Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government along with Scottish Development International and Enterprise Agencies are actively engaged with business and international firms operating in Scotland to expand the domestic supply chains. For instance, Scottish Enterprise works with more than 350 foreign owned businesses to support their growth which includes encouraging the benefits of engaging with local supply chain companies.

This is achieved by building on the strength of Scotland’s innovation ecosystem, which supports technology development and skills across a wide range of manufacturing sectors, leveraging the knowledge and expertise of industry bodies, partners and Scotland’s academic institutions. This approach will enable our manufacturing sector to take advantage of emerging market opportunities, such as offshore wind, hydrogen and future industries in which Scotland has the potential to excel.

In general, the Scottish Government has no role in day to day operations at airports in Scotland as these are regulated by the UK Government and its associated agencies. For power loss specifically, this would be a matter for the electricity distribution networks, who in turn are governed and regulated by the UK Government and OFGEM respectively.

However, the Scottish Government works closely with Highland and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) and we remain assured that robust measures are in place to ensure all 11 airports operated by HIAL have sufficient power. Contingency plans are also in place for these airports should the primary powers sources be affected.

Under section 2 of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, the Lord President as head of the Scottish judiciary is responsible for "making and maintaining appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of judicial office holders". Training is delivered through the Judicial Institute, under the direction of the Lord President.

It is for a court to reach a view about the appropriate terms of an order in a particular case based on the existing law and the facts and evidence before them.

There are protection measures available to a person at risk of future abuse by application to a civil court. These include an exclusion order to suspend the legal right of a spouse or civil partner and in some cases, a cohabitant, to live in the family home, for the duration the order is in place. Other conditions can be requested, including preventing a spouse or civil partner from coming within a certain distance of the home, or preventing the removal of any items from the home.

An exclusion order is temporary. It will end, for example, when a married couple divorce or when a civil partnership ends. An exclusion order does not affect who owns or tenants the home, nor prohibits future transactions with the property. Before applying to the court for an exclusion order, the person at risk must have the legal right to live in the family home, either as an owner or tenant or because they have occupancy rights as the spouse or civil partner of person who is so entitled. A non-entitled cohabitant can apply to the civil court for occupancy rights and seek an exclusion order.

The Scottish Law Commission are working on a project at the moment on civil remedies against domestic abuse: Scottish Law Commission :: Aspects of family law

The Scottish Government funds two programmes targeting households living in or at risk of fuel poverty, Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes. Since 2022 these programmes have adopted a `whole house retrofit’ approach based upon national retrofit standards (PAS2035 published by the British Standards Institution). Relevant improvements are installed based upon an individual assessment of the property; in line with technical and regulatory requirements (such as building standards); as well as to reflect the different needs and circumstances of householders.

Since 2022 the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme has delivered retrofit improvements to 8,507 households to this standard (WHS2).

The Scottish Government thanks the Marine Conservation Society and all the many volunteers for their excellent work in monitoring beach litter and cleaning our shores. Citizen science is valued, and in combination with data from our scientists and our wider international monitoring programme, it is useful in helping us prioritise policy development to effectively reduce marine litter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36086 on 24 April 2025. 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

I have met the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prisons Service, the Chief Social Work Advisor, Chief Executive of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and Lord President of the Court of Session on a number of occasions since 29 March 2023.

Information is set out in the following tables on meetings with each individual and a small number of ad hoc additional meetings.

Meetings with Chief Executive the Scottish Prison Service

There is no plan at present to produce a grasslands action plan however there are a number of actions within The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy’s Delivery Plan applicable to grasslands.

These actions include, but are not limited to, publishing a Plant Biodiversity Strategy and revision of the Scottish Biodiversity List which currently includes species-rich grasslands as a habitat and specific grassland specialist species among those habitats and species of principal importance. In addition, NatureScot is also mapping the extent of the species-rich grassland resource across Scotland.

Regarding (a), quasi-judicial panels:

• There are a wide variety of organisations that could be considered quasi-judicial bodies with their own constitutions, legislative underpinnings and governance arrangements. The position in respect of political balance would need to be checked with each organisation.
• Regarding regulated Ministerial Appointments to public body boards that could be considered a quasi-judicial body, all applications are considered individually on their merits. The Ethical Standards Commissioner regulates this area and their Code of Practice for Public Appointments (the ‘Code’) and associated Code Guidance (both 2022) set out the position relating to political activity. In summary, candidates are required to provide information relating to their political activity. It is not necessarily a bar to appointment but the appointing panel will take the information into account as part of the Fit and Proper Person test when assessing ability to perform in role. When an individual is appointed, any political activity is declared in the news release announcing the appointment.

Regarding (b), local authority decision-making bodies:

• Councils (and potentially also their decision-making bodies) are independent bodies with their own powers, responsibilities, governing constitutions, legislative underpinnings and governance arrangements. The position in respect of political balance would need to be checked with each organisation.
• Scottish Ministers have committed to respecting local government’s democratic mandate as part of the Verity House Agreement. The view of the Scottish Government is that locally elected representatives are best placed to prioritise the needs of the local community.

The list of public appointments by public body, which was published on 25 March 2025, is an exhaustive list of Ministerial regulated public appointments only. Ministerial regulated public appointments are those governed by the Ethical Standards Commissioner and the Code of Conduct for Public Appointments (2022).

The list is intended to be updated regularly so that it reflects recently made appointments. It was corrected on 25 March 2025 following the identification of errors.

Details added to the spreadsheet should be correct at the point of the appointment commencing. These details may change over time and become out of date. A process is underway to update the spreadsheet to ensure accuracy, including rectification of any other errors identified, and it will be re-published when complete.