Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not have any duties under Section 8 of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003. The duties under section 8 in relation to monitoring of the status of the water environment are placed on SEPA.

Grants awarded through the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme are not paid at the point that the applications are approved. Payments can only be made once the successful applicants have completed the works and submitted their claim, which is then assessed by scheme officials.

There has been no interruption to the payment of grants awarded through the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS). Funds can only be released once the successful applicants have completed the works and submitted their claim, which is then assessed by scheme officials.

Payments to CAGS claimants are issued once a week. The most recent payments were made on 18 August 2026.

The UK Government has full regulatory powers for the financial services industry, including access to cash. However, the Scottish Government regularly engages with the sector and regulator through Ministerial engagements and the Financial Services Growth and Development Board. We continue to urge all financial services providers to listen to and address growing customer concerns.

The proposed allocation under the 2027-2032 Strategic Research Programme is set out in the following table:

Strategic Research Funding 2027-32 (£)

Service delivery, including managing hospital capacity, is a local responsibility for territorial health boards.

The Scottish Government continues to fund the NHS Scotland Cancer Collaborative to host the National Scottish Mesothelioma Network. This network is comprised of clinicians from across Scotland working to share best practice and to provide for high quality clinical care, information and support to all patients wherever they live in the country and ensure all patients have equitable and efficient access to care.

The Scottish Government is responding to ongoing cost of living pressures being felt by households across Scotland. We are working towards a consultation on the price cap on essential food items within 100 days of the start of this Government.

The consultation will be an opportunity for interested parties to inform the further development of the policy and any future legislative proposals. Any proposals brought forward would be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

In 2025-26 the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS) received 1,063 applications, of which 777 were approved and 154 were rejected. The remaining 132 applications have a variety of statuses including still to be assessed, withdrawn, or offer letters have been issued but have yet to be returned by the applicant.

Since April 2026, 156 applications have been approved and offered contracts, with 61 of those already accepted. A further 50 applications have either been withdrawn or rejected.

The Scottish Government is aware of the risks that sky lanterns and helium balloons can pose to wildlife, livestock and marine animals through ingestion and entanglement. That is why we will continue to work with Keep Scotland Beautiful and other partners through delivery of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy to prevent all sources of litter, raise awareness of their environmental impacts and encourage responsible behaviours that help protect Scotland’s natural environment.

The Scottish Government provides Grant in Aid Funding to SEPA to undertake monitoring and, where necessary, investigations at designated bathing waters.

Bathing waters are designated, for the purpose of protecting public health, in areas where we expect a large number of bathers. SEPA undertakes routine monitoring of designated bathing waters during the bathing season (typically 1 June to 15 September).

We will continue to support SEPA to help deliver improvements to the water quality at Kinghorn bathing water in response to the ongoing localised pollution pressure affecting the Kinghorn Burn.