Chamber and committees

Scottish Government Ministers have raised the unfair distribution of funds from the Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund with UK Ministers on many occasions, most recently in the letter of 28 July from the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Regrettably, UK Ministers have shown very little interest and have indicated they believe the matter is closed.

However, Scottish Government Ministers will continue to raise this topic until a satisfactory resolution is achieved.

Marine Directorate - Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) has concluded enquiries into the possible pollution incident at Loch Hourn. The outcome is currently under review and findings will be confirmed by the end of August 2026.

Scottish Government’s expectations regarding Caledonian Sleeper performance are set out in https://www.sleeper.scot/media/rerpktgb/caledonian-sleeper-grant-agreement-current.pdf.

In addition, Caledonian Sleeper agrees its business plans annually with Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH), who manages and oversees Caledonian Sleeper services on behalf of Scottish Ministers and is required to hold Caledonian Sleeper to account for meeting its agreed targets. The Member may wish to contact SRH for this information.

The Scottish Government is providing increased funding of £14.6m in 2026-27 financial year to support local authorities to maintain the School Clothing Grant. This includes a £400k inflationary increase on the previous year’s funding and represents an increase of £2.8m since 2021-22. We have committed to uprating funding in line with inflation during this Parliament.

Final decisions on tenor will be confirmed closer to issuance.

In November 2025 the Scottish Government published a summary Outline Business Case (OBC) assessing the case for the Bonds Programme. This provides an assessment of the potential benefits generated by a bond issuance programme.

The Summary OBR can be accessed from Scottish Government bonds programme: outline business case summary - gov.scot

All Credit Rating reports will cite factors that could influence a rating action.

Importantly, the Credit Rating results confirmed the Scottish Government as high investment grade, after assessing the credit fundamentals of the Scottish economy, the Scottish Government’s financial stewardship and the approach to debt management. These strengths remain.

In the event of fundamental constitutional change, the Scottish Government would be rated as a Sovereign Government, under a different methodology.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02130 on 17 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.

Strategic objectives for the Bond Programme were published in December 2023. These are:

1. To ensure the Scottish Government can access diverse and cost-effective sources of capital funding and enhance Scotland’s fiscal sustainability;

2. To raise Scotland’s profile to financial investors; and

3. To develop Scotland’s institutions and fiscal disciplines.

The Scottish Government has not been informed of any changes in policy or practices by the Animal and Plant Health Agency regarding the release of welfare inspection reports or incident records. Any changes are for the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the UK Government to decide.