Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not engaged with the Ramsar Secretariat on the planning application at Coul Links. NatureScot serves as a statutory advisor to the Scottish Government on developments that may affect Ramsar sites, offering expert ecological guidance to assess environmental impacts. The Ramsar Secretariat, based in Switzerland, is responsible for the day-to day co-ordination of convention activities. Whilst the Secretariat provides guidance, technical advice, and support to member countries to help ensure Ramsar sites are protected within their national planning processes, the Secretariat does not have a direct role in specific planning applications.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that any changes to the operation of group proceedings under the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 are subject to appropriate scrutiny and transparency.

The development of rules for group proceedings, including any proposals to introduce opt-out procedures, is the responsibility of the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC). These rules are made by the Court of Session under powers conferred by the 2018 Act.

Once approved by the Court of Session, rules of court are laid before the Scottish Parliament in accordance with the negative procedure. This means that Parliament has the opportunity to scrutinise the rules and, if it considers it appropriate, annul them within a specified period. This process ensures that the Parliament retains oversight of significant procedural changes to the civil justice system.

In addition, the Scottish Government will continue to engage with stakeholders and the Parliament throughout the development of any new procedures. Ministers are also required under the 2018 Act to report on the operation of group proceedings, which provides a further mechanism for parliamentary scrutiny and debate.

I also further refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40659 on 2 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I can confirm that both Qualifications Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE) will begin the process of establishment and operation from the end of 2025.

Implementation of the Education (Scotland) Act is supported by a Scotland Act section 104 Order (SAO) to be passed by the UK Parliament. Based on current information, we expect this to be completed before the end of this calendar year, though this is subject to UK Parliament timetabling.

Qualifications Scotland will be established as a legal entity on 1 December 2025, with Shirley Rogers appointed as Chair and the Board being established by transitioning selected current members of the SQA to Qualifications Scotland and the recruitment of new members. Recruitment of members to the Learner and Teacher Interest Committees and the Strategic Advisory Council will also begin in December.

From 1 November 2025, HMIE will begin phased establishment, pending the passage of the SAO by the UK Parliament. During this time, HMIE will operate increasingly independently as part of Education Scotland, with a new website and business support functions and will begin to develop and establish its Advisory Council. Subject to successful recruitment, a substantive appointment to the role of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland will also be confirmed during this period.

The focus for both bodies during this process will be to ensure continuity of service and to establish critical business functions in accordance with the legislation. This will ensure they are ready to deliver meaningful change which puts our children, young people, and adult learners, their teachers, practitioners and school leaders at its heart once they are fully operational.

We have laid before Parliament today an annual progress report against our Heat in Buildings Strategy, the fourth since its publication in 2021: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781806431168.

As set out in the answer to S6W 40658 on 2 October 2025, the introduction of opt-out group proceedings in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC). Under the 2018 Act , opt-out procedures can only be introduced through rules of court made by the Court of Session on the recommendation of the SCJC.

The Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018, as introduced, provided only for opt-in group proceedings. However, at Stage 2, non-Government amendments were accepted by the Justice Committee to allow for both opt-in and opt-out procedures, with the type of procedure to be determined by the court in each case. These amendments were supported by all opposition parties and were not overturned at Stage 3.

While the Scottish Government did not oppose the principle of opt-out proceedings, it had concerns about the complexity of implementing such a model without further analysis. The Government’s preference was to introduce opt-in proceedings first, with opt-out to be considered following post-legislative scrutiny. As a result, a full policy analysis of the opt-out model was not undertaken at the time of the Bill’s passage, on the understanding that detailed analysis and stakeholder engagement would be carried out prior to implementation. This remains the Government’s position

The Scottish Government is aware of the growing interest in the potential introduction of opt-out group proceedings in Scotland, particularly in relation to competition matters. While there have been no formal bilateral discussions with the UK Department for Business and Trade specifically on this issue, the Scottish Government continues to monitor developments in UK-wide competition litigation, including the operation of opt-out collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in England and Wales.

I also further refer the member to the answers to question S6W-40658 on 2 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-40658 and 40659 on 2 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Due to regulations set out in UK Data Protection legislation, we are unable to provide a list of names of those that attended the Scottish Transport Summit on 17 September. However, we can confirm that the Summit brought together senior officials from across Scotland’s transport and policy landscape, including Regional Transport Partnerships, local authorities, transport operators, and key government stakeholders to explore how transport can be better positioned as a strategic lever for economic growth.

We can provide the following list of organisations with representatives in attendance:

Airports UK

Angus Council

Association of Chief Transportation Coordinating Officers (ACTO)

Bus Users UK

Citylink

Clackmannanshire Council

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL)

Community Transport Association

Confederation of Passenger Transport

Consumer Scotland

COSLA

Cycling Scotland

David MacBrayne Limited

Disability Equality Scotland

East Dunbartonshire Council

Falkirk Council

Fife Council

First Bus

Glasgow City Council

Glasgow Taxis

Highland Council

Highland and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL)

Highland and Islands Enterprise

HITRANS

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Scotland

Loganair

Logistics UK

Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS)

McGills

Network Rail

North Ayrshire Council

North Lanarkshire Council

Prosper Scotland

Rail Freight Group

Renfrewshire Council

Road Haulage Association

Scotrail Holdings (SRH)

Scottish Canals

Scottish Government

Scottish Road Works Commissioner

Scottish Taxi Federation

Serco Northlink Ferries

SESTRAN

Smart Applications Management

Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS)

Society of Local Authoprity Chief Executives (SOLACE)

South Lanarkshire Council

South of Scotland Enterprise

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT)

Stirling Council

TACTRAN

Technology Scotland

Transform Scotland

Transport Focus

Transport Scotland

Visit Scotland

ZetTrans

The agenda is set out in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40652 on 2 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of cancer or serious illness and would expect any patient presenting with potential symptoms to be assessed as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist.

A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025. These include a nationally agreed non-specific symptoms referral criteria for the first time to support primary care to ensure that the right people are on the right pathway at the right time.

A new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched in 2024 in NHS Scotland, funded by the Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme and supported by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

Gateway C provides innovative and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making. This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.

Further to this, we have continued to invest in our Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services. They provide primary care with access to a new fast-track diagnostic pathway for people with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer, such as weight loss and fatigue. We opened another service in NHS Forth Valley in 2025, bringing our national total to six.

We have assessed the strong evidence that the earlier the stage cancer is diagnosed the better the outcomes are for those affected, irrespective of age, cancer type, race or any other protected characteristic.

This has informed our Earlier Cancer Diagnosis vision as part of the Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and initial three-year Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026. The vision is to reduce later stage disease by 18 percentage points in 10 years’ time (2033), making clear our ambition to reduce inequalities in access to cancer care and improving outcomes for anyone diagnosed with cancer.