Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government's fuel poverty and energy efficiency schemes continue to deliver the same range of retrofit measures as the ECO4 scheme. However Scottish Government schemes already include some measures, such as battery storage, that are not available from ECO4 installers.

In most cases, households that were eligible for ECO4 finance will continue to be eligible for retrofit measures delivered through Area Based Schemes (ABS), Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) or the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan scheme. We encourage households interested in making their homes warmer and less expensive to heat to get in touch with Home Energy Scotland for further advice about the assistance available from the Scottish Government.

Licence conditions applying to dog breeding licences granted under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 already make clear that no dog may be kept for breeding if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype, conformation or state of health, that breeding from it could have a detrimental effect on its, or it’s offspring’s, health or welfare.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government guidance produced for both local authorities and holders of a dog breeding licence provides clear advice on this specific issue and lists the category 3 breeds of dogs highlighted by the Kennel Club as being of particular concern and that are more susceptible to developing specific health conditions associated with exaggerated conformation, in particular problems that involve the eyes, skin, dentition, movement and respiratory function.

Anyone seeking to breed a category 3 breed must demonstrate that they have robust selection and health screening procedures in place and local authorities should only licence such a breeder if completely satisfied that all relevant safeguards are in place and that the breeder demonstrates a clear understanding of the issues inherent to the breed in question.

Documentation supporting the ongoing assurance process for both facilities continues to be developed, reviewed and updated as the programme progresses. Assurance work relating to the open-plan treatment area within the ANCHOR Centre remains ongoing and includes consideration of operational procedures, ventilation arrangements, risk assessments and analysis of patient and infection data.

Decisions regarding the publication of operational records and project documents relating to the Baird Family Hospital and ANCHOR Centre are a matter for NHS Grampian, which is responsible for delivery of the programme. Requests for information are considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and other relevant legislation.

At this time, the Scottish Government has no plans to regulate this trade and correspondingly we have not consulted with stakeholders on any particular course of action. However, we continue to engage with stakeholders to inform future policy, including the need for further regulation.

There are currently no internal or external audit recommendations that are outstanding beyond their agreed implementation date.

Neither the Scottish Government nor its Warmer Homes Scotland managing agent, Warmworks, collects or holds information on whether properties that withdraw from the scheme have looped electricity service connections.

Keeping families safe online is of paramount importance for the Scottish Government and prevention is key.

The Scottish Government’s Parent Club resource is one of the ways that we support parents and carers, providing advice, information and guidance through a website, social media channels and email programme. Parent Club offers policy-led, empathetic advice and support across a wide range of topics. It provides practical advice, information and tips on many topics - from online safety for young children and teenagers to establishing healthy sleep routines and supporting the overall wellbeing of the whole family.

The performance of the Parent Club website is monitored regularly using Google Analytics. Since 1 April 2026 the pages relating to online safety have been viewed 8,010 times by 5,180 users, with users spending an average of 53 seconds per page.

In 2022, the Scottish Government carried user testing on the pages with parents and teachers which confirmed that the participants found the content timely, relevant, inclusive, informative, engaging, actionable, user-friendly and supportive of their needs.

In addition to Parent Club, the Scottish Government funds the Scottish Youth Parliament’s “Mind Yer Time” online resource which includes tips for adults written by young people. The Scottish Government meets regularly with the Scottish Youth Parliament and receive annual reports on the impact of “Mind Yer Time”.

This year, the Scottish Government has also provided funding to Fathers Network Scotland to issue a national Dads Survey 2026. The survey asked a range of questions on how dads across Scotland access digital resources, including Parent Club.

The Scottish Government has also launched two Digital Wellbeing surveys: for children and young people and parents and carers, on 19 August 2026. The surveys will be open until 30 September and seek to gather the views and experiences of children and young people and their parents and carers in relation to their online activities, digital wellbeing, online safety, use of social media and digital devices, and the support and information they may find helpful. Once analysed, the results of these surveys and the Dads survey will inform the strengthening of Scottish Government policy and guidance relating to online safety and digital wellbeing.

A detailed breakdown of the £400,000 is shown in the following table.

I wrote to the Parliament’s Rural Affairs Committee on 3 September 2026 to notify them of my intention to bring forward a Scottish statutory instrument which, subject to Parliament’s consideration, will amend the number of Land Commissioners at the Scottish Land Commission from five to four. We expect the instrument to be laid in early October.

The letter, which sets out the rationale for my decision, can be found on Parliament’s website at the following address https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-7/rural-affairs-committee/correspondence/2026/land-reform-scotland-act-2016-of-3-september

The Scottish Government has made no legal assessment of this matter. Our policy remains that we do not support the building of new nuclear power stations in Scotland using current nuclear fission technologies. This includes small modular reactors.