Chamber and committees

With over 19,000 capital investments applied for we do not intend to publish a breakdown of the weighting or scoring used for each capital item.

Computers were used to process applications, as they are with all agricultural grant applications. Assessment work was led by the Agricultural Development Team, supported by staff from across the RPID area office network.

Figures include the additional 122 offers of grant that will be made following revalidation checks.

The Scottish Government does not record this data.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-42042 on 1 December 2025, computers were used to process applications, as they are with all agricultural grant applications. However, the assessment work was led by the Agricultural Development Team, supported by staff from across the RPID area office network, which is experienced in delivering Scottish Government grant schemes. Independent validation was undertaken by a Project Board, which also included RPID Area Office representatives, as well as being reviewed by Internal Audit representatives. 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.

Information on the cancellation of adult social care packages is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government Cancer Strategy for Scotland (2023 – 2033) is underpinned by multi-year phases of planned actions.

The initial three-year Cancer Action for Scotland Plan 2023-2026 has supported the strategy by determining actions to help us achieve our ambition to improve survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible care. These span our 11 ambitions laid out in the strategy and describe investments across a range of activity.

These include increased funding to support SACT and Acute Oncology Services, additional cancer waiting times funding to reduce waiting times and increased funding to expand the Scottish Cancer Registry to improve data.

Scottish Government is considering any new funding required ahead of the next Cancer Action Plan due to be published in 2026. This will recognise the context of the record investment of £21 billion into health and social care made through our 2025-26 Budget.

The Scottish Government welcomes the statement of intent from the UK Government to explore possible legislative solutions and will continue to engage with the UK Government as their proposals to address this, and dynamic ticket pricing, continue to emerge.

As well as a range of existing legislative measures to address ticket resales for profit in general, the Scottish Government has previously criminalised ticket touting for specific major events held in Scotland. We have made detailed and specific exceptions for above face value sales to enable support for charitable causes, associated with such events.

Most recently the UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill 60), introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 12 March 2025, seeks to provide a range of commercial rights protections, including a ban on ticket touting, in order to meet UEFA’s requirements for hosting EURO 2028 matches in Scotland.

A more general provision driven by consumer protection, rather than commercial rights protection for EURO 2028, would be a reserved matter.

However, the Scottish Government also recognises the manner in which new technology has not only opened increased channels for selling tickets above face price but also making it easier to ticket tout on an industrial scale. As well as increasing the risk of fraud for fans, such activity also diverts funding away from the creative industries sector that might otherwise have been directly benefiting the artists and venues.

The Scottish Government recognise that the matter of low-level letterboxes has been a long-standing issue for members of the Communication Workers Union. As noted in earlier answers, Officials have been in the process of assessing options for amendment to building standards guidance, with the intent of providing more explicit guidance on the positioning of letterboxes where these are provided in new dwellings.

Further to this process, I can confirm our intent to include such amendments within our next edition of the Technical Handbooks, expected to come into force from April 2026. This amendment to guidance will help address the concerns of postal workers while also providing more general benefits in relation to the accessibility of new homes.

NatureScot has begun work to carry out a review of the Deer Code and has set up Steering Group to help with this task, the Group began meeting in November 2025. Membership of this group is taken from a wide range of deer experts in Scotland and reflects the spectrum of opinions that exist.

Previously NatureScot published a Commissioned Report: SNH Research Report 1095: Review of compliance with the Code of Practice on Deer Management in 2019 which reviewed compliance with the Code.