Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not receive routine notifications from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) regarding investigations, compliance issues or enforcement activity relating to licensed establishments operating under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Any oversight, inspection and enforcement functions under the 1986 Act are the responsibility of ASRU, acting on behalf of the UK Government.

Accordingly, the Scottish Government does not hold information on individual investigations, compliance concerns or enforcement actions undertaken by ASRU.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02813 on 15 September 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.

The Scottish Government recognises the role that philanthropy can play in supporting our third sector and communities across Scotland. As part of our policy development with respect to the third sector, Scottish Government engages with independent funders, philanthropic foundations and academics. We recognise the funding pressures that third sector organisations are facing and we will continue to engage and explore opportunities which would support a sustainable and resilient third sector.

The Scottish Government did not receive any specific Barnett consequential funding because of the UK Government’s introduction of a local news fund. This is being funded from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Spending Review allocation.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S7W-02745 and S7W-02746 on 15 September 2026.

The commercial decision announced in July of a sale of BP’s North Sea assets has caused great uncertainty for their workforce and the wider energy workforce in Scotland.

The Scottish Government closely monitors and considers a range of evidence in relation to the energy transition. The First Minister and I met with energy leaders in the North East in the days after this announcement, and I continue to engage with BP and other relevant partners including the trade unions to understand the potential impacts of the sale.

Regulation of the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure is a reserved matter. Any assessment of potential impacts on decommissioning from bp’s sale of assets would be a matter for the UK Government.

The Scottish Government supports decommissioning activity happening in a way that facilitates an orderly, managed and just transition to net-zero and maximises the benefits for Scotland’s businesses and communities.

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 not undertaken a recent assessment, taking account of the current composition of the fishing fleet, of the potential impacts of reallocating access from mobile to static gear in parts of Scotland's inshore Nephrops fisheries on (a) fishing revenue, (b) gross value added, (c) employment or (d) the proportion of fisheries income retained within coastal communities. The reallocation of access from mobile to static gear is not current Scottish Government policy.

The Scottish Government did, however, publish research in 2020 exploring optimisation modelling in the Scottish Nephrops fleet. The research concluded that there was potentially an opportunity for economic gains if access to fishing grounds was redistributed between and within the Nephrops creel and trawl fleets, with potential increases in gross value added and employment.

However, the research also identified a number of important limitations. It did not take account of the costs to businesses of changing fishing patterns, the management and compliance costs associated with any redistribution of access, or wider environmental and social considerations. The research further noted that it was unclear whether the modelled outcomes could be achieved in practice.

The research is available https://www.gov.scot/publications/exploration-optimisation-modelling-scottish-nephrops-fleet-policy-brief/documents/

The Scottish Government and NHS national consensus statement sets out guidance regarding clinical prioritisation of obesity medicines.

The Scottish Government published the herbal smoking products, heated tobacco devices, vaping and nicotine products - display restrictions: partial business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA). This sets out our initial assessment of the business and regulatory impact of proposals to regulate the display of herbal smoking products, vaping products, nicotine products, and heated tobacco devices. The partial BRIA relates to the display element of the 4-nations consultation "Tobacco and Vapes: packaging, appearance and display", which includes questions and information on herbal smoking products. The UK Government published consultation stage impact assessments alongside this consultation which relate to herbal smoking products.

The maximum three-year period allowed was agreed by parliament. The timescale was informed by engagement and consultation with stakeholders. Within eighteen months of commencement, Scottish Ministers must publish CWB guidance to assist local authority led CWB partnerships to prepare and publish CWB action plans.

In order to enable CWB Partnerships to use this guidance to develop medium to long term, strategic action plans, the additional eighteen-month timescale represents a fair and realistic timescale. The three-year period provides an appropriate balance between supporting timely implementation of the legislation and allowing adequate time for high-quality CWB action plans to be prepared.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a Scotland-wide assessment of which areas of the inshore seabed would benefit most from the exclusion of bottom-towed fishing.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02777 on 15 September 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