There have been official level discussions with the UK Government on the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill. The Scottish Government considers that the Bill, if appropriately amended at Stage 2, would not have raised issues under section 35 or section 40 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Any application for a marine licence would be accompanied by environmental information to enable consideration of likely effects on the environment (including the historic environment). This would then be subject to public consultation and a range of statutory and non-statutory consultees including Historic Environment Scotland would be invited to make representations on the application. All representations made to Scottish Ministers are considered during the decision-making process.

Local authorities are responsible for addressing litter and fly-tipping on public land and other land for which they have responsibility, in line with the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. Communities should contact their local council in the first instance to report concerns or request action. The Scottish Government continues to work with councils and delivery partners to drive national action through the National Litter and Fly-tipping Strategy.

Communities in South Lanarkshire can also access support from the Scottish Government’s delivery partner, Keep Scotland Beautiful. Through its Community Litter Hub, local groups can access practical resources, guidance and campaign materials to organise litter picks, promote behaviour change and take action to tackle litter. As part of the Strategy’s Year 3 action plan, the Hub is being expanded to include practical information and guidance on tackling fly-tipping.

Since the Parliament’s agreement to the Financial Resolution for the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, there has been contact at official level between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency about the level of resources that would be needed should the Bill be enacted. There has been no contact on this issue with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service during this period.

The Scottish Government has not made specific assessments of fly-tipping levels in South Lanarkshire or Glasgow. Responsibility for dealing with fly-tipping depends on the location and nature of the incident. Under the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, local authorities are responsible for the clearance of fly-tipping from relevant public land, while private landowners are responsible for waste on their own land. SEPA may also have a role in regulating and enforcing against illegal waste activity, depending on the circumstance.

At the national level, the Scottish Government published a Fly-tipping Baseline Report in 2024 (National litter and flytipping strategy: baseline report - gov.scot), which provides an overview of the scale and nature of fly-tipping across Scotland, including some local authority data.

The expert Review carried out by Professional Education Advisor Janie McManus’ said that clearer expectations, stronger pathways to support across education, health and social care, and early interventions should underpin the next steps in delivering Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision in schools.

I welcomed publication of the review and accepted the six recommendations made.

Whilst work on delivering against these recommendations will require sustained partnership across government, local authorities and national bodies, it will be for the incoming government to consider how to take forward the specific approach.

The Scottish Government has not committed to a formal review of the offence at section 40 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The information that we hold shows that there have been no successful prosecutions under the section 40 offence of causing significant environmental harm. There are many possible explanations for this lack of prosecutions, including regulatory agencies and prosecutors using other, more specific offences in response to environmental crimes.

I can confirm that Offshore Solutions Group sought a screening opinion, from the Scottish Ministers which is currently undergoing statutory consultation in line with the environmental impact assessment regulations, including with Historic Environment Scotland. Following, and in consideration of the representations received, Scottish Ministers will determine whether or not a marine licence application for the proposed works must be supported by an environmental impact assessment report. This decision is based on the likelihood of significant effects on the environment. To maintain the integrity of our well-established marine licensing process, it would not be appropriate for Scottish Ministers to comment further on live casework.

The expert Review carried out by Professional Education Advisor Janie McManus’ said that clearer expectations, stronger pathways to support across education, health and social care, and early interventions should underpin the next steps in delivering Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision in schools.

I welcomed publication of the review and accepted the six recommendations made.

Whilst work on delivering against these recommendations will require sustained partnership across government, local authorities and national bodies, it will be for the incoming government to consider how to take forward the specific approach.

The Scottish Government is continuing to consider the EU Environmental Crime Directive (2024/1203) against our alignment policy. We consider that the existing offence of causing significant environmental harm at section 40 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 is reasonably closely aligned with the Directive’s introduction of “qualified offences” for more serious environmental damage.