The Scottish Government uses robust contract management procedures in relation to the procurement and compliance of licensing agreements for software subscriptions, procuring through national public procurement frameworks to ensure transparency, quality and value for money. Criteria will vary depending on business needs, costs and value.

The Scottish Government works together with the other devolved governments, Defra and the Forestry Commission as part of the UK Plant Health Service to reduce the risk from imported tree diseases and pests that threaten Scotland’s native woodland and commercial forests. As part of that service, the UK Plant Health Risk Group manage the UK Plant Health Risk Register and advise of new and emerging plant health threats with recommendations for actions.

Biosecurity measures to reduce risks from imported plant (including tree) pests and diseases have three main stages: Pre-border, at the border, and inland. Pre-border controls include phytosanitary regulations which can be used to ban commodities posing a high risk, for example imports of ash trees to GB are prohibited from countries where the damaging tree pest Emerald ash borer is known to be present. Plant health controls at the border include documentary checks and physical inspections, following a risk-based approach. Inland, monitoring and surveillance, including aerial surveillance, ground surveys and trapping networks, is conducted across forests and woodlands as a further measure to detect any potential incursions. A system of plant passports allows the internal movement within GB of regulated plants and plant products to be traced.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-33241 on 24 January 2025, Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland are developing a business case for the implementation of a targeted lung screening programme, which is expected by the end of February 2025.

Following receipt, the Scottish Screening Committee will be convened to discuss its findings and consider next steps.

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

Scotland’s screening policy relies on recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific body that provides advice on screening policy to all four UK nations. To date, the UK NSC has not recommended Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) screening through the existing newborn blood spot test, and has stated it requires further evidence before a decision can be made.

The UK NSC continues to monitor and review the rapidly developing evidence base regarding SMA screening. Most recently, in November 2024, the interim results of a new modelling study into SMA screening for the UK context were presented at a workshop to stakeholders. The findings of this study, in conjunction with the proposed In Service Evaluation of SMA screening in some areas of England, will inform the UK NSC’s considerations regarding whether SMA screening should be recommended.

The UK NSC updates on significant developments regarding potential and existing screening programmes on their blog. This can be found at UK National Screening Committee – News and updates from the UK National Screening Committee

While no formal post-legislative review has yet to be undertaken, my officials have been informally monitoring the use of Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) by local authorities. Given the initial low uptake of ETROs following the legislative changes made it was felt that no formal review was required at that time.

Officials have advised that the scope of a review is currently being considered and that we plan to write to all local authorities to gather their views on the ETRO procedures within the next 4 months. It should be stressed that this review is often undertaken post-legislative change and would look at the numbers of ETROs brought in under the new legislation and any common issues local authorities are facing to help inform any further legislative change in the future. The review will not impact on the operation of existing ETROs or of TROs that are subsequently made under the current legislation.

Officials have also had a number of informal discussions with a number of local authorities who were in the initial stages of considering if an ETRO was suitable for various schemes. No specific record has been made of these conversations given that they are standard discussions between Transport Scotland and local authority officials

The Scottish Government is investing £60 million to renew play parks in Scotland, so children have access to free, high-quality outdoor play in their own communities.

Funding to support the Play Parks renewal programme has been allocated as follows:

2021-22 - £5 million

2022-23 - £5 million

2023-24 - £10 million

2024-25 - £15 million

The following table shows how much funding has been allocated to each local authority since 2021.

The Scottish Government agrees that research needs to be carried out in order to improve our collective understanding of all forms of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation. As such, we are continuously looking to improve local and national data and evidence around child protection, including child sexual exploitation. However, any data must be gathered in a manner that is appropriate, sensitive and minimises the risk of re-traumatisation of victims.

A National Child Protection Data Group has been established with members from the Scottish Government, Care Inspectorate and the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS), which oversees this work and has developed a work plan for 2024-25.

In a joint effort, CELCIS, the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Government has also developed a minimum data set for Child Protection Committees (CPCs), which is a ‘package’ of data collation, presentation, analysis, reporting and scrutiny supports to support child protection improvement, local planning and service development, and expanded analytical capacity.

In addition, a national dataset is published on an annual basis to support the publication of the Scottish Government’s annual children’s social work statistics. Data on prevalence of child sexual exploitation within child protection processes is included in this publication.

Childlight is also a global research centre of expertise on child sexual abuse based at the University of Edinburgh and has an aim of improving collection and use of data on child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). Officials continue to engage the Centre on its work and Childlight is a member of the new National CSAE Strategic Group.

Additionally, progress continues to be made on data gathering and sharing by agencies in Scotland. Data on reported concerns about child abuse or neglect is collected by Police Scotland and reported nationally in a monthly dashboard, and this dataset is currently being extended to provide more in-depth analysis of characteristics and trends in abuse and exploitation. This will provide an improved understanding of prevalence of different forms of abuse, including child sexual abuse and exploitation.

However, we continue to consider opportunities to explore the scale and nature of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32827 on 16 January 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

The Scottish Government has committed £10m over 2023–2025 to support delivery of Scotland's food and drink strategy, Sustaining Scotland, Supplying the World. This funding facilitates a range of activities and direct engagement with grocery retailers to help increase the volume of Scottish food and drink on retail shelves, including Scottish seafood. Activity includes: hosting regional Sourcing Scotland Meet The Buyer events to connect retailers and producers; participating in various sales exhibitions; placing graduates within retail and wholesale buying teams to drive sales; and working with the Scottish Wholesale Association and Scottish Grocers’ Federation to increase sales through wholesale and convenience channels.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government is providing Marine Fund Scotland funding towards Seafood Scotland’s Market Development Project, which involves work to ensure Scottish seafood’s profile grows in UK markets. This includes specific activity with various stakeholders throughout the supply chain to look at ways of increasing the amount of Scottish seafood within retail settings.

The following organisations have received funding from the victim surcharge fund since 31 March 2024