Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of modal shift to help achieve transport emission reduction targets and to assist companies to move goods by rail or water instead of by road. We have shown leadership in setting out positive policies that work for the rail freight industry through our rail freight strategy, our regulatory growth targets for rail freight and our mode shift grants.

Since 1997, mode shifts grants have funded over 50 projects with a total spend of over £74 million which has resulted in the removal of over 50 million lorry miles from the road.

The draft Circular Economy Strategy provides a high-level framework for Scotland’s transition to a circular economy, setting out a broad vision and outcomes as well as priorities across policy mechanisms, priority sectors, product stewardship and a monitoring and indicator framework to help us continue to cut waste levels, create consistent and easy to use waste services across Scotland, and drive the sustainable use of plastic and other resources.

The draft Strategy takes a sector-led, not a materials-led, approach which allows consideration of interventions that can tackle the impact of material use, including plastics, along supply chains via multiple mechanisms.

It is important that plastics are considered alongside the broader issues and impacts relating to material use and that the full impact of a product’s design, use and disposal can be considered within the system within which it will be used.

All consultation responses will be considered when finalising the Strategy.

We are committed to exploring options to reduce the use of microplastics and reducing plastic pollution in general by supporting the growth of the circular economy.

The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 bans certain single-use plastic items including plastic cutlery, plastic plates, and plastic straws, which will reduce the amount of microplastics formed in the environment due to plastic degradation.

In addition, we are committed to helping address microplastic pollution from pellets, flakes and powders that are used to make plastic products. Our work has been key to informing international policy that aims to reduce pellet loss from across the entire supply chain, and led to the first standard for pellet handling and management. We are learning from the application of best practice in industry and considering how best to progress this issue following the introduction of regulations in the EU.

The Scottish Government does not routinely collate information on how often if meets with individual sectors and so is unable to provide an accurate and comprehensive response. The details of all Ministerial engagements are proactively published by the Scottish Government and can be accessed here: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot

However, the following information released in response to requests for information under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, and which relate to meetings between Ministers or officials and the Scottish salmon sector may be of interest.

• 52 Ministerial-sector meetings, plus five meetings of the Scottish Aquaculture Council took place between 11 September 2019 and 12 December 2024.
• 13 meetings took place between the Head of the Fish Health Inspectorate and Salmon aquaculture companies between 1 January 2022 to 26 July 2025.

Meetings are reflective of the need for Scottish Government to engage with industries and organisations which are subject to government policy and regulation.

The principle fund for Local Authorities to develop Active Travel routes, including routes to schools, is the Active Travel Fund Infrastructure Fund (ATIF), in particular Tier 1 formerly known as Cycling Walking and Safe Routes. Since 2021 North Lanarkshire Council have received £10,866,076 and South Lanarkshire Council have received £9,937,001 from this funding route.

Additional awards have been granted to both Lanarkshire Local Authorities from other tiers of funding which have contributed to improving active travel routes to schools, these are set out below;

In 2023-24 £1,230,000 was awarded to North Lanarkshire Council to deliver active travel links that improved school active travel connections in Airdrie and Wishaw through the Active Travel Transformation Fund.

In 2024-25 £420,000 was provided to North Lanarkshire Council through ATIF Tier 2 for pedestrians improvements around Motherwell Train Station with cycling and walking improvements on Oakfield Road, Watsonville Park, Camp Street and West Hamilton Street, creating safer corridors to schools.

In 2025-26 £1,074,898 has been awarded to North Lanarkshire Council for two additional projects. The first in Orbiston on key school routes that will upgrade crossings, lighting and drainage, with improvements to bus stops and cycle by-passes. The second in Wishaw aims to create high quality accessibility links between the train station, sports centre and hospital, benefits the whole community, including pupils journeying to school.

Design funding has been award for 2025-26 for South Lanarkshire Council, partnering with Strathclyde Passenger Transport. £65,2220 will be used to plan a safer route from Glespin to Douglas.

The Scottish Government recognises that care in non-standard areas, sometimes referred to as “corridor care,” is not acceptable as a routine practice. This arises from acute capacity pressures and poor patient flow, which we are working hard to address.

Through the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan, we are investing £220 million in 2025-26 to improve hospital flow, reduce waiting times and minimise delayed discharges. This includes expanding Hospital at Home services, strengthening Same Day Emergency Care, and providing additional social care capacity to relieve pressure on emergency departments.

While Transport Scotland provides funding to support the development of active travel infrastructure, decisions on specific interventions, such as work to improve routes to schools, are made by local authorities in line with their statutory duties under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. This includes assessing local needs, engaging with communities, and determining the most appropriate solutions for their area.

Local authorities can apply through our Active Travel Infrastructure Fund for active travel infrastructure schemes, including those for schools and these have in the past helped in some cases to deliver safer routes to schools and applications are currently open for 2026-27.

The Scottish Government have a long history of working with local authorities and COSLA to make sure council finances are sustainable and will continue to work with our partners across the public sector to address any budget challenges.

Alongside this, the Scottish Government will continue to work with our partners on how we operate and collaborate on reforming public services to ensure communities across Scotland continue to receive high quality, sustainable public services that they expect and deserve.

The Scottish Government is committed to making it safer and easier for people of all ages and abilities to choose active and sustainable travel.

The focus of active travel delivery at a local level is a matter for each Local Authority, but funding from the Scottish Government comes with a requirement to demonstrate delivery against the First Minister’s priorities.

Through a variety of programmes, including Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund, the People and Place Programme and Bikeability, Transport Scotland provides access to funding for Local Authorities that to support safer journeys to and from school.

The effectiveness of these programmes are monitored through individual project monitoring and evaluation at a national level through publications such as the Children’s Walking and Cycling Index, and the Hands up Scotland Survey, that since 2008 has presented information on how pupils across Scotland travel to school and nursery. Earlier this year, Cycling Scotland also published a three year independent evaluation of Bikeability.

Subject to the budget receiving parliamentary approval, in 2026-27 we will continue to work in partnership with Local Authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships to deliver active travel investments in our communities, including through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund to improve infrastructure, and through our regional People and Place behaviour change programme and Bikeability to provide the skills and knowledge for school pupils to make safe journeys to and from school.

Our approach to addressing the shortage of planners is tailored to the Scottish context and pre-dates the Autumn Statement. We are directly investing £850,000 in new talent.

We have secured a path into planning for 48 new student planners through our award winning Future Planners Programme and an additional 30 students are being supported by our bursary scheme as they undertake professionally accredited planning degrees.

In addition, the National Planning Hub is directly supporting planning authorities in the short term to increase capacity. It is providing surge support, expert brokerage and sharing learning and knowledge to bridge any skills gaps. The approach is agile, and designed to be responsive to issues identified by authorities. The National Planning Improvement Champion is also supporting authorities on planning performance.

We will continue to work in partnership with planning authorities and other stakeholders to deliver innovative solutions to increase the capacity and resilience of the Scottish planning service.