Our national guidance for local authorities sets out expectations for monitoring and reviewing the service. The guidance also makes clear that the operation of the counselling service within the school should be reviewed annually and any necessary improvements made.

The Scottish Government facilitates a quarterly Counsellors Network to provide a forum for local authority representatives co-ordinating the school counselling service to discuss practice and delivery.

Local authorities also provide annual reports to the Scottish Government on counselling services. These returns provide national oversight and inform ongoing engagement with local authorities. A summary of these reports can be accessed here: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot.

A preliminary version of the Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture which has been co-developed with the industry was launched on 19th June at the Royal Highland Show.

This is an opportunity to gather real world feedback from the industry which will be taken into consideration for the next iteration.

The Code will be updated in accordance with the Act at a minimum of every five years but if evidence suggests a change would be beneficial it could be updated more regularly. Government officials are continuing to engage with industry through existing regular consultation on the development and refinement of the Code.

The Framework Agreement that exists between Ferguson Marine and the Scottish Government, dated September 2024, outlines the role of the Scottish Government regarding the financial arrangements of the business. The agreement is available from the website of Ferguson Marine.

The Scottish Government was not made aware of the agreement made by the former CEO of Ferguson Marine, David Tydeman, with a subcontractor that resulted in unpaid tax until it was reported to the Chair, the Board of Ferguson Marine, and the sponsor department.

Details of the remuneration and pension benefits of Board members of Ferguson Marine are published annually in the Remuneration and Staff Report section of the Annual Report and Financial Statements of Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Holdings Ltd, which is available from the Companies House website.

Tankerness Lane, Kirkwall; Longman House, Inverness; St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh and Cadzow Court, Hamilton are all owned under the core Scottish Government core estate.

The lease at 4 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow expired on 14 July 2024. Therefore, there are no lease costs applicable to these properties.

For the remaining properties, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37224 on 13 May 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The following table shows the annual total running costs for each of the leased Scottish Government offices as per the response to question S6W-37224. These figures include all associated costs for running each office building and cover January to December 2024.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any direct comparison of outcomes between stocked brown trout and salmon.

The Scottish Government supports a wide range of research projects investigating the impacts of water abstraction, including on river dynamics and water flow.

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme (2022-2027) is modelling future drought risks and ecosystem service impacts using water abstraction data. Between 2023-2025, the Scottish Government funded Centre of Expertise for Waters completed three research projects providing evidence considering the effect of impoundments on river dynamics and water flow.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) conducts its own assessments which evaluate the effects of licenced abstractions. These include borehole monitoring to assess groundwater levels and impacts on river flow.

On 9 April, the Minister for Business and Employment met the vice president of PetroChina and the China National Petroleum Cooperation to discuss our shared ambitions for the future of the Grangemouth refinery site. It was agreed that the Scottish Government and PetroChina will continue to explore all routes to deployment of new industrial and employment opportunities at Grangemouth.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24570 on 29 January 2024.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.