas to collect data on a range of variables. In 2025, the Sea Eagle Management Scheme supported 36 shepherds across 19 holdings in this work. A report of this collaborative work will be available in due course.

No bridges on the trunk road network have been placed into managed decline. All trunk road bridges and structures are subject to thorough inspection and maintenance programmes. Maintenance works are prioritised to ensure public safety, network availability and value for money.

At RAI Committee, on 17 December, I answered directly that the Rural Support Plan would not be laid in Parliament or published in December 2025.

The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 requires Scottish Ministers to prepare, lay and publish a Rural Support Plan and sets out requirements on the role, content, scrutiny, reporting and monitoring and evaluation of plans. Scottish Ministers are clear that we have a duty to lay a Rural Support Plan in Parliament as soon as practicable.

On 9 September, in answering S6W-39888, I set-out that it was our intent to lay and publish the Rural Support Plan in December 2025. That answer was provided in good-faith. Unfortunately the uncertainty caused by the much-delayed UK Government budget has impacted this process.

As a result of the choices made and the delays caused by the UK Government, the 2026-27 Scottish Budget process has rightly been moved into 2026. This budget process will inform the shape of the Plan and must be completed first.

Laying the first Rural Support Plan after the Scottish Budget is the right course.

CalMac Masters are permitted to depart ahead of the advertised departure time if (a) all the necessary safety checks and procedures are complete, and (b) all passengers (who have checked in within the advertised check-in times) are onboard.

The total funding support, through NatureScot Management Agreements, awarded to participating holdings in the Sea Eagle Management Scheme in each year since 2021 are as follows:

As part of the reporting requirements of the Sea Eagle Management Scheme, participating holdings are required to submit annual Flock Management Log returns which collect data on flock performance in individual years and provide an opportunity for farmers and crofters to provide feedback on the efficacy of the support they have received and detail any ongoing challenges with predation.

Following the launch of Enhanced Measures support in 2020, NatureScot expanded this exercise and sought additional feedback from those in receipt of this support level, to inform stakeholder discussions and measure efficacy.

NatureScot staff are also in regular contact with participating holdings in the Scheme on the efficacy of support in mitigating any ongoing predation challenges.

Further information can be found at the following links: https://www.nature.scot/doc/sea-eagle-management-scheme-sems-review-scheme-delivery-2020-2023

https://www.nature.scot/doc/sea-eagle-management-scheme-2024-report-stakeholders.

Powers to mandate community benefits and shared equity ownership are reserved to the UK Government. We continue to press the UK Government to use its reserved powers to mandate community benefits and shared ownership for mature onshore technologies, so communities share in Scotland’s natural wealth through locally shaped, lasting arrangements.

In order to maintain a robust, impartial process in which people can object to proposals while still discussing any benefits on offer, financial arrangements such as community benefits and shared ownership schemes sit independently from our planning and consenting systems.

Consequently, the Scottish Government has no plans to make community benefits or shared ownership a mandatory consideration in planning applications.

We remain committed to a just energy transition that delivers real benefits for communities: around £30 million was offered last year under our voluntary Good Practice Principles, which we are refreshing following consultation analysis published on 22 October.

Grant funding of £5.3 million for the financial year 2025-26 was awarded to Upside, a partnership of eight third-sector organisations, to deliver national voluntary throughcare support to individuals leaving short-term prison sentences and periods of remand.