Chamber and committees

I wrote to the convener of the Rural Affairs Committee on 4 September setting out the Government's position on historic rights to ferry. The letter can be read at the following link: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-7/rural-affairs-committee/correspondence/2026/glenelg-and-kylerhea-ferry-service

The Scottish Government receives legal advice on many different matters on an ongoing basis, as appropriate. All legal advice is confidential and it is a very long-established convention that legal advice provided to the Scottish Government is not disclosed.

There is an administration fee of £650 charged to all buyers. This is collected after the Award Letter has been issued and no later than three weeks before the expected settlement date. If the transaction falls after payment of the fee, the fee is to be refunded to the buyer in full.

Any other costs incurred during the home buying process are not set by the Scottish Government.

There are currently no plans to require property factors to hold formal qualifications. However, the Scottish Government has committed to reviewing the property factor framework during this Parliamentary term and will consider, in light of evidence and stakeholder views, whether changes to the current regulatory arrangements are needed to ensure the framework continues to meet the needs of homeowners and supports the effective delivery of factoring services.

Decisions relating to the development and administration of HES grant programmes are operational matters for HES, which exercises its functions independently of Scottish Ministers.

There may be existing HES grants which would be suitable for small business owners to apply for. More information on HES grants and funding is available on the organisation's website: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/grants-and-funding/.

The Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government has responsibility for the operational running of the organisation, including recruitment, attendance and location policies.

All civil service vacancies within the Scottish Government are advertised through the internal jobs portal, with some advertised externally via the external jobs website. While posts indicate a location, there are no restrictions preventing employees from applying for any internal role, regardless of their current place of work.

I would encourage the member to direct any further questions on this matter to the Permanent Secretary.

A draft Code of Practice on investigative functions under section 57 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 was prepared and is being adjusted following earlier consultation with statutory consultees, the public, and internal review within COPFS.

Before the Code can be finalised and laid before the Scottish Parliament, I must further consult the statutorily mandated consultees on the final draft. Thereafter, the draft Code will be issued for public consultation.

The aim is to complete the remaining consultation and publication process by early 2027. That timeframe will be kept under review in light of responses to the consultation required, and any amendments required to the draft Code as a result.

The ask and act homelessness prevention pilot programme, which awarded funding in November 2025 to fifteen consortia made up of a range of named relevant bodies across sectors including health and justice, runs until end December 2026. We have commissioned external research on the outcomes of the pilots, which will report in the summer next year. Advice Direct Scotland, the organisation that manages the pilots, publishes quarterly progress reports on its website: Advice Direct Scotland - User Portal - Quarterly Reports. The latest report, published on 1 September, notes that most pilots are now routinely embedding prevention approaches in their work.

In 2026-27 £42 million of the local government General Capital Grant will be allocated to flood resilience activity. Local authorities are responsible for developing and delivering flood protection schemes in their areas and funding provided to local authorities this year has been provided on a flexible basis to support local needs and priorities.

Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) is Scotland’s national procurement portal for public sector contracting opportunities. All regulated contracts must be advertised on PCS and award notices must be recorded on the site. It also holds data on contracts voluntarily recorded by contracting authorities across Scotland.

A search of PCS data indicates that, since October 2024, no public procurement contracts recorded on PCS have been awarded to a company listed in the UN database of companies engaged in listed activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The search was based on matching the company names recorded on PCS with those appearing exactly as listed in the UN database.