Chamber and committees

Under existing social security legislation, Social Security Scotland already have the power to recover social security benefits that have been overpaid.

While delivery under the R100 North contract was previously scheduled for completion in 2028, aligning deployment with Project Gigabit presents a unique opportunity to optimise coverage across some of the most rural communities in the Highlands and Islands.

For instance, coordinating R100 and Project Gigabit delivery in Timsgarry, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, will enable us to connect additional premises, drive efficiencies and minimise disruption for the community.

Maximising these alignment opportunities may, in certain circumstances, require elements of the R100 North contract build to be extended beyond 2028. Where alignment is expected to impact completion timelines in specific areas, this will be communicated at the earliest opportunity via our online address checker.

The Private Jet Tax will be implemented as higher rates of Air Departure Tax (ADT)which will apply to the carriage of passengers by air on private jet flights from Scottish airports.

Cameron Barracks in Inverness is part of the Ministry of Defence training estate. Any decisions around tenancies and engagement related to tenancies is a matter for the UK Government alone. We have repeatedly urged the Home Office to engage with all organisations and delivery partners that will be affected by these proposals.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted by the Scottish Ministers in February 2023, sets out national planning policy and a long term spatial strategy for Scotland. It was subject to extensive consultation, including with rural stakeholders, and impact assessment and Parliamentary scrutiny.

The last Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee conducted annual reviews of NPF4 to assess its impact in practice.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with the National Planning Improvement Champion, monitors performance of planning policy and the planning system through close engagement with key stakeholders, including planning authority colleagues.

Ministers will always seek to engage openly and positively with all parties interested in strengthening the protection, preservation and maintenance of Scotland’s war memorials, including Members. Ministers will consider their position on the protection afforded to war memorials from damage by the criminal law. Ministers will give careful attention to any proposals brought forward in the Parliament for amendments to the law, examining their detail and practical implications before taking a view on support, in line with normal procedure.

Protecting and preserving war memorials remains a priority demonstrated through ongoing support, including funding from Historic Environment Scotland to the War Memorials Trust, and through the ability for sites to be considered for listing or designation. More broadly, Ministers remain committed to ensuring that service personnel, veterans and their families can access the support and services they need, reflected in their commitment to the UK Veterans Strategy.

On the protection afforded to war memorials from damage by the criminal law, Ministers can reassure communities and armed forces groups that existing law already allows such offences to be prosecuted, that current offences available to independent prosecutors includes a common law offence of malicious mischief where the sentencing powers are unlimited and that the court and prosecutors already take into account community impact and trauma as highlighted in evidence to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee during consideration of the Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill in the last session. Additionally, Ministers will be making decisions on further action and in that context, Ministers welcome representations - including from Members - on further action.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to delivering on its commitment to increase the number of GPs in Scotland by 800 by 2027. Since 2017 GP headcount has increased by 526 and there are 5,423 GPs now working in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Action Plan on Wildfires sets out a coordinated approach to preventing, preparing for and responding to wildfires, including through national initiatives to strengthen resilience to all climate-related hazards as outlined in the Scottish National Adaptation Plan, such as peatland restoration.

Through our world leading Peatland ACTION programme, we have carried out restoration on over 59,000 hectares of peatland since 2020, including a record 15,448 hectares in 2025-26. This work will continue in 2026-27, investing a further £28 million to deliver at least another 10,000 ha of peatland restoration, towards our aim of restoring more than 400,000 ha of peatland by 2040. In the immediate aftermath of wildfire, however, time is required to allow natural revegetation processes to take place before significant restoration interventions can be implemented.

Over time, this will ensure that healthy peatlands will continue to play their significant part in the multi-faceted approach we are taking to managing the increasing risk of these devastating events, with healthy restored peatland providing significant protection against the spread of wildfire.

We are keen to develop potential rural planning reforms, informed over the early period of this new Parliament by stakeholder engagement and consultation. This will build on the findings of previous engagement on issues relevant to how planning policy and the planning system impact on rural areas, for example, through the development of the National Planning Framework and on permitted development rights.