Chamber and committees

The new Register of Ancient Woodlands is scheduled to be published in the late summer of 2027.

We will take forward our Heat in Buildings Bill in this Parliamentary session to support homeowners, landlords and tenants to transition to clean heating in a fair and affordable way.

The Scottish Government's legislative programme will be agreed by Ministers and announced to Parliament in due course in the usual way.

The Scottish Government is working toward a consultation on the price cap on essential food items within 100 days of the start of this parliamentary session. This work has been informed by early engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of policy implications.

The consultation will be an opportunity for interested parties to inform the further development of policy and any future legislative proposals. Any proposals brought forward would be subject to detailed consideration of potential economic, competition, consumer and business impacts and be informed by appropriate evidence and impact assessments.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01808 on 21 July 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01808 on 21 July 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01808 on 21 July 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01808 on 21 July 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.

I am pleased to confirm the Scottish Government appointed Dr Lena Gray on the 25 March 2026 to undertake a review into Qualifications Scotland’s arrangements for qualifications quality. The review is a statutory requirement under the Education (Scotland) Act 2025.

Dr Gray’s review has begun and will report in in early 2027.

Tackling food fraud has been one of the main functions of Food Standards Scotland since the Scottish Government decided to set up the organisation from 2015. The Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit combines the investigative and intelligence functions of FSS, and was established to prevent, detect and investigate fraud and deliberate non-compliance across the food and animal feed chain, while supporting public bodies during incidents to protect public health from risks associated with food consumption. Its remit on fraud includes food adulteration, substitution, counterfeit products and document fraud within food and feed supply chains. Examples of fraud cases include the seizure of over 250 bottles of counterfeit vodka in 2024-25 The labelling closely resembled that of genuine products, but the bottles contained potentially lethal isopropyl alcohol. A successful prosecution case in 2025, resulted in a sentence of 3 and a half years following various fraudulent claims and mislabelling of imported tea as Scottish grown.

Specifically, on mis-leading labelling the Scottish Government and FSS recognise the importance of protecting consumer confidence and the reputation of genuine Scottish producers by ensuring origin claims are accurate and evidence-based. Under the Food Information to Consumers Regulation, an indication of country of origin is required where the absence of such information is likely to mislead consumers as to the true country of origin or place of provenance of that food. The place of last substantial change, such as curing pork into bacon or baking ingredients into a cake determines the origin of processed food. Simply packing a food does not constitute a substantial change therefore the origin isn’t affected. Where food businesses are not required to provide origin information, they can still provide this information on a voluntary basis providing such indications are accurate and this is done in the same way as if it were mandatory. However, where businesses falsely present products as Scottish or UK-produced when this is not the case, appropriate enforcement action will be taken to protect consumers and legitimate Scottish producers.

The European flag is flown daily outside the Scottish Parliament in accordance with the SPCB’s flag-flying policy. That policy follows from Motion S5M-20625, agreed by the Parliament on 29 January 2020, which directed the SPCB to ensure that the European flag continued to fly daily at the Parliament building. The motion recorded that the flag had been flown at Holyrood since 2004 as a symbol of membership of the family of European nations; noted that the flag was originally the flag of the Council of Europe and that Scotland and the UK would continue to be represented within the Council of Europe; affirmed commitment to democracy, human rights, the rule of law and diversity; and recognised continuing to fly the flag as a sign of support and solidarity with EU nationals who have made Scotland their home.

The SPCB will be reviewing the flag flying policy later this year. In determining the policy or considering any changes to it, the SPCB will take into account your feedback as well as any relevant resolutions or directions to it from the Parliament.