Chamber and committees

Scottish Government officials had a number of informal discussions with NatureScot in advance of NatureScot introducing guidance and adding a new condition to 16AA licences. NatureScot has the authority to add conditions to grouse shooting licences without requiring approval from Scottish Government Ministers.

Individual Scottish Government strategies and policies are periodically reviewed, taking account of progress towards objectives. Strategies and policies with environmental goals can be found on the Scottish Government’s website at https://www.gov.scot/environment-and-climate-change/.There are many sources of monitoring data on environmental outcomes in Scotland, an overview can be found at https://data.gov.scot/environment/.Environmental Standards Scotland is an independent body that promotes the effectiveness of environmental law through its work, and information on its investigations and monitoring can found on its website https://environmentalstandards.scot/our-work/.

NatureScot held seven online conference calls to discuss the legal opinions and definition of land which should be included in a 16AA licence.

This is a matter of law, therefore the Scottish Government do not hold a position on these issues. Lease agreements will vary depending on the circumstances and individuals should take their own legal advice.

No section 16AA licences have been granted which specify the land to which the licence relates as the area immediately surrounding a line of grouse butts.

In developing the Grouse Code of Practice NatureScot established the Grouse Code Working Group to develop the conditions of the licence for grouse moors and the accompanying Code of Practice. This was then introduced in July 2024.

As I set out in response to S6W-34518 on 25 February 2025, NatureScot subsequently added a condition to licences so that certain relevant offences committed anywhere on a landholding can be taken into consideration as to whether to revoke or suspend a licence. No additional engagement was undertaken and it was not considered necessary to carry out further consultation as this addition did not deviate from the policy intention when the licensing conditions and Grouse Code of Practice were initially developed.

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

The average class size of primary pupils by local authority and stage is published in Table 6.6a of the pupil census supplementary statistics.

Pupil census supplementary statistics - gov.scot

These statistics are available from 2007-2023, data prior to 2007 is not available.

Primary class size statistics for 2024 will be published on 25 March, 2025.

The Scottish Government’s 2024 Addressing Depopulation Action Plan sets out our strategic approach to supporting communities facing population decline. We have established an Addressing Depopulation Fund and, as part of this, provided five local authorities with £60,000 each in 2024-25 to trial locally-identified measures to support population retention in affected communities. These are focused on key issues such as childcare, housing and skills. We have also continued to offer part-funding this year for three Community Settlement Officer roles in rural and island local authorities, to support people currently living in, or moving to these areas.

The Scottish Government has additionally awarded £125,500 in 2024-25 to the Rural Youth Action Network, which is delivered in partnership between Scottish Rural Action and Youth Scotland. The network mobilises and networks with young people across mainland rural Scotland, and works closely with youth-led groups such as the Young Islanders Network, Scottish Rural & Islands Youth Parliament, and Youth Local Action Groups.

The Scottish Landfill Tax is a cornerstone of Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan, encouraging the prevention, reuse and recycling of waste and helping keep valuable resources circulating in the Scottish economy. Exemptions are available in several circumstances including when clearing up illegally or improperly deposited material.

The Scottish Landfill Tax (Exemption Certificates) Order 2015 states that exemption certificates are available to the following bodies/persons:

• waste regulators, in the case of Scotland this is SEPA;
• waste collection authorities, such as a local government council or local authority; or
• any other body or person, insofar as the body or person exercises waste removal powers under any other enactment.

Community groups can work with any of these eligible bodies to apply for an exemption certificate for collected marine litter provided they:

• exhaust all avenues to identify and retrieve costs from the responsible person who made the original unauthorised disposal; and
• are satisfied that there are no practical alternatives to landfill for the material.

The details of the application can be provided by the community group, as per the requirements detailed on the Revenue Scotland website, and emailed to Revenue Scotland by a partnered eligible body.

The expansion of offshore wind presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create thousands of high-quality jobs. While employment law is reserved, we will continue to use the levers at our disposal to promote fair work practices across the labour market in Scotland.

The STUC is a member of the Scottish Energy Advisory Board and has also been invited to sit on the Offshore Wind Skills Short-Life Working Group being convened by the Scottish Government. This involvement ensures that the STUC can contribute to shaping the development of the offshore wind sector and its alignment with fair work and just transition principles.

We welcome this important research by the Scottish Trades Union Congress and will carefully consider its findings.