Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government offers a range of support to businesses facing declining footfall, antisocial behaviour and rising costs. In the Scottish Budget, property rates have been reduced in 2026-27 alongside a package of reliefs forecast to save ratepayers over £870 million. Eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in mainland Scotland can receive 15% rates relief, with licensed hospitality venues and music venues eligible for an additional 25%, bringing total relief to 40%. This is capped at £110,000 per business annually and guaranteed in Budget 2026-27 for three years to 2028-29. The Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) will be maintained at current rates and thresholds, also guaranteed in Budget 2026-27 for three years. Over 100,000 properties remain eligible for SBBS, which remains the most generous of its kind in the UK.

The Scottish Government recognises the potential benefits of a single point of search across multiple pet microchip databases, which could provide quicker and more efficient access to information for enforcement agencies, veterinary professionals, and rehoming organisations.

We are supportive in principle of measures that enhance animal welfare and improve the effectiveness of existing systems, and officials continue to regularly engage constructively with Defra and the other devolved administration to progress this work.

The Scottish Government recognises that microchipping pets supports responsible ownership and helps reunite lost animals with their owners. It acknowledges the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s findings on the benefits for welfare and enforcement.

Officials are reviewing this recommendation alongside wider policy considerations, including impacts on owners, enforcement, and consistency with existing mandatory microchipping for dogs.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) sets recording requirements for sewage treatment works in accordance with its published technical guidance wat-g-065_permit_guide_municipal_sewage_treatment-_works.docx.

The recording and reporting requirements are included in authorisations on the basis of environmental risk, such as size of wastewater treatment works and proximity to sensitive receptors e.g. designated Bathing Waters.

The Urban Wastewater Treatment Regulations (Scotland) 1994 sets out the nature of the sampling and the frequency for qualifying works. The results of this sampling is published - https://www.gov.scot/publications/situation-compliance-report-disposal-urban-wastewater-sludge-scotland-2022/.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Motability to understand how any changes it is considering to its provision as a consequence of the removal of tax exemptions in the UK Budget might affect customers in Scotland, including those living in rural, remote rural and island communities.

The UK Government did not consult the Scottish Government on its changes to the associated tax exemptions in the November 2025 Budget, despite the clear and significant impacts for the devolved Accessible Vehicles and Equipment (AVE) Scheme in Scotland under which Motability is the provider. Scottish Ministers wrote to the UK Government in November upon becoming aware of the potential tax changes, emphasising that they would cause significant fear and uncertainty for disabled people who rely on the AVE Scheme to remain mobile.

The 1 July 2026 commencement announced by Motability for its changes in the rest of the UK is not set to apply in Scotland. However there may need to be future changes to Motability’s provision in Scotland under the AVE Scheme as a result of the UK tax changes, in which case customers will be notified as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the AVE Scheme and ensuring that eligible clients get the right support to meet their needs and to allow them to remain independent.

The Scottish Government are not currently making any considerations to establish an independent body to investigate complaints regarding the financial practices of adult social care providers.

Scotland has in place the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) which provides a well-established, fully independent route for complaints relating to adult social care services provided by the public sector.

When a person is self-funding their care this becomes a contractual matter between the individual and their care home. Families in Scotland can contact their local trading standards team who will investigate any breach of contract.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is a statutory body and accountable to the UK Parliament, has guidance for care homes on deposits and fees. We expect all providers operating in Scotland to abide by the guidance clearly set out by the CMA.

FFIS is a competitive scheme and, as with the 2025 round, no application is guaranteed funding. Where demand exceeds the available budget, eligible applications will be prioritised in accordance with the published scoring and ranking methodology. This will ensure applicants understand in advance how funding decisions will be made.

We have been working closely with stakeholders on how we can improve FFIS, including ways to ensure more farmers and crofters are able to benefit from this support. Co-development is ongoing and we will provide further details on these improvements later this summer.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) carries out an annual programme of sewer network and wastewater site compliance assessment, proactively targeting higher risk sites and also maintaining a rolling programme of inspections across all authorised sites, to determine operator compliance, including sampling of sites and the environment.

SEPA also requires these operators to provide data returns and report incidents. Recorded data and site operations are assessed during SEPA inspections. In addition to compliance inspections, SEPA responds to Scottish Water pollution notifications and public reporting of pollution incidents.

The Scottish Government’s public health approach to violence has prevention at its core and our focus is aimed at preventing and reducing harm for people in Scotland’s communities.

My heartfelt condolences go to Lisa Petrie for the heartbreaking loss of her son, John McNab. I commend Lisa on the work she has been doing to educate young people on the dangers of carrying knives as well as her campaign to roll out bleed kits which helped inform our commitment.

Scottish Government will engage with partners to inform how bleed kits are rolled out to community settings and what quantities would be appropriate and effective.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), I have asked them to respond. Their replies are as follows:

Scottish Water will need time to review and respond to the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) report once it is issued.

SEPA has publicly offered to meet the WASP group to discuss the evidence it has prepared in its draft Report and the work already under way to monitor and improve Scotland’s water environment further through River Basin Management Planning.