Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role the livestock sector plays in supporting rural communities. We do not have a policy to reduce livestock numbers and fully recognise the value that livestock plays in Scotland's rural communities, maintaining bio diversity and our food sector. In order to understand what is happening within the sector we are committed to assessing, through engagement with stakeholders, the potential social and economic impacts of any changes in the size of the beef herd - whether driven by market trends, consumer behaviour, or technological change - on rural areas across Scotland.

This assessment will be carried out through ongoing engagement with farmers, crofters, industry representatives and rural stakeholders, alongside analysis of rural economies and land use. In stark contrast to the UK Government we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the beef sector through a range of support schemes, including the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS), which provides targeted, coupled support for livestock producers In addition, the retention of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in Scotland is helping to maintain income stability for many beef producers. This reformed direct support reflects the unique challenges facing our farming and crofting communities and underlines our determination to deliver a sustainable future for rural Scotland.

The Scottish Government will consider the advice of the Climate Change Committee before setting out its own proposals for taking necessary actions on climate change.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting our livestock farmers in playing a full part in Scotland’s journey to net zero, including by reducing methane emissions in ways that strengthen farm productivity and resilience. The Scottish Government has no policy to reduce the national herd, our approach focuses on reducing emissions intensity rather than livestock numbers, through improvements in genetics, low-methane breeding, and appropriate uptake of methane-suppressing feed products. We continue to support the sector through a range of schemes including the SSBSS and through reformed direct payments – in stark contrast to the policies of UKG.

We recognise that the meat processing industry is a vital part of the supply chain, and have supported the sector. This has included a Ministerial discount scheme which has been applied to Official Veterinarian charges since 2015, as well as resource funding through the Small Producers Pilot Fund to explore solutions to challenges surrounding abattoirs and small producers’ access to private kill services. The recently published Programme for Government commits to £5 million to support food processing and marketing.

We will continue working with the sector to ensure it thrives as part of a climate-smart food system, while recognising the importance of Scotland’s livestock products to UK and international markets.

Guidance to clinicians to support prescribing medicines off-label is provided by the General Medical Council (GMC) . The guidance states that doctors should usually prescribe licensed medicines in accordance with the terms of their licence but they may prescribe medicines off-label where, on the basis of an assessment of the individual patient, they conclude, for medical reasons, that it is necessary to do so to meet the specific needs of the patient. In addition, extant guidance states that, unless there is a specific clinical reason, clinicians should prescribe a licensed medicine which has been accepted for routine use in the NHS in Scotland by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) as opposed to prescribing off-label or unlicensed medicines.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the benefits of hedgerows and trees.

The Scottish Government is focused on delivering for people across the country and making the case for taking decisions in Scotland for Scotland with independence.

The Scottish Government will publish further material on independence to give the people of Scotland the information they need to make an informed choice about their constitutional future. We are not planning an independence convention this summer.

The following table shows a) the number of Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme cardholders broken down to local authority level as of 31 May 2025, and b) the number of journeys, broken down by local authority, made through the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme since its launch in January 2022 up to 31 May 2025. Journeys are based on the local authority in which the card was issued, therefore some journeys will have been undertaken out with the local authority area.

Transport Scotland has confirmed that enforcing moving traffic offences would require new primary legislation. Officials are exploring the use of ANPR for school street enforcement as part of broader policy development on moving traffic violations. This includes consultation with the Department for Transport and other stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of such enforcement in England and Wales, including school streets.

While this work is part of Transport Scotland’s longer term plans, no specific timeline has been set for its commencement.

The Scottish Government has engaged closely with Local Authorities throughout the response to the issues raised by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). In August 2023 the Scottish Government held the first meeting of the RAAC Cross Sector Working Group to help raise awareness of RAAC across the public sector. Local Authorities are represented on this group as are representative organisations such as the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) and the Scottish Heads of Property Services (SHoPS).

Patients continue to be seen based on their clinical urgency, and those referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer continue to be prioritised for scope-based diagnostic tests. The decision to appropriately prioritise patients based on their urgency is best placed with the clinicians responsible for their care.

Health boards across NHS Scotland have local strategies in place to ensure patients with a clinical urgency, as well as those that have waited the longest, are investigated within an appropriate time by the most appropriate person. Referrals are clinically triaged at local board level and directed to the most appropriate waiting list.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to ensure an investigation is undertaken, and the verified report is received by or made available to the requester, within a 6-week waiting times standard for key diagnostic tests and procedures. Health Boards must take all reasonable steps to ensure they comply with this standard.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care.

As part of planned care funding for 2025-26 we have provided over £10.5 million to territorial health boards across Scotland to support endoscopy activity and reduce waiting lists.

To specifically support scope based diagnostics we have published an Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan backed by £70 million. The plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign.

The national Good Food Nation Plan and section 3(3) statement will be laid in Parliament before the end of the period of 3 months, which begins on the expiry of the 60 day period of parliamentary scrutiny.