Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government supports participation in recreational fishing in several ways.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of sites across Scotland which require individuals to obtain a permit to participate in recreational fishing.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with the college sector on a range of issues, including the 2025-26 budget, via Colleges Scotland.

It is the Scottish Funding Council’s role to work closely with the college sector to identify the best split of the available resources, taking into account Government priorities and the college sector’s needs.

The Scottish Government recognises the particular health challenges faced by those in rural areas. In addition to the support outlined in response to S6W-33562 on 3 February 2025, we have invested in a number of funding streams which have included allocations for community-led health initiatives in rural areas, including:

• £66 million in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults since 2021, with more than 4,800 grants made to local projects across Scotland over the first three years. Of these more than 900 grants were made to community projects supporting people disadvantaged by geographical location (including rural areas) - Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults Year 3 – Monitoring and Reporting Summary
• Over £65 million since 2020 to fund community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families, including those in rural areas -

Independent-Evaluation-of-Community-Mental-Health-Supports-and-Services-April-2023.pdf

Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services: summary report - January to June 2023 - gov.scot

• Over £29 million of Community-led Local Development (CLLD) funding since 2021 to deliver over 1000 grassroots community-led projects across rural & island Scotland in partnership with rural organisations. Some of which have health related benefits ranging from mental health and wellbeing to physical health. Communities are empowered and supported to design and implement the solutions to the challenges and opportunities they identify in their local area, which may include community led health and social care provision
• A further £11.4 million in 2024-25 to support Community-led Local Development and similar initiatives in our rural and island communities.

Links to the most recent evaluation reports of each of these initiatives, including information on outcomes, are included above where available. A review of CLLD funding began in 2024-25, and will continue throughout 2025-26.

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 has not commissioned any public opinion and research organisations to carry out any work regarding Scottish independence or Scotland's constitutional future since May 2021.

As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to reducing single use plastics, the use of plastic straws was discontinued in Scottish Government buildings in February 2018.

Since August 2022, there has only been one purchase of 1,500 paper straws in 2023 at a cost of £17.21.

Due to a change of catering contractor following a contract re-let, information is not available prior to August 2022.

Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have met formally with the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation on one occasion since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.

Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have met formally with the Shetland Fishermen’s Association on one occasion since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.

The International Network annual report 2023-24, published on 18 November 2024, demonstrates how our network delivers tangible benefits across the three main pillars of work set out in the International Strategy. The International Network annual report is available at the following URL: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-network-annual-report-2023-24/

We are committed to a process that ensures our work is measurable, transparent and available to the public. We will publish the 2024-25 annual report later in the year.