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This information is not routinely collected by Scottish Government. Information on patients receiving home dialysis is held by NHS Boards.

The way in which the resilience fund will operate is being finalised. Information on the routes and/or islands that will be covered, eligibility criteria, application process and payment rates will be shared soon, including with eligible communities.

The way in which the resilience fund will operate is being finalised. Information on the routes and/or islands that will be covered, eligibility criteria, application process and payment rates will be shared soon, including with eligible communities.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS and the Scottish Government worked directly with Victim Support Organisations including Victim Support Scotland ahead of automatic early release under the Prisoners (early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, to raise awareness and encourage those who were eligible to sign up to the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS).

Temporary expediated systems of registration were also introduced for both the Victim Information Scheme (VIS) and VNS, which were live throughout the tranche releases and ran to 30 April 2025. These systems meant the normal registration process was streamlined to enable victims who were not currently registered, to register quicker and find out the release date of an offender. These temporary expediated systems were agreed by SPS with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

When victims were registered, they were notified by SPS if there was a change to the release date of the offender, ahead of the offender’s release from SPS custody.

The way in which the resilience fund will operate is being finalised. Information on the routes and/or islands that will be covered, eligibility criteria, application process and payment rates will be shared soon, including with eligible communities.

With regards to the protection of wild peregrines in Scotland, the Scottish Government does not intend to make representations ahead of the 2026 peregrine breeding season to the UK Government Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to request that transaction specific certificates are issued for peregrine declared as captive bred in Scotland.

The requirement to issue Transaction Specific Certificates (TSC) for peregrine would not improve the accountability of a captive bred peregrine being purchased should that bird not be used commercially again.

A TSC would only improve accountability, where, following a transaction, it would require a new application by the new keeper and allow for a chain of custody to be formed in instances where the specimen has been utilised for commercial purposes across different keepers.

If an Article 10 certificate is issued as an Specimen Specific Certificate (SSC) then the certificate travels with the bird and a new keeper would not need to obtain a new certificate for the bird. Registration of any wild and unsourced bird is still required.

Section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Act provides that any person who possesses or controls any bird from a species listed in Schedule 4 must register the bird with the Scottish Ministers, and identify the bird with a ring or mark. Section 7 and Schedule 4 are commonly known as the bird registration scheme. The purpose of the bird registration scheme is to provide a mechanism to help deter illegal take from the wild of birds whose populations are threatened.

Regulation 5 and the schedule of the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 provides that the bird registration scheme also applies to peregrine falcon and merlin if they are not already registered through the Convention on the Control in Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). It is an offence to fail to register or ring/mark a bird if required to do so.

As referred to in the Royal College of Nursing’s report, The Nursing Workforce in Scotland 2025, published on 6 May 2025, the Scottish Government published the Ministerial Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce report in February 2025.

The report includes 44 recommendations to tackle all barriers to recruitment and retention of nursing and midwifery staff, beyond pay, terms and conditions. Phase 2 has commenced and a Ministerial Oversight and Implementation Group have been established to develop a detailed workplan which will be agreed shortly to take forward the agreed recommendations. Members of the Taskforce acknowledged that implementation will take time and investment to ensure genuine change for our nursing and midwifery staff.

The commitments for peatland restoration and woodland creation have not reduced for 2025-26.

The 2025 Programme for Government commits to restoring 12,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatlands and creating at least 10,000 hectares of woodlands, including at least 4,000 hectares of native woodland.

The 2024 Programme for Government committed to restoring 10,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatlands. The woodland creation commitment in 2024-25 was the same as for 2025-26.

The Scottish Government requires an exemption from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2000 (IMA) from the UK Government (UKG) before we can effectively implement sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

The UKG have agreed to providing this exemption and we are awaiting for them to make the necessary changes to the IMA before we can effectively implement sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. Scottish Government officials are engaged with counterparts in UKG regarding this change and we expect it to be made soon.

It is our intention to bring a ban on the use, supply and possession of glue traps once the UKG have made the required changes.

The Scottish Government has not made an estimate of the number of barber shops linked to money laundering. Money laundering is investigated by Police Scotland working with partners including the National Crime Agency and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.