Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is responsible for making secondary legislation under the 1964 Harbours Act such as Harbour Revision and Harbour Empowerment Orders. Harbour authorities are independent bodies and it is their responsibility to ensure compliance with legislation and codes of practice. Harbour authorities are responsible for taking their own legal advice in relation to these matters.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital importance of maritime safety. I am aware that The Oban Bay Management Group is in place to help mitigate navigational risks in the Oban Bay area prior to the establishment of a Statutory Harbour Authority covering the wider Bay. This includes the publishing of navigational guidance for vessels using the Bay.

We are committed to maintaining direct payments, to supporting active farming and food production in Scotland, and to ensuring there are no cliff edges for producers.

We are already delivering increased conditions on direct payments; this is better incentivising sustainable and regenerative practice, on-farm nature restoration and climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, while investing in our producers to produce high-quality food.

The Rural Support Plan, laid in Parliament, has set clearly how over the course of this session, budgets will change across the Tiers of the support Framework. At least 70% of funding will be allocated to the Direct Payment model of Tiers 1 and 2 and we will apply a funding split of 7:3 between Tiers 1 and 2. We will continue to work with farmers and crofters to make sure that our support is informed by their needs and experience whilst delivering on our Vision for Agriculture.

The Scottish Government has held two previous consultations, in 2007 and 2015. We had also asked the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission to consider the matter, leading to the establishment of the SAWC Dog Training Working Group in March 2021 and this has led to a number of discussions between SAWC, animal welfare charities, and scientists, facilitated by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has recently taken multiple steps towards encouraging animal farmers to make transitions to improve animal welfare, such as our 2026 consultations on the proposed ban on keeping laying hens, pullets and breeder layers in cages and proposed changes to lamb castration and tail docking methods (to improve welfare through usage of new methods with anesthesia and pain relief), which we held in collaboration with the UK and Welsh Governments. In 2024 we also updated the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 to include updated pig welfare guidance.

Scottish Ministers remain fully committed to transparency regarding who receives public subsidies for (a) forestry, (b) farming, (c) nature restoration and (d) other land use in the current parliamentary session.

In particular, further to our recent introduction of the required regulations and their approval by Parliament – following imminent planned closure of the UK website by Defra –steps have now been taken for the Scottish Government to implement the regulations and continue to publish data relating to Scotland for beneficiaries of CAP legacy schemes.

The first publication was made on the 30th June 2026 for the data relating to all CAP legacy schemes subsidy payments made to beneficiaries in Scotland during the EU financial year from 16 October 2024 to 15 October 2025 and this data will remain available for two years, until June 2028.

This publication will include the names of all beneficiaries apart from those who received less than the equivalent of 1,250 in total subsidy during the year that are not shown in the spreadsheet. In these cases, payment amounts are included, but beneficiary names have been removed. For the purposes of this publication , 1,250 has been converted to a sterling equivalent of £1,114.

Similar publications will be made on the 30th June in subsequent years throughout the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government is investing £1.9 billion through the Regional Growth Deal programme over the next 10 years to stimulate economic growth at a local and regional level. These strategic partnerships are designed to align long term funding behind shared visions for regional economies, leverage additional investment, create new jobs and accelerate inclusive economic growth.

The Scottish Government is also investing up to £90 million in 2026-27, delivering employability support to people of all ages facing barriers to the labour market. Through the No One Left Behind approach, person-centred employability services are available in every local authority area, helping people progress towards and into sustainable, fair work.

Support is also available to help people find and sustain employment throughout their working lives. Careers support is available across Scotland through Skills Development Scotland, with advisers based in schools and communities. Colleges and universities also provide career support services to help young people and adults find and sustain employment.

Alongside this, our Fair Work approach seeks to help provide the conditions to enable people from all backgrounds to remain in and progress in work.

These are operational matters for Scottish Enterprise. I am advised by Scottish Enterprise that, since 2021-22, Cooperative Development Scotland has provided direct support to a total of 199 employee-owned companies and 94 co-operatives.

The following table shows the number of employee-owned companies and co-operatives that received direct support in each financial year:

Funding allocations within Scottish Enterprise are operational matters for the agency. I am advised by Scottish Enterprise that, through its most recent Letter of Engagement, it has been directed to ensure that it supports social enterprises, co-operatives and employee-owned businesses. Businesses using these models can access wider Scottish Enterprise services, provided they meet the general business criteria for those services.

The Scottish Government is aware of the growing sales and ownership of non-traditional and so-called exotic pets but that the full details of this are not easily gathered. We are also aware of campaigns by NGOs as well as SAWC’s historical reports, recommending the introduction of a permitted or positive list system for the keeping of pets in Scotland.

While we acknowledge reports of certain negative welfare outcomes associated with exotic pet ownership, we equally acknowledge that with the right owner education, such species can often be kept under good welfare conditions and in certain cases some species may be kept and bred for important conservation purposes.

At this time, we have no plans to introduce a permitted/positive list system, but we will continue to hold discussions with stakeholders and consider any and all relevant information in this area.