Chamber and committees

The content of any legal advice is confidential.

The Scottish Government has published some information already on costs. Final costs in relation to the case are still being determined and are not yet available. We will publish the total cost of the case when it is fully complete.

Legal costs for judicial review on gender representation on public boards: FOI release - gov.scot

Inner House appeal on the statutory guidance for the Gender Representation: FOI release - gov.scot

Legal costs of Supreme Court case against For Women Scotland: FOI release - gov.scot

Civil servants were involved in work related to For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers as part of their role to support and advise Ministers.

In the current parliamentary session, the Scottish Government, acting in its capacity as Accountable Officer for the wider City and Regional Growth Deal programme has provided £695 million in funding to date (by end of Q4 2024-25) to Regional Partners. It is currently forecast that over £200 million of further funding will be drawn down, resulting in over £895 million of grant funding awarded by the end of the parliamentary session.

Consideration of introducing a judicial register of interests began during this parliamentary session. However, following the introduction of a revised statement on judicial ethics last year, which included more detailed declaration requirements for judicial office holders and a greater emphasis on judicial independence, the commitment was delayed to allow time for its impact to be assessed. Now that a year has passed since the revised statement was introduced, work has recently commenced on evaluating its effects. An update will be provided to Parliament at the appropriate time.

Jury service is an important civic duty, and I am grateful to all those who undertake it.

It is the view of the Scottish Government that the pool of potential jurors should be as wide as possible, to ensure that an accused person is being judged by their peers from all walks of life. This also prevents the burden of jury service falling on a narrower section of society than can reasonably be helped.

However, it is recognised that there will always be people who have difficulty in serving as jurors. Therefore, in addition to those eligible to be excused as of right as set out in Schedule 1 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Scotland Act 1980, individuals may also apply for excusal.

Clerks of Courts will be as sympathetic as they can to requests for excusal, and will consider, amongst other things; commitments at work, the cancellation of which would cause abnormal inconvenience - while at the same time balancing the need to have sufficient numbers of prospective jurors from which to ballot a jury.

Public sources of information indicate that BAE Systems is among the contenders to supply new frigates for the Royal Norwegian Navy. No discussions have taken place between BAE Systems, the UK Government and the Scottish Government on partnership in the Type 26 Norway frigate campaign. However, given the potential industrial and employment opportunities for Scotland are significant, officials from the UK and Scottish Governments have held constructive informal discussions around how the bid might be best supported.

This information is not held centrally. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

In our response to Rural Affairs and Islands Committee Salmon Farming in Scotland report, we committed to prioritising progress to introduce penalties for fish farm escapes in 2026-2027.

In terms of environmental non-compliance, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has powers to issue fixed and variable monetary penalties. Further details can be found on SEPA’s website: Enforcement | Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

In line with the Scottish Government’s policy, Scottish Enterprise does not provide support for the manufacture of munitions.

The responsibility for issuing export licenses sits with the UK Government.