Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02062 on 19 August 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 does not hold Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) expenditure information organised in this way. Funding is awarded to projects which deliver benefits across multiple habitats and ecosystems.

Across both the Competitive Fund and Edinburgh Process funding strands, the NRF supports projects under five strategic themes: habitat and species restoration; freshwater restoration, including restoration of natural flows in rural catchments; coastal and marine initiatives; control of invasive non-native species; and urban nature restoration.

The NRF Interim Evaluation Report (2021-24) found that around 50% of the Competitive Fund's budget in its first three years was allocated to projects primarily categorised as freshwater and wetland, or coastal and marine projects.

Ministers regularly meet with Police Scotland to discuss a range of matters. Meetings between Ministers and Police Scotland since 1 January 2026 exclusively focused on the antisocial use of vehicles and the powers available to officers to address these issues took place on 24 February 2026, 4 March 2026, and 21 July 2026. I will write to the Member with summary notes of these meetings. A copy of that correspondence will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 66816). Separately, Scottish Government officials meet regularly with Police Scotland colleagues, including the Head of Roads Policing, to discuss a range of issues, including the antisocial and criminal use of vehicles.

Following the reported damage to the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a number of actions have been taken. This includes the arrest of alleged perpetrators of the damage and the preparation of a report for the procurator fiscal, and separate enforcement notice action by The Highland Council in relation to unconsented development.

The damaging activities at Achanbobane have caused irreparable damage to some of the protected interest of the SSSI because the processes which created them, glacial ice and meltwater deposition, cannot be replicated. Nevertheless, NatureScot is working with The Highland Council to ensure that the limited re-instatement which is possible is carried out without further damage to the site.

As a stronger deterrence to further damage to the SSSI occurring at Achnabobane, in September 2025 Scottish Ministers put in place a Nature Conservation Order. Only through the vigilance of the community, NatureScot and partners will any further damaging activity be detected and reported, allowing rapid action to be taken to stop it.

While there is no legislation specific to (i) rivers, (ii) lochs, (iii) coastal waters and (iv) other bodies of water, rivers, lochs and coastal waters are within the definition of surface water, in the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003, which implements the EU Water Framework Directive. We keep all applicable legislation under review.

Statistical information about road collisions in which one or more people are injured is collected by Police Scotland and reported to the Scottish Government and the Department for Transport using the Great Britain-wide ‘STATS19’ data collection. Floating bus stops (and similar) are not amongst the pre-determined location options that police can select as part of this data collection. As a result, they are not separately identified in road casualty statistics.

The Scottish Government does not routinely collect data through other sources on the number of collisions or injuries involving cyclists and pedestrians at or around floating bus stops and bus boarders. Such infrastructure is typically delivered and managed by local authorities, who are therefore best placed to hold any location-specific information relating to incidents on their networks.

I have asked Richard Dennis, the Accountant in Bankruptcy and Agency Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

The regulation of insolvency practitioners is reserved under head C2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998. If Accountant in Bankruptcy had concerns that an individual was acting as trustee in a sequestration without meeting the necessary requirements, this would be reported to the trustee’s recognised professional body and the UK Insolvency Service.

I have asked Richard Dennis, the Accountant in Bankruptcy and Agency Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

Under section 200 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016, the Accountant in Bankruptcy has the general function of supervising the performance of trustees in sequestration cases. Accountant in Bankruptcy hold records in relation to this function in line with our retention and destruction policy.

There have been a number of significant developments since we consulted on our draft Solar Vision in 2023, including the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and Warm Homes Plan.

We have also co-commissioned the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, which will provide an updated assessment of Scotland’s future energy system needs.

Given these developments will inform the Scottish Government’s position on solar it would not be appropriate to publish a final policy position until they are complete.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02062 on 19 August 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.