This is an operational matter for our Enterprise Agencies. I have asked each of their Chief Executives to write to you with a full response.

Our current Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) which was published alongside the last Capital Spending Review, estimated that annually, around 45,000 construction and maintenance jobs would be supported through the associated total capital investment. This information is not centrally monitored, however as part our annual reporting on the progress of the IIP, we include information on major capital projects and their contribution to local economic development.

Our annual IIP Progress Reports are published on the Scottish Government website and can be found by way of the following link www.gov.scot/infrastructure-investment-plan

This Government is committed to building a vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive rural economy.

We are widening participation in entrepreneurship, giving more people the opportunity to start, grow and scale their business. To date we have supported a range of programmes, including the South of Scotland Enterprise regional Pathways Pre-Start programme and the Pathways Funds. We are investing a record £6 million to support further Pathways implementation in the current financial year, transforming the number of women who start and scale businesses and widening participation in entrepreneurship.

Alongside this, we are supporting rural entrepreneurs through our Ecosystem Fund, which has invested a total of £2.6 million across 75 innovative projects since 2021, through our Techscaler network, through our wider support for our enterprise agencies, and through delivery of our National Innovation Strategy.

The Rural Entrepreneur Fund was a 2021-22 Programme for Government commitment to invest £20 million over the lifetime of the current parliament. However, in light of the challenging financial environment, the Scottish Resource Spending Review prioritised investment plans to ensure that they were deliverable, impactful and affordable. Consequently, there has been no money invested in the Rural Entrepreneur Fund to date.

The Council Tax Reduction Scheme exists to ensure that nobody in Scotland should have to meet a Council Tax liability they cannot be expected to afford.

Over 460,000 households receive some level of CTR, and on average recipients save over £850 a year. Over 380,000 households were in receipt of full CTR and therefore did not have to pay any council tax (as at March 20204).

The Council Tax working age scheme was revised from April 2022, to ensure that, as far as practicable, a household in the same circumstances receives the same level of Council Tax Reduction whether it is on Universal Credit or not.

In 2025-26 the Scottish Government has allocated over £15 million for the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice. In 2025-26, Citizens Advice Scotland and the network of Bureaux have been allocated over £7.7 million. This funding supports the Money Talk Team service, providing free and confidential income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services across Scotland as well as the new national roll-out of the Council Tax Debt project.

Gender equality is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for a fairer Scotland. We want women of all ages to be empowered to exercise equal rights and opportunities, and to have equitable access to economic resources and decision making.

Eradicating child poverty is the top priority across all of government, with wide ranging action being taken to tackle poverty – including through investment in funded childcare, devolved employability services, and social security benefits such as our Scottish Child Payment.

We recognise that child poverty and women’s poverty are inextricably linked and that children in lone parent families, of which around 90% are headed by women, are at greater risk of poverty. Best Start, Bright Futures, our Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for 2022-26, outlines our focus on ensuring that policies and approaches effectively tackle the challenges and barriers faced by families at greatest risk of poverty, including lone parents. We will continue to use evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, and are increasingly taking an intersectional approach, to understand the challenges and needs of particular groups and ensure effective action is taken, including for lone parents.

The Scottish Government also recognises the positive contribution older people make to their communities and sees the value in bringing generations together. We aim to enable better access to a range of services for older people as and when they need them. We want to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age.

The Scottish Government’s ‘A Fairer Scotland for Older People: framework for action’ contains a dedicated strand focused on activity we are undertaking to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age. In addition, we provide funding of £2.2 million, through the Equality and Human Rights Fund, to older people’s organisations and age equality projects. This funding is delivering a range of initiatives that tackles poverty among older people.

We have taken forward a package of changes to planning fees to better resource the system, however it is a matter for local authorities to determine how their financial resources are allocated based on their priorities. Planning authorities are nevertheless required by legislation to keep a public register of live and determined planning applications for development in their areas, and we welcome where certain planning authorities and developers have already developed renewable energy mapping tools as a complement to this.

It was not possible to support all of the submitted projects within the available budget. There is currently no scope to support the reserved projects however should additional budget become available this will be considered. As part of the pipeline approach reserved projects can be considered for support in future years, subject to annual budget availability.

The Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) are not aware that this has been a recurring issue other than for one recent specific case, where Energy Consents Unit (ECU) hadn’t initially passed all representee contact details to them from the outset. Steps were taken to ensure no parties were prejudiced and all who wanted to take part in the process were given the opportunity to do so.

The Scottish Government has set the goal of establishing Scotland as one of Europe's leading start-up economies, fostering an environment where innovation and high-growth businesses flourish. Within this parliamentary term it has spent over £60 million to aide these ambitions with at least a further £23 million committed by the end of the Parliamentary term.

These figures do not include spend from our Enterprise Agencies or Entrepreneurial Education. In addition this does not include spend for financial year 2026-27 due to our single year budgeting process.

The Scottish Government is committed to advancing women’s entrepreneurship and fostering an inclusive business environment, through implementation of the recommendations of the Pathways report on women in entrepreneurship, which consulted extensively to identify impactful measures that would address the gender gap.

To date we have supported a range of programmes including the South of Scotland Enterprise regional Pathways Pre-Start programme and the Pathways Funds. We are investing a record £6 million to support further Pathways implementation in the current financial year, transforming the number of women who start and scale businesses and widening participation in entrepreneurship.