Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to consider, alongside potential investors, regulatory and policy barriers to investment, including those outlined in Project Willow. We are already making tangible progress with the conclusion of an initial study by the James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College on the potential for cover crops to be grown in sufficient quantities that could support a potential biorefinery project at Grangemouth which will be published shortly. This will now progress to field trials to ensure a comprehensive approach is being taken to satisfactorily address the recommendation in the Project Willow.

This is an operational matter for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Some of this information can be found in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh‘s (RBGE) Annual Reports and Accounts: Accounts | Corporate Information | What We Do | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities are responsible for setting budgets for street cleansing within their council area.

As chewing gum is a problematic form of litter that is difficult to remove, a UK-wide Chewing Gum Taskforce has been established which has two main objectives – cleaning up historic gum staining and changing behaviour so gum is disposed of correctly. Since 2021, the Taskforce has been responsible for dispersing up to £10 million of funding from chewing gum manufacturers. Grants of up to £27,500 are provided to local authorities to remove chewing gum and promote correct disposal. More information about the work of the Taskforce, including information on the councils that have received funding and reports on the first 3 years of activities, is available on the Keep Britain Tidy website.

As of 31 July 2025, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has 8 live vacancies.

This information can be found in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh‘s (RBGE) Annual Reports and Accounts: Accounts | Corporate Information | What We Do | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

This is an operational matter for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on neurodevelopmental assessment waiting times.

We are clear that support should be put in place to meet a child’s requirements when they need it, rather than be dependent on formal diagnosis. A diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition is not required before additional support is provided in school.

Education authorities have duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Under the Act an additional support need can arise for any reason and a diagnosis is not required before support is put in place.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Promoting A More Inclusive Society (PAMIS) to develop the Changing Places Toilet Scotland Fund, which launched on 7 August 2025. PAMIS monitor the number and location of active Changing Places Toilets across Scotland, which are registered through PAMIS. Further information about Changing Places Toilets available across Scotland can be found on the Interactive Map.

Within the Highlands and Islands region specifically, there are currently 29 Changing Places Toilets. A breakdown by local authority has is provided in the following table.

Every person, family and business impacted by the closing of the Grangemouth refinery matters and our focus, rightly, is on providing those who are losing their jobs with targeted skills support.

The £25m Grangemouth Just Transition Fund will be utilised to support new projects aligned to a Just Transition at Grangemouth. Scottish Enterprise are engaging with several emerging projects which have been identified via their triaging process and Ministers will provide further information in due course.

This additional £25m means that the Scottish Government – with a finite budget – has committed or already invested £87 million in Grangemouth.

This information can be found in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh‘s (RBGE) Annual Reports and Accounts: Accounts | Corporate Information | What We Do | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.