Chamber and committees

As Minister for Higher Education, Further Education & Minister for Veterans, I was gifted a framed piece of ceramic artwork in June 2023 and a lithograph in May 2025. The framed ceramic artwork was included in my proactive release entry for June 2023, and the lithograph will be included in the May 2025 release, which is due to be published in late September. These can be found on the Scottish Government website at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/

The Scottish Government has not engaged directly with any UK departments regarding the possibility of the Open Championship being held at Trump Turnberry and it has no future meetings planned.

Although the Scottish Government has a funding relationship with the R&A to support their events in Scotland, all venue decisions are solely at the discretion of the R&A and the Scottish Government is informed of venue selection after the decision has been made. The Scottish Government is not involved in the decision-making process.

The Scottish Government has one contract with Fujitsu (Case 440206 Electronic Counting for Local Government Elections) to deliver electronic vote counting for Scottish local government elections. The contract commenced October 2020 at a value of £6,345,172 and is currently scheduled to conclude on 16th February 2027. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking an open procurement exercise to re-let this contract.

With regard to future procurement activity, the Scottish Government conducts its procurements in line with Scottish public procurement legislation and Scottish Government policy. All organisations bidding for contracts need to pass the selection criteria detailed in the procurement documents, which will include mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds. Any decision to exclude Fujitsu from participating in Scottish Government tenders will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Where a ground for exclusion applies, a supplier may be able to provide evidence of self-cleansing measures taken to demonstrate their reliability despite the existence of a relevant ground for exclusion, should this evidence prove that the measures taken by the supplier are sufficient then the supplier would not be excluded. These decisions will be made in accordance with regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

At this time, the Scottish Government is not aware of Fujitsu tendering for any Scottish Government contracts.

Both National Park Authorities publish sections on remuneration and staffing within their Annual Report and Accounts.

For Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority this can be found at: Annual Report & Accounts - Here. Now. All of us. - Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and the Cairngorms National Park Authority reports can be found at: Cairngorms National Park | Search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40528 on 23 September 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.

Preparatory works are progressing well with the design stage completed. The tender package was issued for pricing at the end of August 2025 and the works are currently programmed to commence on site at the start of January 2026.

I can confirm there are currently no plans to implement protest exclusion zones around asylum accommodation.

People have the right of peaceful protest in a democracy, but that must be balanced with safety. The Scottish Government is deeply concerned about some activity targeting asylum accommodation and individuals which creates a sense of real fear and alarm. The Scottish Government strongly believes that everyone has the right to be and feel safe and secure in the place they are living and in the community. No one should have to fear they will be targeted for who they are.

It may be helpful to note that the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee considered a petition calling for buffer zones to be introduced in September 2023. Petition PE2049 was closed on 9 October 2024. Consideration and evidence submitted to the Committee is available on the Scottish Parliament website: PE2049 Introduce buffer zones outside migrant accommodation | Scottish Parliament Website.

Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support to people who would otherwise be destitute while waiting for a decision on their asylum application. Asylum accommodation is therefore provided by the UK Government to those who are eligible whilst in the asylum system and is managed under UK Government contracts.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Home Office, Local Authorities and Police Scotland to monitor activities surrounding community cohesion and protest activity. Police Scotland has existing powers to respond to instances of violence and intimidation within communities. There are no plans to introduce additional specific protection measures at asylum accommodation.

VisitScotland provided £180k (£150k + VAT) to the DP World Tour for the Nexo Championship event, for the brand profile opportunity.

The Scottish Government remains focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70% of these for social rent and 10% in rural and island areas, including new build, rehabilitation and acquisitions.

We report on all homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) via our quarterly official statistics, and this includes approvals, starts and completions. Official statistics for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are available on the Scottish Government website at Housing statistics - gov.scot.

Note: The AHSP statistics reflect the number of affordable homes delivered with government support, whether through loans, grants or guarantees.

For the AHSP, figures are reported at the stages of approval, start and completion:

• Approval marks the point at which funding is granted.
• Start is recorded once there is an on-site presence to progress site work.
• Completion is measured when all homes on a site are delivered and ready for occupation.

This differs from the all-sector housebuilding statistics, where completions are reported on a unit-by-unit basis. As a result, there will be occasions when the AHSP records completions in a local authority while the social sector new housebuilding series shows zero completions in the same quarter. This occurs because the corresponding units are captured in earlier quarters of the housebuilding data.

While the majority of affordable housing developments in Scotland are supported by the Scottish Government through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, there are also contributions to the costs from housing associations, councils and the private sector. In particular, contributions by private sector developers are agreed through the planning system.

More information of Data and Methodology can be found of the Scottish Government website: Data and methodology - Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update: New Housebuilding and Affordable Housing Supply to end March 2025 - gov.scot.