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The total spend on the community cohesion We Are Scotland campaign is £660,000.

The spend on the St Andrew’s Day campaign, in support of community cohesion at home in Scotland, and to promote Scotland as a country internationally as a place to live, work, visit, study and do business, was;

£60,586 for radio

£77,819 for digital and social media

No other paid-media channels were used.

The detailed information requested is currently being collated from those bodies that fall within the responsibilities of the Scottish Ministers. I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number: 66325).

A Reporter from the Planning and Environment appeals division allowed the appeal and granted planning permission, subject to conditions, for the proposed battery energy storage facility near Taynuilt because the development was found to comply with the relevant provisions of the local development plan and NPF4.

While the Reporter acknowledged that 135 objections had been submitted, the concerns raised, such as landscape and visual impact, residential amenity, and fire risk, were fully considered. Overall, the adverse effects were judged to be limited and outweighed by the significant contribution the development would make to renewable energy storage and climate targets.

The full decision notice can be read at Scottish Government - DPEA - Document.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling retail crime was reaffirmed in our Programme for Government and through the additional £3 million in the 2025-26 budget, to assist Police Scotland’s work on this.

This makes clear our strong support for Police Scotland’s robust approach in addressing this issue, and I can confirm that the Retail Crime Taskforce has been working hard in recent months to assist retailers and to catch those responsible.

We are working closely with SPA and Police Scotland to understand their 2026-27 budget requirements, but clearly there is a process to go through and decisions to be made before we can finalise the budget for 2026-27. This will be published on 13 January 2026.

The Scottish Government, along with all other UK nations, takes advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC does not currently recommend prostate screening for the whole population. The UK NSC will consider whether to extend their recommendation for prostate screening should evidence support this, including from existing trials like TRANSFORM. The Scottish Government will consider any future recommendations made by the UK NSC in this regard.

Evidence shows that prostate cancer is both more common and aggressive in men with BRCA variants compared to the general population. Following a recent review of evidence, the UK NSC has launched a public consultation which focuses on the UK NSC’s draft recommendation to offer a targeted national prostate cancer screening programme to men with confirmed BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene variants every 2 years, from age 45 to age 61. The consultation will close on 20 February 2026, following which, the UK NSC will consider the results and agree a final updated recommendation.

In anticipation of a potential recommendation for targeted prostate cancer screening, a clinician-led short-life working group, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, will assess Scotland’s readiness to respond to any future advice from the UK NSC on prostate screening.

The two Aircraft owned by the Scottish Government are currently on a maintenance and stowage contract which was awarded to the Airtask group under a competitive tender exercise. They remain with Airtask in Inverness pending their sale by a broker.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of diabetes in the avoidance of its complications. The UK National Screening Committee advises on how testing and screening is used across the four UK nations. Based on their most up to date recommendation, there is currently no UK-wide screening programme for Type 1 diabetes in children because there is insufficient evidence that population screening would improve health outcomes compared to current practice.

While current clinical advice does not support mandatory screening for Type 1 diabetes, Scotland - through NHS Research Scotland - supported the UK’s largest screening trial for children with Type 1 diabetes, the ELSA study. The study aimed to screen 20,000 children aged 3 to 13 for early markers of Type 1 diabetes and identify those at high risk of developing the condition. The findings will play a key role in guiding future policy decisions.

Current NICE clinical guidelines recommend that any child displaying symptoms of Type 1 diabetes should be referred immediately to paediatric diabetes services for diagnosis and care. The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards and healthcare professionals including GPs to consider all relevant clinical guidelines when assessing children who are presenting with symptoms of diabetes.

We encourage parents and carers to urgently contact their GP if their child is displaying symptoms of diabetes. They will be best placed to provide specific advice and support based on their child’s individual circumstances.

Funding has been made available through a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) in which the Marine Directorate funds surveillance flights at an hourly rate of £1100 Per hour + VAT (£1320 including VAT), which is based upon the request to fly 200 hours annually.

Aerial surveillance continues to be conducted by the Marine Directorate (MD) via two programmes. Firstly, through an MoU with the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) part of the UK Government. Under the MoU, MD can request patrolled fixed winged manned flights from Prestwick through the UK2SARG programme. This flexible approach allows MD to request up to 200 flying hours annually with the possibility of increasing hours should it be required.

Also, during the summer the larger two Marine Protection Vessels (MPVs) utilise a 3-year contract with an external provider to operate Remote Piloted Aerial Surveillance Systems (RPAS) or drones. These are launched and controlled from the MPVs for short to medium range flights.

Additionally, Remote Electronic Monitoring technology is being expanded to relevant Pelagic vessels from March 2026, it is already in place for all scallop dredge vessels. This system includes CCTV cameras to remotely monitor fishing activities.