Chamber and committees

Since the launch of the £2 bus fare cap pilot in the Highlands and Islands in January 2026, the Scottish Government has received claims relating to 280,907 passenger journeys, with total reimbursement claims of £2,045,740.90 made by participating bus operators. The number of journeys and the value of claims may not align due to the claim validation process.

It is not yet possible to determine the number of additional passenger journeys generated by the scheme, however, the Scottish Government will work with participating operators over the summer to assess the impact of the pilot against comparable baseline data.

All figures are correct as of 2 June 2026.

The Non-Domestic Rates (Liability for Unoccupied Properties) (Scotland) Act 2026 (the Act) clarified the legal basis for local authorities to levy rates on the owners of unoccupied properties, subject to any reliefs that local authorities may choose to put in place, with retrospective effect from 1 April 2023. The Act gives effect to the original policy intention and the system as understood by local authorities and ratepayers, and applied by local authorities.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on any claims for refunds received by local authorities. This matter has not however been raised specifically by local government with the Scottish Government.

As set out in our manifesto, we will work in partnership with others, including administering authorities in the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme, to progress funding models that safeguard fiduciary duties, provide secure inflation linked returns, and can accelerate the delivery of affordable homes.

The Scottish Government has spent a total of £25,082.4 in the last 5 financial years with Total Politics for the purpose of Women into Leadership conference tickets and training events. £10,752 in Financial Year 24-25 and £14,330.40 in 25-26.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including new and replacement transmission and distribution infrastructure, whilst ensuring that potential impacts on our communities and natural assets, including cumulative impacts, are important considerations in the decision-making process.

The Scottish Government Delivery Framework for Miscarriage Care in Scotland, published in February 2025, sets out a graded model of miscarriage care after one, two and three or more miscarriages and tasks NHS Boards with introducing this model of care in Early Pregnancy Services, backed by £1.5m funding to NHS Boards in 2025-26.

The supply of medicines, and the associated legislation, is a matter reserved to the UK Government. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland is a member of the UK Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG). Following the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100mg/1ml solution, MSRG issued advice to prescribers to switch people to hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100mg powder for injection, where appropriate. People concerned about the additional steps required to prepare an emergency injection when using the above-noted powder formulation may wish to discuss with their clinician whether an alternative unlicensed hydrocortisone product would be appropriate for them. Work with the pharmaceutical industry to identify a longer-term solution continues.

There is evidence of the benefits of large herbivore impact on biodiversity outcomes in some circumstances from a range of contexts, including in the UK. The Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan includes an action to explore how best to support optimal herbivore densities to enhance biodiversity outcomes in the uplands. We have funded the James Hutton Institute to research the effects of different domestic grazing regimes on biodiversity at the Glen Finglas Woodland Trust site for over 20 years. The results show variable benefits to biodiversity from different grazing regimes with ‘winner and losers’ under each type of grazing. Our approach is therefore to support such interventions in nature restoration projects in the right circumstances, on a case by case basis.

Information in that format and to that extent is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Providing the information would put a significant pressure on civil service staff and would require securing information from third parties, as well as extensive manual analysis. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

I refer the Member to the Parliamentary Questions Guidance.

The Member may find the following publications helpful:

CP5 delivery plan - 2018/19 update;

CP6 Delivery Plan Update – Scotland's Railway;

Scotland-CP7-Delivery-Plan-Year-2-update.pdf

The Scottish Ministers’ High Level Output Specification (HLOS)

Scotland CP7 delivery plan

The Non-Domestic Rates (Liability for Unoccupied Properties) (Scotland) Act 2026 clarified the legal basis to levy non-domestic rates on the owners of unoccupied properties, subject to any reliefs that local authorities may choose to put in place, with retrospective effect from 1 April 2023. The Act brought the statute book into line with the original policy intention and the position as understood by local authorities and ratepayers, and applied by local authorities.

The Financial Memorandum accessible for the Non-Domestic Rates (Liability for Unoccupied Properties) (Scotland) Bill set out the estimated costs associated with the measures introduced by the Bill including costs for local authorities.

Local authorities have not specifically reported any exceptional costs in relation to this Act to the Scottish Government.