Chamber and committees

Last year, I announced that there would be a judge-led, statutory Public Inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell's murder in 2005.

I can now confirm that Lord Scott, a current Senator of the College of Justice, has agreed to chair the Public Inquiry. I am pleased that someone of Lord Scott’s experience and legal standing will chair this important inquiry.

I have a statutory obligation to consult Lord Scott on the terms of reference for the Inquiry. I met with him earlier this week and we will meet again in due course to discuss the terms of reference and timescales for the Inquiry’s formal setting up date.

It is also my intention to share terms of reference with the family of Emma Caldwell and other interested parties to hear their views on the Inquiry’s remit. I will provide a further update to Parliament in due course.

The Scottish Government commissioned an expert report from Malcolm McMillan on the roles and functions of the Scottish Law Officers. The purpose of the report is to outline the history and development of the roles and functions of the Scottish Law Officers; describe their current roles and functions; highlight the role of Law Officers in a number of other jurisdictions; describe the constitutional context relevant to a review of the roles of the Scottish Law Officers; and provide a summary of insights and comments on the Scottish Law Officers’ roles from former and current holders of these offices and relevant officials. The work to publish the final report is in the final stages.

The remit and terms of reference will be included in the published report.

I replied to the letter of 9 February from the then Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack MP on 29 February 2024 in which I confirmed the commission of an expert report and the scope of that report, and that I would keep UK Government informed of planned next steps.

We do not routinely publish correspondence between Scottish Government Ministers and their UK Government counterparts.

The Scottish Government thanks the Marine Conservation Society and all the many volunteers for their excellent work in monitoring beach litter and cleaning our shores. Citizen science is valued, and in combination with data from our scientists and our wider international monitoring programme, it is useful in helping us prioritise policy development to effectively reduce marine litter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36086 on 24 April 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 routinely engages with Welsh Government officials on a range of animal welfare issues, however, there has been no specific engagement on the commitment made to phase out greyhound racing in Wales.

The answer to S6W-32194 referred to a Scottish Government and COSLA funding working group set up to consider both the affordability of the 2015 flood protection scheme programme and use lessons learned to inform the future funding and governance model for flooding. This group is not attended by Ministers but by Scottish Government officials.

The majority of these minutes have previously been released by Scottish Government in response to an Environmental Information Regulations request - Flood Risk Management Working Group meeting minutes: EIR release - gov.scot.

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

Flood risk management implementation reports are available on the Scottish Government's website. Some reports have been completed for single years and some for multiple years.

Relevant links are provided below:

• Report for years 2015-2018: Implementation of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009: report to the Scottish Parliament - gov.scot
• Report for 2019: Implementation of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009: report to the Scottish Parliament - 2019 - gov.scot
• Report for 2020: Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 implementation: report to the Scottish Parliament - 2020 - gov.scot

A report covering the period 2021 to 2024 is under development.

Local authorities also produce regular mid cycle and end of cycle reports on the delivery of actions in the Flood Risk Management Plans.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-30798 on 7 November, since 2016, the Scottish Government has allocated £570 million to local authorities for flood protection schemes and flood resilience. In this period, the estimated costs of cycle one schemes eligible for funding has risen.

A joint Scottish Government/ COSLA Funding Working Group was established to make recommendations to Ministers and COSLA Leaders on how to improve the affordability of the remaining cycle one schemes. This has resulted in the removal of 6 schemes that failed to meet key progress deadlines from the funding programme.

The Funding Working Group are considering whether further recommendations are required to ensure the programme remains affordable.

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

This information is not published, however is available on request from SEPA.