Chamber and committees

Historic Environment Scotland maintains the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. Due to digital security concerns, the Register webpage has been temporarily taken offline with the aim of restoring the site as soon as possible.

In the meantime, Register information remains publicly available through downloadable datasets on Historic Environment Scotland's Trove and Data Services platforms, including the dataset as it stood when the Register was paused in 2024. Enquiries about individual Register entries can also be made to Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to contact the member directly with more information.

The Scottish Government’s approach to harm reduction is informed by current intelligence on emerging drug trends through Public Health Scotland’s Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) system. Current intelligence indicates that nitazenes are the most commonly detected new synthetic opioids in Scotland. Fentanyl (as an illicit substance) is not often detected in Scotland but is a widely used street term to refer to all synthetic opioids.

We are aware that nitazene test strips are available from some services in Scotland. We are working with partners including Public Health Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to consider the evidence and inform appropriate Scottish guidance.

The Scottish Government, as part of the consultation Marine Consultation on ‘Proposed Fisheries Management Measures in Scottish Inshore Marine Protected… has undertaken a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA).

The SEA assesses the environmental implications of the proposed measures. One of the SEA objectives is in relation to ‘Soil’ where the objective is to maintain, protect and enhance the character and integrity of the seabed.

The SEA considered four pathways:

• potential benefits to habitats and species within protected sites;
• potential spill-over benefits beyond site boundaries;
• potential adverse effects resulting from the displacement of fishing activity and the likely intensification of activity elsewhere; and
• potential adverse effects from increased fishing effort by other gear types not restricted by the measures.

The SEA concluded that, for the majority of sites and areas assessed, the proposed measures were expected to result in a moderate or major beneficial effect on the habitats and species, including seabed features.

The proposed measures have been developed to further the conservation objectives of MPAs and support the protection of Priority Marine Features by managing fishing activity that may impact sensitive seabed habitats and species.

The Environmental Standards Scotland's (ESS) report published on 23 June 2026, Protecting Scotland's seafloor: an assessment of Scottish Ministers' implementation of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010, contains ESS’ findings and recommendations relating to the Scottish Ministers’ implementation of those Regulations.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the ESS report and will work constructively with ESS to seek to agree an appropriate action plan within the timescale suggested in the report. The Scottish Government's position on the report's findings and recommendations will be set out through that engagement and in its formal response.

The Scottish Government supports a range of initiatives to improve health and wellbeing among people working in agriculture and other land-based industries. This includes funding for RSABI, which provides practical, financial and emotional support to Scotland’s agricultural community, and funding for Farmstrong, which promotes physical and mental wellbeing to those working in farming and crofting.

Mental Health is vital to rural wellbeing and prosperity, and factors impacting rural wellbeing are many and varied. That is why the Scottish Government funds the National Rural Mental Health Forum, responds agilely to ensure lived experience of mental wellbeing in our rural communities and businesses is understood and feeds into developing policy.

RSABI, Farmstrong and the National Rural Mental Health Forum operate across Scotland, including in rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway, helping ensure that support to improve health outcomes is available to men working in agriculture.

Scottish Forestry has a network of active Mental Health First Aiders to help reduce the stigma of mental health, offer initial support and signpost to appropriate help. Scottish Forestry has offered (summer/autumn 2026) all staff the opportunity for a well-being health screening with an external provider. There has been cross forestry sector support for the Royal Forestry Society’s Breaking Points survey and subsequent animations created (“Every Interaction Matters” and “Healthy Trees Need Healthy People”) to enable conversations around mental health. We Listened: Public perception of forestry is harming mental health - Royal Forestry Society.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) as part of the Marine Consultation on ‘Proposed Fisheries Management Measures in Scottish Inshore Marine Protected.

The aim of the SEIA is to identify and assess the potential economic and social effects of the proposed measures on the lives and circumstances of people, their families, and their communities.

The SEIA estimates the effects of the proposed measures at individual site level for MPAs and at a regional level for PMFs.

In the development of the SEIA we have engaged with fishers to gather views on the potential social impacts of the proposed measures.

It also considers potential impacts on each of the 11 marine regions of Scotland with respect to economic impacts on fishing activities for both the vessels home port and port of landing.

Responsibility for registering and administering Power of Attorneys (PoA), lies with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG), which forms part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). The SCTS operates entirely independently of the Scottish Government, and all operational decisions are the responsibility of the SCTS Board under the leadership of the Lord President.

While the Scottish Government does not have a role in operational decision making, it continues to support SCTS through funding. The 2026–2027 Budget includes increased resource funding to help ease system pressures and support ongoing service improvement and modernisation. Decisions on any further funding, including for the continued development of systems and services such as those provided by the OPG, will fall to Parliament as part of any future spending considerations.

The Scottish Government does not intend to conduct any public awareness campaigns on illegal puppy trading at this time. However, the Scottish Government sits on the Pet Trade Taskforce (PTT); a multi-agency group established to tackle a number of animal-related illegal activities, including the unlicensed puppy trade. Part of the work of the PTT is raising awareness of the unlicensed trade and the suffering associated with it and educating the public about how to buy a puppy safely.

The Scottish Government does not have any immediate plans to review the impact of the Welfare of Dogs Act on illegal puppy smuggling.

However Scottish Government officials are part of the Pet Trade Taskforce; a multi-agency group established to tackle a number of animal-related illegal activities, including the unlicensed puppy trade. This group is involved in educating the public about how to buy a puppy safely which is a key aspect of the 2025 Act and the associated guidance produced by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has held discussions with representatives from the fishing and offshore wind sectors regarding potential options for addressing the impacts of offshore wind development on fishers. These discussions have taken place through the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council's Barriers to Deployment (SOWEC-B2D) subgroup, with the most recent workshop held on 5 May 2026.

The Scottish Government is still in the process of developing its position on the keeping of exotic animals as pets. To ensure our position is balanced and informed by evidence, we continue to engage with relevant stakeholders and review available research, reports, and data, including reports produced by the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission and Scotland's Rural College.