Chamber and committees

Those working in our retail sector should be lauded for the important work they are continuing to do during such challenging economic circumstances. They, like anybody, should be able to work without fear of abuse.

Retail workers (as well as all other workers) are protected by a wide range of criminal laws (i.e. the statutory offence of threatening or abusive behaviour; the common law offence of assault; and the common law offence of breach of the peace).

In addition, the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted Products) (Scotland) Act 2021(“the 2021 Act”) came into force in August 2021 and created a statutory offence of threatening, abusing, or assaulting a retail worker, adding to the offences that can already be used to prosecute those who abuse retail workers.

Scottish Government partners, like the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), share best guidance and resources, such as the free GroceryAid helpline, and Victim Support, for victims of violence and abuse in a retail setting.

As part of its budget for 2025-26, the Scottish Government is making an additional £3 million available for Police Scotland to work with the sector to tackle retail crime.

While the deployment of police officers is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, it is for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to undertake risk assessments to identify and mitigate any potential risks to court users, court staff, Judiciary and justice partners. I can confirm that Police Scotland and SCTS to work in partnership to ensure that court security is maintained, whilst making best use of resources.

The Scottish Government have no current plans to change the fine balance of rights and responsibilities in relation to access which was agreed by the Parliament and is set out in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. NatureScot work with the National Access Forum (NAF) to address access issues that do arise though providing new guidance, resources and advice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38863 on 3 July 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38863 on 3 July 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38863 on 3 July 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.

All information relating to determinations made by Scottish Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989, including any conditions, are publicly available on our Energy Consents website: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx

NPF4 is a material consideration in the determination of applications, and it is read and applied as a whole. It is for the decision maker to determine what weight to attach to policies within NPF4 on a case-by-case basis. The weight to be applied to all material considerations and the need for conditions to be attached to any consent is a matter for the Minister taking the decision to consider on a case-by-case basis.

As committed to in the response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee's ‘Salmon Farming in Scotland’ report (2025) (Salmon farming in Scotland: Scottish Governments response to Salmon farming report), the Scottish Government will provide an update in September 2025 on overall progress.

The Scottish Government does not support the manufacture of munitions - nor do our public agencies. The support provided is focused on helping firms to diversify and develop civilian applications for their technology and ensure Scotland continues to benefit from the thousands of jobs in the defence, aerospace and shipbuilding sectors.

The licencing of exports of military technology, including for Scottish-based companies, is a reserved matter over which the Scottish Government has no control. We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to place an immediate ban on licenced arms exports from the United Kingdom to Israel. The UK Government’s decision, announced on 2 September 2024, to suspend 30 export licences to Israel for arms used in military operations in Gaza, was therefore welcome, but should go much further

Our Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights sets out recommendations on how the Scottish Government, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. In operationalising our guidance, Scottish Enterprise’s Customer Due Diligence Procedure sets out the process that it follows to undertake human rights due diligence checks on companies it works with.

The Division of Commonties Act 1695 was discussed at the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee’s stage 2 consideration on 17 June 2025 and I undertook to provide an update on the Scottish Law Commission’s work on it as part of its work on statute law repeals. I can confirm that following a request by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Law Commission undertook preliminary work on the Division of Commonties Act 1695, and the issues arising in relation to it. The Commissioners took the view that a review of the Act would not be an appropriate law reform project for the Scottish Law Commission and advised Scottish Government of this in August 2018.