Chamber and committees

Recent global events have highlighted the need for robust and effective consumer protections, better regulation, price transparency and targeted financial assistance for those reliant on heating oil.

Scottish Government is actively considering the recommendations made by the Competition and Markets Authority in its report on the home heating oil market. We are also working with UK and other devolved governments, along with regulators and industry stakeholders, to explore the feasibility and potential value of a Scottish heating oil price checker tool.

Working together will help avoid duplication while ensuring that any price checker tool meets the needs of consumers in all parts of the UK.

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021, cat breeders must be licensed and comply with conditions that prohibit breeding where a cat’s genotype or conformation could have a detrimental effect on its welfare or that of its offspring.

These provisions already restrict the breeding of cats with known welfare concerns, including Scottish Folds, and can be applied to other breeds with extreme characteristics. The Scottish Government is committed to high standards of animal welfare and we will continue to keep the licensing framework under review, including consideration of recommendations from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission and the UK Animal Welfare Committee.

In 2025, the Scottish Government and Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) announced a pilot to give communities priority access to renewable energy assets on public land due for repowering.

The pilot provides a protected window for local groups to make an asset transfer request to lease FLS sites due for repowering and gives advance notification of upcoming lease opportunities so communities have time to prepare asset transfer requests before sites go to market.

These measures will apply to projects with a maximum generation capacity of 50MW, and ten FLS sites have been identified to be part of the pilot. Communities can access support to enable them to take up these opportunities through the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

The Scottish Government has worked with other governments across the UK to develop the Fair Dealings Obligations Regulations, which have been introduced to address fairness in the supply chain. The regulations are currently in place for the milk and pig sectors and set out legal requirements for how purchase contracts must operate between farmers and buyers of certain agricultural products. They are designed to make contracts fairer, more transparent and more predictable. Stakeholders with concerns about compliance are able to raise these with the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator.

The regulations are subject to a statutory review process which will consider their effectiveness, and similar regulations are being considered for other sectors such as eggs. Whilst the Scottish Government’s position is that this legislation relates to devolved matters, we will continue to work with Defra and other governments in the UK on legislation covering contractual fairness, in the interests of industry.

The Scottish Government has regular engagement with the environmental horticulture sector and recognises the important role of environmental horticulture in the development of green landscaping and infrastructure. Horticultural businesses and expertise are integral to the supply of trees and plants, and are well-placed to help address environmental challenges, as well as contribute to the Scottish population’s mental and physical health, through the creation of gardens and greenspaces. These benefits are set out in the Horticulture Trades Association’s Scottish Environmental Horticulture Manifesto, which the Scottish Government welcomed in autumn 2025. The Scottish Government looks forward to continued constructive work with the environmental horticulture sector to ensure that the shared ambitions for green growth and for a healthy and climate resilient nation are achieved.

Transport Scotland offers a subsidy through Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) to fund operational costs of the Caledonian Sleeper Limited (CSL), which are not met by other income, including passenger revenue. The information on level of that subsidy including capital funding is available publicly from various sources, including Caledonian Sleeper Ltd accounts submitted to Companies House: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC328825/filing-history. No loans are offered to CSL by the Scottish Government or Transport Scotland.

Responsibility for school uniform rests with individual schools and education authorities.

The Scottish Government published national guidance on school uniform and clothing in 2024. It supports headteachers, school leaders and education authorities to work collaboratively with their school communities to develop affordable and sustainable uniform and clothing policies that meet the needs, circumstances and identities of their pupils.

The guidance has a strong focus on affordability and makes clear that schools are expected to do all they can to minimise costs for families, in line with wider efforts to tackle child poverty and reduce the cost of the school day. The guidance is clear that branded items should not be compulsory and that schools should not expect families to purchase them. Schools are encouraged to adopt flexible uniform policies that promote the use of pre-loved clothing to improve affordability and reduce waste.

Jurors in Scotland may be eligible to claim compensation for a range of expenses:

• Travel
• Subsistence
• Loss of earnings or benefits
• Extra expenses of employing a childminder or a carer for a dependent adult
• Other expenses approved by the court,

The maximum sums that can be claimed are set by the Scottish Ministers, and are detailed in full on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service website. The rates of the allowances are kept under regular review, and there are no current plans to make changes to them.

It is worth noting that, for trials that last up to five days, the loss of earnings allowance that jurors can claim in Scotland is aligned with the allowance in the rest of the United Kingdom. However, in trials that last more than five days the Scottish allowance for loss of earnings is more generous than allowances elsewhere in the UK, recognising the greater financial impact that these longer trials can have on jurors.

An assessment into the rising costs of horticulture businesses has not been undertaken by the Scottish Government, however, the Horticultural Trades Association has recently published a briefing outlining the ‘Cost of Doing Business’ for the environmental horticulture sector across the UK as a whole. This can be found here: https://hta.org.uk/public-affairs-policy/briefings-consultations-and-reports/stakeholder-section/stakeholder-briefings. The Scottish Government recognises the current challenges outlined in this assessment, which environmental horticulture businesses are facing, the majority of which are family-run SMEs. That is why the Scottish Government continues to offer the Small Business Bonus Scheme to help address the rising costs that businesses are facing. In addition, Scottish Government backed schemes have helped businesses reduce energy costs through grants for energy efficient equipment and renewable technologies.

The Scottish Government recognises concerns about the welfare impacts of conventional farrowing crates and remains committed to our 2021-2022 Programme for Government commitment to consult and I welcomed the commitment by the new UK Government in its Animal Welfare Strategy to consult on phasing out farrowing crates, and I have confirmed that we will consult jointly on this issue.

In developing its position, the Scottish Government has considered evidence on sow and piglet welfare, including research funded through Scotland’s Rural University College on alternative farrowing systems, alongside wider scientific evidence, stakeholder views (including a summit of stakeholders from all sides at Holyrood) and industry experience.

The Scottish Government continues to listen and work with the industry and stakeholders on how best to achieve improvements in animal welfare as well as monitoring industry information to allow us to determine how to ensure best practice is delivered.