Chamber and committees

Meetings between Scottish Government and SEPA officials focusing on measures to minimise and mitigate water scarcity take place regularly.

Over the summer, the Scottish Government officials met weekly with SEPA, Scottish Water, and key stakeholders for 28 consecutive weeks to monitor and manage water availability.

SEPA has taken several key actions recently to minimise and mitigate impacts of water scarcity, including improving its website for accessibility, providing clearer guidance, strengthening communications with abstractors, and reviewing abstraction licences to support sustainable water use. Scotland’s National Water Scarcity Plan is available on the SEPA website. This sets out how water resources will be managed prior to, and during, periods of prolonged dry weather.

Officials most recently met SEPA officials in December 2025 to review SEPA’s Autumn Water Situation report, potential implications for 2026 as well as discuss water scarcity mitigation more broadly.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the UK Government regarding reportable accidents submitted to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in relation to the Scottish salmon industry. The Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, but cannot direct them in respect of these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42856 on 21 January 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government has not met with the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) regarding the working conditions of salmon farming workers.

The Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, but cannot direct them in respect of these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in relation to the Scottish salmon industry. Health and Safety legislation is a matter reserved to the UK Government and HSE is the relevant regulator for workplace health and safety across Great Britain.

While the Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, it cannot direct any organisation regarding these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

The Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, but cannot direct them in respect of these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42856 on 21 January 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Neither Scottish Government or NatureScot provide funding for the maintenance or improvement of the four statutory long distance routes. The respective local authorities and national park authorities lead on maintenance and improvements using a variety of approaches.

Scottish Government provides funding to the local authorities for “land access” as part of the Grant Aided Expenditure settlement. Scottish Government also provides funding to the National Park Authorities, and this has included capital for Long Distance Routes related projects such as Conic Hill on the West Highland Way in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

The Scottish Government will continue to promote trade union recognition and collective bargaining, at both local and sectoral levels, to achieve improved conditions and enhance effective voice. However, while collective bargaining can improve working conditions, a good standard of workplace health and safety should not be dependent upon this. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42861 on 21 January 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Employment and industrial relations are matters reserved to the UK Government and therefore the Scottish Government cannot mandate that employers engage with trade unions. The Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, but cannot direct them in respect of these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

Transitioning to zero emission HGVs plays an important role within the draft Climate Change Plan currently under consultation. The Scottish Government worked with the haulage, finance, energy, union and manufacturing sectors to co-design the HGV Decarbonisation - Pathway for Scotland, published in 2024. The Pathway emphasizes the importance of HGV charging being in place to support the efficient and effective movement of goods.

The Scottish Government has invested £284,000 in research with fleets and academics to identify where in Scotland en route energy infrastructure for HGVs will be required, in addition to depot energy. The first iteration looked at both charging and hydrogen fuelling. The second iteration of this research focused solely on charging and can be found at Towards Zero Emission HGV Infrastructure in Scotland: Phase 2 Report. The next iteration, also focused solely on charging, will be published in the summer and will cover around 10% of all Scottish truck miles.

This research has been shared with the electricity networks and the National Energy System Operator to support future electricity network investment planning. It has been warmly welcomed by haulage fleets, trade bodies, chargepoint operators and commercial investors. It has also been of interest to international partners learning from best practice.

Building on this evidence, the Scottish Government has made £2 million available in 2025-26 for consortia and SMEs to develop business cases for potential future investment into HGV decarbonisation covering both vehicles and charging infrastructure. Early indications are that fleets and financiers are engaging well in developing projects for potential delivery from late 2026. Further information can be found at Heavy Goods Vehicle Market Readiness Fund.

Any Scottish Government investment into heavy vehicle charging infrastructure will encourage the shared use of infrastructure across operators and sectors where possible, as was the case with the recent investment of £41.7m into zero emission bus fleets. In addition to the 252 zero emission buses and associated charging funded, around 17 bus depots will be open to HGVs wishing to charge from the end of 2026 under the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund’s second round of funding (ScotZEB2).

Since 2014 the Scottish Government has invested over £80m into public sector bodies to decarbonise their vehicle fleets. This has included funding the trialling and introduction of electric refuse collection vehicles and HGVs, including provision of charging facilities. We are now working with the public sector to develop a Public Sector Fleet Decarbonisation Action Plan.

Transport Scotland will soon be publishing a Net Zero Route Map which will include the decarbonisation targets for HGV fleets carrying out contracted work for Transport Scotland, including work to install charging points at depots