Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no plans to review the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) enforcement powers in relation to aquaculture.

SEPA already has a number of options in its enforcement toolkit, ranging from informal advice and guidance to the use of formal enforcement measures including final warning letters, statutory notices, monetary penalties, and reports to the Procurator Fiscal recommending prosecution.

For the purpose of environmental protection, SEPA places licence conditions on marine fish farm operators and SEPA’s enforcement action is designed to secure compliance using the most appropriate and effective method. Decisions on enforcement are taken in line with its publicly available Enforcement Policy and guidance on the use of enforcement action. The form of enforcement action (which may be used alone or in combination with other approaches) will differ depending on the nature of the non-compliance, the harm caused and the history of the responsible person in question. SEPA also considers what immediate action is needed for the protection of the environment.

Any instance of non-compliance is concerning. SEPA’s new Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS) will provide a common standard to rate the environmental performance of SEPA-authorised operators and drive improvements in compliance.

SEPA will publish EPAS ratings when its new digital systems are in place which is anticipated to be during 2027.

Decisions about the delivery of education are devolved to local authorities. As such the Scottish Government has not issued guidance on specific or appropriate levels of device or screen use in classroom settings. It is for councils to decide how and when digital technology is used to support learning, in line with their local education and digital strategies. We have published guidance for parents on screen time for school-aged children via Parent Club.

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.

The First Minister, Deputy First Minister and I have repeatedly urged the Prime Minister and Secretary of State to get a move on and make key decisions to progress Acorn. The immediate one is to release the £200 million that was announced last June, then we need confirmation of the full funding package, just as the Track-1 projects in England have had.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to Acorn and continues to work closely with key partners, providing funding and policy support during this key phase of development.

In my letter to the Presiding Officer of 24 February 2026 and the examples that I gave, I confirmed all of the examples that Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service could find based on the records available to them.

In my letter to the Presiding Officer of 24 February 2026 and the examples that I gave, I confirmed all of the examples that Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service could find based on the records available to them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44369 on 25 March 2026. 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.

Planning associated with the security of fuel and energy supplies is a reserved matter. It is for the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to assess the adequacy of gas storage for Scotland and the rest of Great Britain. We remain in close contact with the UK Government on these matters.

The Scottish Government does not routinely provide financial support to SSE plc or its subsidiaries. Electricity networks are a regulated industry, with Ofgem, the GB energy regulator, responsible for regulation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44226 on 25 March 2026. 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.