Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-38799

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how often it plans to review its code of practice for regenerative agriculture once published, and how it will engage stakeholders on their views ahead of these updates.

A preliminary version of the Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture which has been co-developed with the industry was launched on 19th June at the Royal Highland Show.

This is an opportunity to gather real world feedback from the industry which will be taken into consideration for the next iteration.

The Code will be updated in accordance with the Act at a minimum of every five years but if evidence suggests a change would be beneficial it could be updated more regularly. Government officials are continuing to engage with industry through existing regular consultation on the development and refinement of the Code.

Question reference: S6W-35795

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of any financial agreements and pay arrangements involving Ferguson Marine’s (a) recent interim chief executive, (b) most recent permanent chief executive and (c) current senior personnel.

Question reference: S6W-38806

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much of the £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray has been allocated since the establishment of the fund.

Question reference: S6W-38794

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have used or are seeking to use their powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates, broken down by financial year.

All local authorities have used their powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates.

Table 1 shows relief awarded under section 3A of the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962, as inserted by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, by local authority. Since 1 April 2023, relief for unoccupied properties (often referred to as Empty Property Relief) has been devolved to individual councils. To aid interpretation, local relief awards for 2023-2024 therefore also show the value of local reliefs excluding reliefs for unoccupied properties. Figures are presented to the nearest thousand and may not sum due to rounding.

[a] This negative figure is due to a correction to previously reported figures.

[b] These figures are currently unavailable due to software issues.

Data sources: Non-domestic rates income audited returns for 2016-2017 to 2022-2023. For 2023-2024, the latest available data (whether from the notified return, in the case of 12 councils, or audited return, for 20 councils) was used, though for all except one, the audited did not differ from the notified return.

Table 1: Local relief awards by council area, 2016-2017 to 2023-2024, £000

Council area	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021	2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024 (all local reliefs)	2023-2024 (excluding reliefs for unoccupied properties)
Aberdeen City	0	1,740	0	0	0	0	0	3,776	0
Aberdeenshire	0	2,140	0	39	23	-33 [a]	0	2,810	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	920	0
Argyll & Bute	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	876	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	414	0
City of Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16,817	0
Dumfries & Galloway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,241	0
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,293	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	939	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	276	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	625	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	142	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,270	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,880	0
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24,885	0
Highland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,197	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	309	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	678	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	484	0
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,646	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,881	0
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	[b]	[b]
Perth & Kinross	124	0	30	0	0	0	0	1,155	0
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,548	0
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,284	0
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	143	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,498	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,365	0
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	229	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	245	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,062	0
Scotland Total	124	3,880	30	39	0	-33	0	80,962	0

Green Freeport relief is available for properties within the tax sites of Green Freeports in Scotland from the date of tax site designation, which was in 2024-25 for both Green Freeports. Local authorities will deliver this relief under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 powers and will be reimbursed by Scottish Government for any awards of this relief.

Investment Zone relief for properties within tax sites of Investment Zones in Scotland will be delivered under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 powers, in a similar manner to the Green Freeport relief.

Question reference: S6W-38781

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the study, Is the Whole Farm Plan Suitable for the Shetland Islands?, conducted by Katrina Coutts as part of her Honours degree in Agriculture at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) Craibstone, which identified negative impacts of the Whole Farm Plan on Shetland’s crofting community.

Small farms and crofts are vital for delivering on the Vision for Agriculture and the plans and audits that make up the Whole Farm Plan will provide value to all businesses, regardless of scale.

In this first year, we only expect farmers and crofters to undertake two of the up to five relevant requirements. Further, to avoid duplication we welcome equivalences such as the QMS animal health and welfare plan that so many of our producers already have. Guidance was co-developed with industry on the range of free online tools that are available and the more direct support that is offered through our Preparing for Sustainable Farming scheme.

The plans and audits that make up the Whole Farm Plan are suitable for every farmer and crofter in Scotland, regardless of geographical location or size. They will encourage farmers and crofters to review their business practices and help identify areas for improvement in terms of resource efficiency. This may result in increased productivity and/or profitability. Additionally, if a business decides to implement changes to deliver these improvements, the plan and audits will give them the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of these improvements.

Supply chains are asking more of our producers and expecting produce with positive impact for nature and climate. It is right that we effectively support our farmers and crofters on this journey.

The requirements for the Whole Farm Plan apply to all claimants of BPS and do not specifically identify islands. However, extensive stakeholder engagement has been carried out to ensure that the Whole Farm Plan requirements are proportionate for crofting businesses and small farms. The Scottish Crofting Federation were content that the requirement for two plans in audits in 2025 was achievable by their members, particularly as there are no financial implications in 2025 if businesses do not achieve this.

Additionally, The Scottish Crofting Federation were part of The Whole Farm Plan Steering Group, which was established by the Cabinet Secretary.

I welcome this contribution from Katrina Coutts. We will continue to work with our partners in the industry to ensure their insight and expertise informs as to how we will best deliver our Vision.

I would note that our approach of co-development, of listening to the needs of our crofters in particular, is why we have prioritised their asks in our capital grant scheme and we have recently announced a derogation for small herds in the Suckler Beef Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-38797

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will call in planning application 24/01680/FUL for the "erection of purpose-built student accommodation with ground floor food hall (Class 1A), food and drink (Class 3), public house and hot food takeaway (Sui generis), and assembly and leisure uses (Class 11) with associated landscaping, amenity, access and other ancillary works", which was reportedly granted by Glasgow City Council's Planning Applications Committee on 17 June 2025, in light of the objection raised by a statutory consultee, namely Historic Environment Scotland, due to the proposed development having a "significant adverse impact on the setting of A-listed Glasgow School of Art".

This application was notified to Scottish Ministers on 18 June 2025, as Glasgow City Council is minded to approve it against the advice of Historic Environment Scotland. Ministers have an initial 28-day period from the date of notification to consider whether to clear the application back to the Council or to call it in for their own determination. It would not be appropriate to comment further, while this matter is under consideration.

Question reference: S6W-38834

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38218 by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025, what analysis it has undertaken to explore to what extent the reported reduction in the number of people detained in police stations under a place of safety order may simply reflect missing data, rather than an actual reduction.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of individuals detained in police custody under place of safety orders. This data is collected and held by Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government is taking steps to strengthen data collection and evaluation within the mental health and policing space. The development of a proportionate performance framework will support ongoing monitoring and help distinguish between actual improvements and issues related to data completeness. This reflects the broader commitments set out in the Framework for Collaboration and Collaborative Commitments to ensure that data is robust and suitable to support informed decision-making, and to improve pathways for people in mental health crisis.

Question reference: S6W-38822

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring is in place to ensure consistency and quality in school-based counselling services across local authority areas.

Our national guidance for local authorities sets out expectations for monitoring and reviewing the service. The guidance also makes clear that the operation of the counselling service within the school should be reviewed annually and any necessary improvements made.

The Scottish Government facilitates a quarterly Counsellors Network to provide a forum for local authority representatives co-ordinating the school counselling service to discuss practice and delivery.

Local authorities also provide annual reports to the Scottish Government on counselling services. These returns provide national oversight and inform ongoing engagement with local authorities. A summary of these reports can be accessed here: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot.

Question reference: S6W-35793

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role it has in overseeing financial agreements at Ferguson Marine; what its response is to reports that there was a “verbal agreement” with a subcontractor that led to the shipyard facing a bill for almost £48,000 in unpaid tax, and whether it was aware of any such deal.

The Framework Agreement that exists between Ferguson Marine and the Scottish Government, dated September 2024, outlines the role of the Scottish Government regarding the financial arrangements of the business. The agreement is available from the website of Ferguson Marine.

The Scottish Government was not made aware of the agreement made by the former CEO of Ferguson Marine, David Tydeman, with a subcontractor that resulted in unpaid tax until it was reported to the Chair, the Board of Ferguson Marine, and the sponsor department.

Question reference: S6W-38798

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of the final code of practice for regenerative agriculture, and when it expects it to be laid before the Scottish Parliament.

The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 introduces new requirements including the publication of a Rural Support Plan and a Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture. The Code must be published within 1 year of section 29 being commenced and will follow the launch of the Rural Support Plan. A preliminary version of the Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture which has been co-developed with the industry was launched on 19th June at the Royal Highland Show.

This is an opportunity to gather real world feedback from the industry which will be taken into consideration for the next iteration.

Chamber and committees