Chamber and committees

The innovation active rate of an area is influenced by the industrial composition of the businesses headquartered there. Innovation rates can vary markedly by industrial sector, for example, 12.7% of Scottish ‘Accommodation & Food Services’ businesses were innovation active in 2022-24, compared to 73.9% of Scottish ‘Scientific research & development’ businesses.

The 2022-24 headline innovation active rates of 29.4% for Scotland, and 34.0% for the UK, are based on a wide range of sectors covered by the UK Innovation Survey. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports on a smaller group of industrial sectors, excluding sectors like ‘Construction’, ‘Retail’ and ‘Accommodation & Food Services’. When these sectors are removed, the results for Scotland and the UK are more similar. In the latest survey (2022-2024), 50.6% of businesses based in Scotland were ‘innovation active’ under the OECD definition and methodology; the same share as the UK.

More detail is available from the Scottish Government statistical release UK innovation survey 2025: results for Scotland - gov.scot, which was published on the 16th of September 2026.

The latest data from the UK Innovation Survey shows that, between 2020-2022 and 2022-2024, the proportion of businesses innovation active decreased for Scotland, the UK and for most regions within the UK.

‘Energy prices’ was the most important factor given by survey respondents in constraining innovation activity for innovators in Scotland and UK-wide in 2022-2024: an estimated 23.2% and 23.9% respectively rated it as ‘high’ importance.

In both Scotland and UK-wide, the most common reason given for not innovating in 2022-2024 was ‘No need due to previous innovations’; this was a reason for an estimated 51.6% of non-innovators in Scotland and 47.4% in the UK.

More detail is available from the Scottish Government statistical release UK innovation survey 2025: results for Scotland - gov.scot, which was published on the 16th of September 2026.

Yes.

Productivity remains a key focus for the Scottish Government, and action on improving it is being delivered via a number of programmes under the National Innovation Strategy.

An assessment will be made as part of the Scottish Government publishing the annual Innovation Scorecard later this month.

Details of how the additional neurodevelopmental funding was allocated are set out in a recent FOI response.

The funding was not allocated on a condition-specific basis. Most funding support projects or initiatives intended to consider neurodevelopmental needs more broadly, although some funded projects had a particular focus on autism and ADHD diagnosis.

No funding was allocated to programmes exclusively to support people living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). However, people with FASD may benefit from wider neurodevelopmental services and supports.

Separately, the Scottish Government continues to support individuals and families affected by FASD through a range of measures. This includes funding for the FASD Hub, which received £231,500 in 2025-26 to provide information, advice, training and support to 123 families and carers; and training events to over 480 professionals supporting children affected by FASD

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a specific economic assessment of the lifetime cost to Scottish public services of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). While there are no current plans to undertake such an assessment, we keep the evidence base under review as part of our wider work to prevent alcohol-related harm.

Information on the number of people diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is currently not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The recording of diagnoses and the datasets used for reporting are matters for individual NHS Boards. Information on what data is collected and whether local reporting is available should therefore be sought directly from the relevant NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to commission an active case ascertainment study. However, work underway to improve the identification of people with learning disabilities will provide information which will inform any future discussions on FASD data.

Transport Scotland continues to engage with colleagues across the Scottish Government, including Criminal Justice and Community Safety policy officials, regarding the recommendation of the Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group on enhanced legal protections for rail workers.

The Scottish Government accepted all recommendations of the Working Group and continues to work with industry, policing and justice partners to progress their implementation.