Chamber and committees

Scotland has 16 registered product names with the UK’s protected food and drink scheme. This protection is called a Geographical Indication (GI) and is protected as intellectual property. Geographical Indication protection guarantees a product’s characteristics or reputation, authenticity, and origin. It protects the product name from misuse or imitation. The UK GI schemes protect registered product names when they are sold in Great Britain and in some international markets. Northern Ireland is covered by the EU GI scheme. Each product registered with the scheme is subject to rigorous audit on an annual basis by an independent body, most commonly the relevant local authority.

The UK register of protected food names is found here - https://www.gov.uk/protected-food-drink-names

ScotRail Spirit of Scotland pass is aimed at leisure travellers, with morning timing restrictions in place to encourage travel at quieter times out with busy commuting times.

For those who wish to travel earlier, we’ve reduced the cost of rail travel by removing ScotRail peak fares for good, saving 17% on average on previously peak fares. We’ve also frozen rail fares this year. Given these significant savings already in place for rail passengers before 9:15 am, we have no plans to review the conditions of the Spirit of Scotland pass.

Where reported to police, a knife-related assault within a school would typically involve two crimes being recorded – one for possessing a bladed/pointed article within a school and a second for the assault. Information is not held centrally on the volume of such incidents, as the data provided by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government for the Recorded Crime Official Statistics is a simple count of the number of recorded crimes and offences, for each local authority. Therefore, whilst both crimes in the above scenario would be counted within the statistics, they cannot be linked within the data we receive.

However, the Scottish Government collects information on staff experiences of use of weapons in schools, towards staff and pupils, through the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR).

The Scottish Government has had ongoing discussions with Police Scotland regarding the antisocial and illegal use of quad bikes, off-road motorcycles and scrambler bikes, while respecting the principle that operational policing, including the deployment of resources, is a matter for the Chief Constable acting independently.

In particular, officials are actively reviewing the existing powers available to Police Scotland. In this work officials have been working collaboratively with Police Scotland to explore where changes may be required. A significant part of the relevant legal framework, including road traffic law, vehicle registration, and the regulation of the import and sale of e-bikes and e-scooters, is reserved to the UK Government. We continue to engage with the UK Government and press the case for action.

There is a known relationship between persistent non-attendance, exclusion and anti-social behaviour. That is why the Scottish Government is clear that good school attendance is vital for children and young people. Schools and local authorities must do all they can to ensure that children and young people are included, engaged and involved in their learning.

The national guidance on school attendance was updated in March and reaffirms the importance of engaging and supporting children, young people and their families to secure regular school attendance, and is clear that education authority attendance procedures must be underpinned by robust safeguarding and child protection procedures.

Our national guidance also recognises the importance of strong, trusting relationships between staff and children and young people, along with collaboration with local police and youth services, as appropriate, in reducing some forms of absence and helping to prevent children and young people from being at risk.

For any major public events in the city, Glasgow City Council will chair a Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This is a non-statutory body, comprising of council departments and safety and security multi-agency partners, that advises the Council on public safety and licensing for sports grounds and events. The SAG reviews event management plans and provides specialist advice regarding crowd safety, traffic management, and emergency procedures. This is a recognised practice across all Local Authorities and ensures compliance with statutory requirements across a range of safety and security-related legislation. Scottish Government are not a core member of such groups.

For major events, such as the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, the event organiser is also expected to chair a safety and security group with all relevant partners, including Scottish Government, to ensure safety and security risks are planned for, assessed and proportionately mitigated in a collaborative manner.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, Amey, has not yet had the opportunity to inspect the footpath to respond to this request. Footway inspections are undertaken every 12 months for this section of footway per the trunk road maintenance contract. The location has been referred for consideration within future maintenance programmes, and Amey’s Landscaping Team will assess the vegetation to determine any maintenance or improvement works required.

Active travel improvements are progressing elsewhere on the A726 in East Kilbride, with further A725 trunk road cycle infrastructure planned, subject to design development, programme coordination and available budgets.

The purpose of the £2 bus fare cap pilot in the Highlands and Islands is to test the impact on bus patronage and subsequent modal shift of such an intervention. The focus of the analysis of the pilot will include evaluation of the impact on bus patronage, car use, and rail passengers, and will be published following the conclusion of the pilot.

Work is underway to progress a £2 bus fare cap to Glasgow, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Inverclyde within the first 100 days of this government. We are also committed to bringing forward legislation for a £2 bus fare cap across Scotland by the end of this parliament, building on the evidence from the current pilot.

The Highlands and Islands pilot is providing us with valuable real-world evidence on customer behaviour, pricing impacts and operator engagement, which will directly inform how we design future schemes.

The Scottish Government condemns all forms of religiously motivated violence and is clear that communities affected by reported attacks targeting Muslims should feel safe, supported and resilient.

We have established strong working relationships with Muslim communities across Scotland, and we continue to engage with communities to ensure appropriate support and reassurance is in place.

We recognise the importance of ensuring that engagement reflects the diversity within affected communities. We continue to strengthen and build on these relationships and our networks to ensure these voices are heard.

Work is progressing on the next phase of Scotland’s Hate Crime Strategy, and we are taking steps to ensure that this is informed by these stakeholders. Alongside this, we will continue to consider how our engagement and resilience work can best support communities and respond to emerging issues.

We will continue to work closely with partners at both local and national level to ensure that our approach remains cohesive.

The Scottish Government condemns all forms of racially and religiously motivated violence. We recognise that incidents of this nature can cause fear well beyond those directly affected, and are committed to working alongside communities and partners to provide reassurance.

Following the reported incidents on 19 June, the First Minister met with faith leaders at Broomhouse and Annandale mosques on 22 June to hear directly from those affected and to understand how best to support communities.

Our work on ensuring inclusive, safe and cohesive societies is continually informed by faith communities and other stakeholders, including through established groups such as the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership and the Faith and Belief Representatives Group, and the wide range of partners we work with.