Chamber and committees

The development of the Corridor Action Plans will be informed by the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), the Design Manual for Road and Bridges (DMRB) and Transport Scotland business case guidance. Potential interventions will be assessed against a range of criteria including road safety, journey reliability, resilience and economic connectivity, alongside environmental impacts, affordability, value for money and deliverability. Further details are available at: South West Scotland Strategic Corridor Improvements | Transport Scotland

The Scottish Government does not intend to commission research to compare vegetation and fuel loads across Scotland during the drought and wildfires of 2026 with those recorded during the drought of 1976, including through the use of LiDAR data, satellite imagery and historic land-management records.

It is unlikely that there are sufficient detailed datasets available for either year to support meaningful comparisons. Consequently, it would not possible to undertake a robust assessment or draw reliable conclusions based on the data available.

Dundee City Council is the lead body for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) between Dundee and London. The Scottish Government understands that Dundee City Council are in the process of developing proposals for a new PSO air service to London. If Dundee City Council requests a funding contribution to a future PSO then the Scottish Government will fully consider that request. Should a new PSO be imposed, the airline to operate the service will be selected through an open tender procedure as required by legislation. It should be noted that the Scottish Government continues to provide subsidy to enable the ongoing operation of Dundee Airport.

The Corridor Action Plans will identify and prioritise potential interventions and establish a phased pipeline of short, medium and long-term measures to inform future investment decisions. Timescales for completion of the plans will be confirmed following procurement and appointment of consultants. The Scottish Government intends that any transport improvements identified through the A75 and A77 Corridor Action Plans will be reported through updates to the Scottish Government's Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline and subject to the annual budgetary processes and Capital Spending Reviews. Further details are available at: South West Scotland Strategic Corridor Improvements | Transport Scotland

Since the integration of health and social care, overall responsibility for the planning and delivery of adaptations, and for developing services to improve outcomes for people who require adaptations, lies with Integration Joint Boards through powers and budgets delegated from Local Authorities.

Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their tenants including older tenants and disabled tenants, and RSLs will submit funding requests accordingly. The Scottish Government does not independently assess the funding requirements of individual RSLs. Instead, it seeks to distribute available funding in a fair and equitable manner across RSLs, with the aim of ensuring tenants can access necessary adaptations as promptly as possible.

The future of the Mackintosh building is of great importance to the Scottish Government and to me as Culture Secretary.

Following conclusion of a long running insurance matter, I met with the Glasgow School of Art to discuss their plans to invest in a significant enabling project, funded by an insurance settlement, and provide a platform for future rebuilding.

The clear preference of the Scottish Government is for the building to be faithfully reinstated, and we have welcomed the Glasgow School of Art’s commitment to exploring every opportunity with the support of partners for a faithful reinstatement. While the Glasgow School of Art are owners and custodians of the building, the Scottish Government will continue to engage closely with them on their plans. No request for public funding has been made, however we will work with the Glasgow School of Art and other partners to secure a prosperous future for the Mackintosh building.

The water and sewerage charges exemption scheme is funded by the general non-household customer base through an uplift in their water and sewerage charges. To ensure that the scheme does not result in unfair competition with the small businesses who are part of funding the scheme, charities operating a retail outlet, such as a café or charity shop, are not eligible.

The Principles which apply to charges, including the terms of the exemption scheme, have been set for the 2021-27 period and there is no ability to deviate from the criteria within this period. Following a public consultation in January 2026, the terms of the exemption scheme for 2027-33 will be confirmed when Ministers publish the Principles of Charging this Autumn.

Police Scotland have previously briefed Ministers regarding the different types of vehicles including Electric Scooters, Electric Motorcycles, and Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPC, commonly known as e-bikes).

Officers have been issued with guidance on how to differentiate between legal and illegally modified EAPCs, and they only seize vehicles, including ones which fall into the categories described above, when they have the power to do so. Work is currently underway to assess devices and technologies which can help officers to detect illegal vehicles.

It is for Police Scotland to determine how best to record incidents. If a crime has been committed, this should be recorded in line with the Scottish Crime Recording Standard.

The Scottish Government’s land LiDAR programme is currently in progress and will provide the first full national land LiDAR dataset for Scotland. A number of research projects have been commissioned and are currently in progress that are making use of the new LiDAR data for the purposes of vegetation mapping and wildfire risk assessment.

A project funded via the Scottish Government’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) research programme and led by Forest Research is developing methodologies to map vegetation structure and biomass in forests, hedgerows and trees outside woodlands using LiDAR data. A fellowship is also underway with the University of Edinburgh that is exploring how LiDAR data can be used to estimate fuel loads to better inform wildfire risk assessment.

The Scottish Government is currently exploring the use of LiDAR for wildfire risk mapping via a fellowship with the University of Edinburgh and via research commissioned as part of the Scottish Government’s ENRA research programme. Outputs from this research will be used to inform next steps in using LiDAR data and developing LiDAR data products, including the potential for a wildfire risk map for Scotland. The next ENRA research programme is currently being commissioned which includes questions on improving understanding on the wildfire risks associated with different land uses.

The Scottish Government engages with the Welsh Government on wildfire response and policy.