Chamber and committees

Since the lodging of the members question, NatureScot have now received a licence application to permit the taking of gannets on Sula Sgeir.

In determining an application for a licence, NatureScot must consider whether the hunt is sustainable, in that it would not have an adverse effect on the conservation status of the species concerned.

NatureScot will assess the application in accordance with existing legal frameworks, including provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and the obligations set out in the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c) Regulations 1994 (‘the Habitats Regulations’), which provide protection to the qualifying features of North Rona and Sula Sgeir Special Protection Area (SPA).

The assessment undertaken by NatureScot will be informed by the latest scientific evidence including an updated population viability analysis model.

Scottish Ministers are clear that island communities must have a strong and meaningful voice in the governance of Scotland’s ferry services. They have taken active steps to support this, including through representation on the boards of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac Ferries Ltd. As a result, there are currently two island residents serving on the Board of CalMac Ferries Ltd.

Ministers will continue to use the public appointments process to actively encourage applications from individuals with lived experience of island communities, while ensuring that all appointments are made on merit and that boards have the skills required to deliver high-quality ferry services.

Work is ongoing with CMAL and CalMac Ferries Ltd to promote board opportunities within island communities and to support applications from individuals with direct experience of island life. Future appointment rounds, including the forthcoming CMAL campaign, will provide further opportunities to strengthen island representation on these boards.

I have asked Linda Pollock, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS understand the risk that drones present to security and stability of our prisons and that is why we have implemented security measures such as window grilles and targeted interventions to lessen their impact.

Drone recoveries include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, SIM cards, weapons, various drugs and miscellaneous articles such as USB memory sticks and tweezers.

SPS recognise the continued threat presented by drones and are actively engaging with Police Scotland and both UK and European Prison Services, to share best practice and explore common solutions.

SPS record confirmed data on drone sightings and recoveries. The latest full year figures are presented in the following table:

The research design and approach will only be finalised if approval from the Lord Justice General is provided.

Ensuring the research is undertaken in an ethically appropriate manner will of course be a key priority. Juror confidentiality, complainer anonymity, accused persons’ rights, data protection, appeals and the integrity of criminal proceedings in relation to the research have all been considered extensively during the drafting of the research specification, the evaluation of the bids received and, most recently, by the project’s Ethics Panel. Specific safeguards will be finalised when the research design is confirmed.

The nursing workforce has increased by 16.0% over the last decade to 65,350.2 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff as at December 2025.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with NHS Education for Scotland (NES), now part of Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS), to develop a workforce planning tool to assess the future size and shape of the workforce. This tool uses historical inflows and outflows, including student intake data, to support projections of future workforce requirements.

This enables NHS Boards to plan their future workforce needs effectively. Workforce considerations are reflected in the student intake process and inform decisions on setting student intake targets.

The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff. Ultimately, responsibility for recruitment lies with Health Boards, which must ensure safe and effective staffing levels are in place to deliver services.

The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan makes clear that the Acorn Project is essential to meeting Scotland’s emissions targets, while our Green Industrial Strategy highlights the significant economic benefits CCUS can deliver for Scotland, particularly in the North East.

The UK Government pledged close to £22 billion for the HyNet and East Coast Cluster projects in 2024, last month the East Coast Cluster confirmed it has already awarded £1.5 billion to UK supply chain firms. This is the type of economic boost that Scotland should be experiencing, but the UK Government has yet to provide a timeline for the £200 million development support for the Acorn Project that was announced last year.

The failure by successive UK Governments to provide a full funding package for the Acorn project is risking emissions reductions and denying the North East the job creation and economic benefits that would be realised if Acorn were funded comparatively with the East Coast Cluster and HyNet Cluster projects.

It will be the defining mission of this Scottish Government to support families with the cost of living and eradicate child poverty.

Our third Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, ‘Bringing Hope, Building Futures’ was published on 12 March and sets out a robust and enduring framework that will enable further progress against Scotland’s 2030 child poverty targets.

The Plan commits concrete action to drive continued progress. This includes investing £40 million in 2026-27 to deliver new support with transport and skills for families, increasing our Scottish Child Payment to £40 for families with a child under 1 during 2027-28, and investing to deliver a national breakfast club offer for primary school aged children with provision in all primary and special schools by August 2027.

Building on the actions we have taken to date, measures within the delivery plan are estimated to keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year.

We have committed to go even further to help people keep more money in their pockets and tackle child poverty. This includes introducing legal price caps on a range of essential food in big supermarkets, expanding support for childcare to all children from nine-months to the end of primary school, and introducing a £2 nationwide cap on bus fares to lower people’s travel costs.

The Scottish Government has supported the development of Men’s Sheds across Scotland for over a decade, recognising their important role in improving health, wellbeing and social connection. We have invested more than £1 million in the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) to support the growth and sustainability of the movement, which has helped expand the network from a small number of Sheds to over 200 groups across all 32 local authority areas, with new Sheds continuing to form.

As part of this overall investment, the SMSA received £72,264 from the Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund to support the development of Sheds in the Highland area.

The SMSA provides guidance, and advice on all governance and infrastructure matters to both new and existing Sheds. The SMSA also helps Sheds secure appropriate insurance, health and safety compliance, develop sustainable funding models, and access training, resources and peer support networks. In addition, it offers practical assistance to allow Sheds to operate effectively and remain viable over time.

Individual Sheds are however responsible for securing their own funding and, collectively, have received £452,819 through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults in the first four years of the Fund.

The Scottish Government has confirmed funding of £75,000 for financial year 2026-27 to the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association in Scotland.

We welcome the fact that in Scotland we have tough legislation in place to deal with livestock worrying. The Scottish Government supported Emma Harper’s member’s bill when it was introduced, to provide Police Scotland and the courts with greater powers to deal with those who allow their dogs to worry, attack, or kill livestock in Scotland’s countryside. Under this law owners of dogs that attack or worry livestock can be fined up to £40,000 or face a prison sentence of up to 12 months.

Please find the following tables with information about the highest fine (table 1) and custodial sentence imposed (table 2) in each of the last two years under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Scotland) Act 1953 or the amendment, and how many people received these. This information has been extracted from the management information data used to prepare the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard

Table 1: The highest fine imposed each year and number of accused who received it.

The 2025-26 budget and Programme for Government set out current infrastructure investment commitments for acute sites, and this was reconfirmed in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline published on 13 January.

The financial position is expected to remain challenging and to ensure that available capital funding can be directed to best effect, we are currently working with all health boards to develop an NHS whole system infrastructure plan for Scotland. This will support continued safe and effective use of existing facilities as well as informing future investment priorities based on assessment of need across the whole of Scotland.

The first phase, Business Continuity Planning, is focussed on priority investment in the existing estate to support service continuity. Boards have already completed their risk-based assessments and received confirmation of items which can be progressed with additional funding from the Scottish Government.

The second phase is focussed on the longer-term development of the estate to meet national, regional and local needs. All health boards have been asked to undertake strategic needs assessments for three local investment priorities. Returns will then be considered on a whole of Scotland basis.

This approach aligns with the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, which was published in June. You may also find DL(2025) 15 helpful, which provides further information on NHS whole system infrastructure planning (DL 2025-15).

In addition, NHS Boards have full delegated authority to allocate funding from within their annual capital allocation budget towards maintenance, equipment and other items of capital outlay. Any requests for capital funding outwith their annual capital allocation must follow the governance process and be approved by the appropriate Scottish Government official as outlined in the Annex to DL (2025) 15.