Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government can confirm there is no transport service, including taxi provision, available to support individuals who use drugs, in travelling to and from the Glasgow Safer Drug Consumption Facility (The Thistle).

Scottish Enterprise continue to make significant progress in identifying credible propositions, including the 9 projects identified by Project Willow, that will secure the long term and sustainable future of the Grangemouth industrial cluster. Scottish Enterprise have now received over 100 enquiries from businesses interested in opportunities on the Grangemouth site, including a number of near term developments related to the Project Willow plastic waste recycling, biorefining and fuel switching technology pathways.

The Scottish Government continues to consider, alongside potential investors, regulatory and policy barriers to investment, including those outlined in Project Willow. We are already making tangible progress with the conclusion of an initial study by the James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College on the potential for cover crops to be grown in sufficient quantities that could support a potential biorefinery project at Grangemouth which will be published shortly. This will now progress to field trials to ensure a comprehensive approach is being taken to satisfactorily address the recommendation in the Project Willow.

This is an operational matter for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Some of this information can be found in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh‘s (RBGE) Annual Reports and Accounts: Accounts | Corporate Information | What We Do | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities are responsible for setting budgets for street cleansing within their council area.

As chewing gum is a problematic form of litter that is difficult to remove, a UK-wide Chewing Gum Taskforce has been established which has two main objectives – cleaning up historic gum staining and changing behaviour so gum is disposed of correctly. Since 2021, the Taskforce has been responsible for dispersing up to £10 million of funding from chewing gum manufacturers. Grants of up to £27,500 are provided to local authorities to remove chewing gum and promote correct disposal. More information about the work of the Taskforce, including information on the councils that have received funding and reports on the first 3 years of activities, is available on the Keep Britain Tidy website.

As of 31 July 2025, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has 8 live vacancies.

This information can be found in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh‘s (RBGE) Annual Reports and Accounts: Accounts | Corporate Information | What We Do | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

This is an operational matter for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The spend achieved on the Sustainable and Active Travel budget for 2024-25 was £147,700,000. This equates to 85% of the value allocated for investment at the start of the 2024-25 financial year.

The Scottish Government is transparent on all investments that are made to delivery Partners. On an annual basis this information is publish via the Transport Scotland section 70 returns, these are available for all to view on the Transport Scotland Website. For the years mentioned in question S6W-36360 (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24), the funding distributed from the Sustainable and Active Travel budget to delivery partners has been placed with SPICE under bib number 66035.

All applications for planning permission are decided on their own merits and, by law, must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The development plan consists of both National Planning Framework 4 and the local development plan for the area. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to make comment about decisions made by a planning authority.

Through the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, the Scottish Parliament legislated to allow planning authorities to designate short term let control areas (‘control areas’). Under these provisions, City of Edinburgh Council has designated the entirety of its administrative area as a control area. Within control areas, certain changes of use from a dwellinghouse to short-term letting are automatically deemed to be material changes of use requiring planning permission. It is for the planning authority to consider on a case-by-case basis whether changes of use that occurred before the designation of a control area constitute material changes of use requiring planning permission.

The planning system and the licensing system have different and distinct regulatory purposes. The purpose of planning is to manage the development and use of land in the long term public interest, whereas the purpose of short-term let licensing is to ensure the safety of guests and safeguard Scotland's reputation as a high quality tourist destination. Scottish Government guidance encourages anyone who is considering using a house or flat as a short term let to check with the relevant planning authority whether planning permission is required.