Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has made significant progress in addressing Audit Scotland’s 2023 recommendations to strengthen the evidence base on the size, cost and composition of the devolved public sector workforce.

In June 2025, we published the first consolidated estimate of the devolved public sector pay bill, including a breakdown by workforce - addressing a priority recommendation identified in Audit Scotland’s report.

Further information on public sector employment is available here: Public Sector Employment: Employment by organisation: 2019 Quarter 1 to 2025 Quarter 3 - gov.scot.

Ministers recognise the importance of Scotland’s war memorials and the significant personal, cultural and community value they hold, as well as the deeply felt impact that damage to them can cause. Following the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s scrutiny of the Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill in the last parliamentary session, Ministers are taking full account of the Committee’s findings and recommendations, including its invitation to engage on the merits of a statutory aggravation.

While delivery under the R100 North contract was previously scheduled for completion in 2028, aligning deployment with Project Gigabit presents a unique opportunity to optimise coverage across some of the most rural communities in the Highlands and Islands.

For instance, coordinating R100 and Project Gigabit delivery in Timsgarry, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, will enable us to connect additional premises, drive efficiencies and minimise disruption for the community.

Maximising these alignment opportunities may, in certain circumstances, require elements of the R100 North contract build to be extended beyond 2028. Where alignment is expected to impact completion timelines in specific areas, this will be communicated at the earliest opportunity via our online address checker.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted by the Scottish Ministers in February 2023, sets out national planning policy and a long term spatial strategy for Scotland. It was subject to extensive consultation, including with rural stakeholders, and impact assessment and Parliamentary scrutiny.

The last Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee conducted annual reviews of NPF4 to assess its impact in practice.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with the National Planning Improvement Champion, monitors performance of planning policy and the planning system through close engagement with key stakeholders, including planning authority colleagues.

As you may be aware, the UK Government decided to rule out zonal pricing in July last year. However, the Scottish Government has been clear that the current wholesale electricity market is unfit for purpose, and leaves Scottish consumers exposed to high energy costs, driven by volatile natural gas prices.

The levers to effect change such as energy price setting and market reform lie with the UK Government. We have repeatedly called on them to use the opportunities offered by reformed national pricing to bring forward measures that tackle fuel poverty, responds to global price shocks, and strengthens long-term energy security.

In an energy-rich country like Scotland, people should not be struggling to pay their bills.

Our Portfolio Efficiency and Reform Plans published alongside the Scottish Spending Review, set out savings by portfolio, by year.

These plans incorporate savings arising from efficiency and reform activity, aligned with our savings targets as set out in the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan and the Public Service Reform strategy. While these targets are not broken down annually, the recurring savings set out in these plans for 2026-27 are around £563 million.

The plans will be updated and published as further progress is made and will be subject to scrutiny from Audit Scotland, the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission, and also receive external scrutiny from stakeholders such as the Fraser of Allander Institute and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Social Security Scotland does not report the cost of administering individual benefits as the organisation operates a flexible workforce across its 18 benefits, with shared systems and corporate functions supporting delivery. As a result, administrative costs are not incurred or recorded on a per-benefit basis and cannot be broken down by individual benefit.

The organisation deploys staff across all benefits to respond to changes in demand, including seasonal peaks, ensuring clients continue to be supported effectively. Costs may therefore fluctuate over the course of the year in line with this operational approach.

Information on Social Security Scotland’s overall administrative expenditure is published in its Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25: Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25.

A full review of the biodiversity duty reporting procedures is currently in progress.

Any proposed changes to the reporting process will be subject to consultation before being implemented through secondary legislation. We will engage with public bodies throughout the review process and write to them to advise of planned changes.

The current three-year biodiversity duty reporting cycle covers 2024-2026 inclusive, and reports for this period are due at the end of December 2026. We do not intend to make any changes to the reporting process before the end of this cycle, as this would not allow sufficient time for public bodies to consider and implement the changes. We will be writing to public bodies shortly to provide an update on the review process and reporting requirements for 2024-26.

As set out in the previous Cabinet Secretary’s 25 March update to Parliament found here: More Homes Scotland update - Cab Sec Housing to LGHP - 25 March 2026, More Homes Scotland will:

• make greater use of land assembly and preparation powers to support viability and help accelerate pace of delivery;
• provide enhanced support for housing planning and development delivery;
• introduce greater opportunities for standardisation and adopt simplified commissioning options; and
• promote flexible funding approaches to drive economic growth opportunities, including through joint working with Scottish National Investment Bank.

The Scottish Government is committed to reforming the energy consenting process to ensure it delivers timely results and takes a pragmatic approach. We continue to maintain a robust consenting regime, working to existing commitments for faster decision-making timescales. This includes the ambitions set out in the Onshore Wind Sector Deal and the Priority Applications for Transmission Infrastructure Guidance to determine applications within 52 weeks where possible.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 provided Scottish Ministers with new regulation-making powers, including mandating pre-application engagement, introducing an acceptance stage, and streamlining the consenting process by establishing clearer statutory timescales.

Ministers will consult later this year on how these powers should be used to improve the consenting process for all stakeholders, with findings informing secondary legislation.