Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting small producers, empowering them to play a key role in delivering our Vision for Agriculture through the Small Producers Pilot Fund. Market gardens are no exception to that, and providing they meet our small producer criteria, can access funding through the £1,500,000 the Scottish Government has provided in capital funding for 2026-2027.

Further to this, the Scottish Government recognises the unique market conditions and the wider benefits of our small edible horticultural producers. The Scottish Government has therefore, commissioned research to fully understand this industry and the challenges that they face. This is expected to be completed in the beginning of 2027.

Onshore wind is Scotland’s largest source of renewable electricity and will remain central to delivering net zero by 2045.

Building on our ambition for a minimum of 20GW by 2030, deployment beyond that point will be shaped by range of factors, many reserved to the UK Government. These factors including future route to market arrangements, network planning and connections reform, and the co-commissioned Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP).

The Scottish Government will continue to press the UK Government to take all steps necessary for Scotland’s onshore wind resource to be used to its full potential.

The process for the development and approval of the SSEP is set out in the Commissioning letter and the SSEP methodology both of which are publicly available. The decision on the initial pathway for the SSEP will be made by the Secretary of State in autumn 2026, following input from Scottish and Welsh Governments. The finalised Pathway Options Report prepared by NESO will be issued to UK, Scottish and Welsh Government at the end of August. It is expected that the chosen pathway will go out for public consultation in early 2027 with the final SSEP agreed in Autumn 2027.

Registers of Scotland maintains the Land Register, which, together with the older Sasines Register, record who owns land and property in Scotland. The Land Register is map-based and includes the statutory cadastral map. Further information on the cadastral map is available on the Registers of Scotland Knowledge Base.

Scotland’s Land Information Service (ScotLIS), maintained by Registers of Scotland, provides online public access to information on land and property in an accessible map-based format combining information from the Land, Sasines, Crofting and Judicial Registers.

The Scottish Government has not announced any policy to change the Land Register or introduce a different land information system.

International trade is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government regularly engages with the UK Government on trade negotiations and has consistently emphasised that agri-food trade agreements should uphold Scotland’s high animal welfare and food standards.

We have also highlighted the importance of trade to Scotland’s food security. The Scottish Government welcomed the outline UK-EU SPS and Veterinary Agreement announced on 19 May 2025 and will continue to press for Scotland’s interests, including high agri-food standards, to be reflected in future trade negotiations.

Heat in Buildings is allocated £302.5m capital in the 2026-27 Scottish Budget, which includes funding for Scotland’s Heat Network Fund. This budget provides flexibility across schemes, and spending via Scotland’s Heat Network Fund is dependent on there being demand from projects that meet essential criteria and represent good value for money.

The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution that co-operatives make to Scotland's economy and communities. Through the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026, Ministers are required to develop measures that promote and support the development of co-operatives, alongside employee-owned businesses and social enterprises, as part of our wider approach to building a fairer and more resilient economy. We will work with enterprise agencies, delivery partners, and representative bodies to support that ambition.

The latest figures for co-operatives, from 2025, indicate that there are 593 co-operatives now operating in Scotland, with 800,000 memberships and a combined turnover of £2.1 billion.

In terms of support with a particular focus on food production, the Scottish Government has committed to £6M funding over two years for the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme, which funds groups of growers, known as Producer Organisations, to encourage collaboration and increase competitiveness.

Areas where large number of bathers are expected to use the water are designated as Bathing Waters for the protection of public health. This is typically throughout the summer months. SEPA convenes a Bathing Water Panel each year which makes recommendations on the duration of the bathing season and we would welcome any evidence, such as user surveys, of large numbers of bathers outside of the traditional bathing season (1 June – 15 September) to inform future decisions.

We have not undertaken analysis of the public health benefits of extending the bathing season.

Social Security Scotland publishes information on applications to Adult Disability Payment from people in receipt of, or who have previously received, Child Disability Payment as part of its annual Adult Disability Payment June statistical publication.

The number of young people in receipt of Child Disability Payment who were awarded Adult Disability Payment in each of the last five years is set out in the published Child Disability Payment to Adult Disability Payment table A1.

Young people can apply for Adult Disability Payment between the ages of 16 and 18 and remain entitled to Child Disability Payment until a determination is made on their application. However, the published statistics do not provide a breakdown showing how many Child Disability Payment recipients transferred to Adult Disability Payment after turning 16.

Proposals announced by The Department for Education in April 2026 seek to implement major structural change to the system of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

As part of the proposals, expert panels are being established to develop recommendations on the design, structure and content of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages. These expert panels will establish the recommended level of support required for children and young people in both mainstream settings and specialist provisions as well as identifying the appropriate means of delivering this support.

Scottish Government officials are actively engaged with colleagues within the Department for Education on the ongoing reforms, and will engage with the Expert Panels for National Inclusions Standards and Specialist Provision Packages where appropriate.