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The initial stages of identifying individuals eligible to have their convictions quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024 focused on the assessment of potential cases referred by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) as most likely to contain relevant convictions, followed by an assessment using broader criteria applied to cases identified by Police Scotland. The Scottish Government continue to work closely with Post Office Limited and the UK Government, with data sharing agreements in place to facilitate the exchange of information that supports the implementation of a consistent approach across the UK. The Scottish Government also engage with the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP) and provide public information to ensure that anyone who may have a relevant conviction is aware that they can approach the Scottish Government to have their conviction assessed.

The report on the operation of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024 will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in the coming months.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting everyone to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. That is why, the Scottish Government and COSLA recently jointly published a 10-year Population Health Framework. This Framework sets out a whole system, cross-government and cross-sector approach to improve population health and reduce inequalities with a strong focus on prevention.

The Framework aims to improve Scottish life expectancy whilst reducing the gap between the most deprived 20% of local areas and the national average by 2035. It seeks to complement and build upon ongoing and planned action recognising the need to address structural barriers that limit access to services and support, targeting action to those most in need. The Framework identifies 30 initial actions to be implemented in the first two years, all designed to strengthen the key building blocks of health – the social, economic and environmental factors – which combined have a greater effect on health than individual behaviours and health services alone.

One of these 30 actions, already underway, is the introduction of Marmot Places through the Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland. Under this initiative, local councils and health boards in Aberdeen City, North Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire are receiving expert advice and practical support from Public Health Scotland and the Institute for Health Equity over a two-year period. This work is designed to embed long-term, whole-system approaches locally to improve health equity. Insights from these areas will be shared via a national learning system to inform and accelerate health equity initiatives across Scotland, supporting local action and contributing to measurable improvements in population health.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving life expectancy and tackling health inequalities across Scotland. The recently published Population Health Framework, a joint publication by the Scottish Government and COSLA, highlights that the circumstances and environments in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age – known as the building blocks of health – are the most influential factors shaping health outcomes.

The Framework’s supporting evidence paper notes that Scotland has experienced a decline in healthy life expectancy – the number of years people can expect to live in good health – alongside a stalling of improvements in mortality rates after decades of steady progress. These trends are associated with several major factors: the UK Government’s austerity policies during the 2010s, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Together, these influences have weakened the building blocks of health, widened existing inequalities, and exacerbated Scotland’s longstanding disparities in income, wealth, and power.

In response, the Population Health Framework sets out a whole-system cross-government and cross-sector approach centred on prevention. This approach builds on existing Scottish Government actions, including initiatives on diet and healthy weight, and efforts to tackle child poverty. Through this approach, the Scottish Government aims to raise overall life expectancy while closing the gap between the most deprived 20% of communities and the national average by 2035.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on neurodevelopmental assessment waiting times.

We are clear that support should be put in place to meet a child’s requirements when they need it, rather than be dependent on formal diagnosis. A diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition is not required before additional support is provided in school.

Education authorities have duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Under the Act an additional support need can arise for any reason and a diagnosis is not required before support is put in place.

Scotland is not alone in facing challenges as a result of a rise in the prison population. There is no single reason for the increase and there is no single solution.

The Scottish Government has therefore taken a range of actions to address this, including changing the point of release for some short-term prisoners and bringing forward regulations to widen the use of home detention curfew, which enables selected individuals to be released to serve the last part of their sentence under curfew and clear licence conditions. Additional funding of £25m over two years has been provided to increase the capacity of community justice services across Scotland to support a sustained increase, where appropriate, in the use of alternatives to custody. This brings the total funding for community justice to £159m in 2025-26. We have also established an independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission to review how custody and community-based interventions are used, with a focus on reducing crime, supporting rehabilitation, and ensuring a sustainable prison population. Final recommendations will be delivered by the end of 2025 and will inform longer term action in this area.

Scottish Government officials engage regularly with the three approved tenancy deposit schemes on a range of policy and operational matters, including formal engagement as part of monitoring each scheme for compliance with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011.

My officials have engaged with all health boards to understand what provision they have in place to deliver adult neurodevelopmental assessments. In relation to NHS Ayrshire and Arran, we are exploring how to address current issues that may be limiting access to assessments for all adults who may seek them. Our understanding is that neurodivergent adults in Ayrshire and Arran can be referred for neurodevelopmental assessments where they have been diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health condition.

The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which is currently supporting NHS Ayrshire and Arran to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. We continue to scope the work required to improve Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways nationally, understanding that a stepped care model is needed to reduce waiting times for adult neurodevelopmental assessments and ensure a consistent approach across Scotland.

Officials from the Scottish Government's animal welfare team meet regularly with local authorities to discuss the implementation and enforcement of the 2021 animal licensing regulations.

The Scottish Government has no plans at present to undertake a review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) (Regulations) 2021. Section 28 of the equivalent regulations in England place a duty on the Secretary of State to periodically review the provisions of the 2018 regulations. No such duty exists under the 2021 regulations.