Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government remains committed to this work and the recent roundtable table discussion with industry, animal welfare organisations and academic representatives was the first steps in finding ways to ensure producer’s viability and improving sow welfare.

The Scottish Government will continue to listen and work with the industry and stakeholders to find ways for producers to transition towards implementing improved animal welfare methods and practices.

These are operational matters for Scottish Enterprise. I am advised by Scottish Enterprise that, since 2021-22, Cooperative Development Scotland has provided direct support to a total of 199 employee-owned companies and 94 co-operatives.

The following table shows the number of employee-owned companies and co-operatives that received direct support in each financial year:

Scottish Forestry operates a Strategic Timber Transport Scheme to support timber transport infrastructure improvements. Most recently, on 10 July, it announced that £900,000 has been allocated to 9 local authority projects this year. These projects are co-funded by the local authorities which include Highland Council, Scottish Borders Council, Argyll and Bute Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Ayrshire Roads Alliance. Another £945,000 this year is supporting the shipping of timber from Argyll to Ayrshire thereby removing approximately 75,000 tonnes from roads in those areas.

Not in the foreseeable future. The scoping work that we conducted supported the case for the creation of a Scottish Veterinary Service that could deliver quality improvements and could be financially sustainable.

However, in the current financial climate it is appropriate that we prioritise other key public services. The initial investment to create an SVS is too high given the ongoing financial pressures and the cost-of-living crisis.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the highest standards of animal health and welfare, as well as more highly trained veterinary staff, and continues to work with FSS, APHA and the Local Authorities to ensure that Scotland has the best possible animal health and welfare services.

The Scottish Government has recently taken multiple steps towards encouraging animal farmers to make transitions to improve animal welfare, such as our 2026 consultations on the proposed ban on keeping laying hens, pullets and breeder layers in cages and proposed changes to lamb castration and tail docking methods (to improve welfare through usage of new methods with anesthesia and pain relief), which we held in collaboration with the UK and Welsh Governments. In 2024 we also updated the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 to include updated pig welfare guidance.

Services that provide specialist support to male survivors of domestic abuse, addiction services and mental health services are independent of Scottish Government and as such, responsibility for staff training rests with their boards. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold information on the specific training delivered by individual services.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Men’s Advice Line, SACRO’s FearFree Project, AMIS, The Scottish Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline, ASSIST, and the LGBT Domestic Abuse project. We encourage anyone experiencing domestic abuse to seek help.

While the Scottish Government has not carried out its own assessment of the prevalence of the trade in exotic animals, we did fund the Scottish Rural College (SRUC) to undertake, under the direction of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, a comprehensive review of the evidence on the welfare of exotic pets in Scotland. The SRUC published its findings in November 2022. Additionally, in 2021 and 2022, the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission published interim and final reports on exotic pets in Scotland which included its findings on the trade and supply of exotic pets.

At this time, the Scottish Government has no plans to regulate this trade; however, we continue to consider the findings of the SRUC and SAWC reports and engage with relevant stakeholders to inform future policy, including the need for further regulation.

Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional needs of their pupils including those with a Pathological Demand Avoidance profile.

The Scottish Government recognises the concerns from both faith groups and heritage organisations following the decision of the UK Government to close the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. As soon as we were aware of this decision we strongly encouraged the UK Government to rethink their policy position.

We have engaged with key stakeholders, and Historic Environment Scotland to understand the implications for Scotland's listed places of worship. The previous scheme enabled eligible organisations to recover the equivalent of VAT incurred on repairs and maintenance, and its closure may increase costs for congregations undertaking essential works. We are aware that many places of worship face financial pressures, and we continue to assess potential options for support.

We are committed to maintaining direct payments, to supporting active farming and food production in Scotland, and to ensuring there are no cliff edges for producers.

We are already delivering increased conditions on direct payments; this is better incentivising sustainable and regenerative practice, on-farm nature restoration and climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, while investing in our producers to produce high-quality food.

The Rural Support Plan, laid in Parliament, has set clearly how over the course of this session, budgets will change across the Tiers of the support Framework. At least 70% of funding will be allocated to the Direct Payment model of Tiers 1 and 2 and we will apply a funding split of 7:3 between Tiers 1 and 2. We will continue to work with farmers and crofters to make sure that our support is informed by their needs and experience whilst delivering on our Vision for Agriculture.