Under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, a registrar cannot issue a Marriage Schedule to permit a marriage to proceed within 28 days of the receipt of a couple’s marriage notices unless the registrar has been authorised to do so by the Registrar General for Scotland after a request by one or both of the parties.

The minimum period following submission of a couple’s marriage notices allows the registrar to carry out the necessary checks on whether there is any legal impediment to the marriage.

The minimum period was increased from 14 days to 28 days by the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.

In exceptional circumstances, for example where a party is terminally ill, or is being immediately deployed overseas with the armed forces, the Registrar General will exercise their discretion and permit a marriage to take place if less notice is given.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review these arrangements.

The Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan 2024-2030, which was published on 27 November 2024, is the first in a series of rolling Delivery Plans which set out in detail the range of actions needed to deliver the step-change required to address the biodiversity crisis and become nature positive by 2030.

Under the Plan, wild salmon will benefit from both targeted action (for example through the Plan's explicit connection with the Scottish Wild Salmon Strategy) and through broad-scale activities such as the restoration of degraded upland habitats, improving and extending riparian woodlands, embedding nature-positive farming, fishing and forestry and ensuring that at least 30% of land, fresh water and sea is protected or conserved and effectively managed to support nature in good health by 2030.

Registration services fees are set by the Registrar General for Scotland with the approval of the Scottish Ministers. The fee for a civil marriage ceremony conducted by a registrar is £55. This fixed fee applies in all parts of Scotland and has been in place since 2010.

Local authorities may charge additional fees to cover extra costs for accommodating additional guests and the use of marriage rooms or the attendance of an authorised registrar at places other than their registration offices. These fees are set by each local authority.

The Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 requires that for a marriage to take place, a completed Marriage Schedule must be available and both parties to the marriage must be present along with the registrar or celebrant and two witnesses aged 16 or over.

For couples cohabiting prior to 4 May 2006 it remains possible to seek a declarator from a court that they are married by cohabitation with habit and repute.

Some consideration was given to the possibility of remote marriage ceremonies in the progress of the Coronavirus (No 2) (Scotland) Bill in Parliament but no changes were made. There would be a risk of abuse, such as forced marriage, if the requirement for the parties the celebrant and the witnesses to be physically present were removed.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review or change the current arrangements.

Registration service fees are set by the Registrar General for Scotland with the approval of the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government has not considered waiving or reducing the statutory fees associated with marriage. The Scottish Government’s policy as set out in guidance in the Scottish Public Finance Manual is that charges for public services should generally allow for full cost recovery: Fees and charges - Scottish Public Finance Manual - gov.scot Consequently, the aim is for local authority registration services to recover the true cost of their statutory services via the fees set by the Registrar General.

With effect from 1 May 2022, the fee for submitting each marriage notice was increased to £45 from £30: The Registration Services (Fees, etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022. This was the first increase in the marriage notice fee since April 2010.

The current fee for a civil marriage ceremony is £55 and the fee for the marriage certificate is £10 if purchasing within a month of the registration of the marriage.

The Scottish Government gathered information in advance of the 2022 Regulations about the overall costs of weddings for many couples: see under the heading of “Consumer Assessment” in the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the 2022 Regulations.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 make it an offence for a person who, in the course of a business, supplies, offers to supply, or has in their possession for supply any of the products listed below:

• single-use expanded polystyrene beverage containers
• single-use expanded polystyrene beverage cups
• single-use expanded polystyrene food containers
• single-use plastic beverage stirrers
• single-use plastic cutlery
• single-use plastic plates
• single-use plastic balloon stick (unless supplied for attaching to balloons for industrial or other professional uses and applications that are only distributed to persons acting in the course of a business),
• single-use plastic straw (if supplying to an end-user, subject to exemptions)

Estimated figures for the amount of these products placed on the market in Scotland before the Regulations came into force were included in the Environmental Report for the Single-use Plastic Products Regulations, published on the Scottish Government’s website here. And were included in the answer to S6W-04456 on 29 November 2021.

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 2018 GP contract committed Health Boards to set up Community Treatment and Care (CTAC) services to transfer workload from GP practices to NHS Board-employed staff allowing GP practices to focus on what only they can do. Territorial Health Boards and Integration Authorities are responsible for designing and delivering these services in their areas, working with local partners and teams. The Scottish Government publishes annual progress reports on GP contract implementation based on data provided by Integration Authorities. The most recent report uses data from March 2024 - Primary care improvement plans: implementation progress summary - March 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The ability to undertake ear wax removal depends on an individual’s role, scope of practice and competence and this is dependent on workforce and requirements of services within their respective Health Boards and HSCPs. Whilst the Scottish Government set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is the responsibility of Health Boards is to ensure that they plan and deliver services which best meet the needs of their local population.

The following table provides the details of how much has been paid to litigants from all concluded civil cases relating to prosecutions arising from the administration of Rangers FC, broken down by financial year.

Please note that the total sum to date which has been paid out in respect of all settlements and legal expenses for the Pursuers is £52.2m.

The action concerning Imran Ahmad v the Lord Advocate, settlement of £528,615 was paid out in 2024-25 however the matter of expenses to be awarded to Mr Ahmad is still pending. Accordingly, as this action is not deemed to be concluded, this payment has not been included in the table below. The final sum due to be paid is to Mr Ahmad in respect of expenses incurred as a result of the civil action. This matter is still currently being considered by Lord Harrower.

The final outstanding matter concerns expenses due to the Lord Advocate for the cost of defending the action raised by Mr Grier against the Lord Advocate. This matter is due to go to taxation to be considered by the Auditor in January 2025.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role of retailers in our society and want to ensure that they are protected. We also recognise the distress caused by retail crime, particularly to staff. The investigation of criminal activity and deployment of resources is a matter for Police Scotland and they remain focused on keeping communities safe from harm, and investigating criminal activity. However, Policing itself also remains a priority for this Government. We are aware that some of the perpetrators of shoplifting offences have links to organised crime.

In our 2025-26 draft budget, the Scottish Government has proposed up to £3 million in funding to be used for the purpose of exploring the implementation of a partnership between the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and Scotland’s retail sector in an effort to combat organised retail crime. This is in line with our Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to address organised crime, which is an area of significant and growing concern to retailers.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are fully committed to tackling serious organised crime in all its guises and reducing the harm it causes to our communities.