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Flooding is our biggest climate adaptation challenge, and we know it will become more frequent and severe in the decades ahead so we need to do all we can to be prepared. The Scottish Government set out a long term vision for a flood-resilient Scotland through to 2045 in our National Flood Resilience Strategy. With a focus on people, places and processes it sets out a number of priority areas and actions to support homeowners, communities and businesses in Scotland. In relation to helping homeowners keep their properties safe further actions being undertaken are:

• The Scottish Government allocating £570 million to local authorities since 2016 to support flood protection schemes and wider flood resilience, protecting individuals and communities at risk of flooding. £42 million will continue to be provided through the general capital grant in FY 2026-27.
• Research is underway to consider actions to mitigate the negative mental health and broader wellbeing impacts of flooding.
• Households can develop their own flood plans and research is underway which is examining whether these plans can help strengthen community awareness and promote actions, including the installation of Property Flood Resilience measures.
• As part of the implementation of the National Flood Resilience Strategy a dedicated group, the Property Flood Resilience Delivery Group, is developing actions on Property Flood Resilience to further support delivery across Scotland.
• The Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Flood Forum, which enables them to provide support and advice to individuals and communities before, during and after flood events. The Scottish Flood Forum also has a flood bus which showcases Property Flood Resilience measures to communities.
• Building Standards have been updated to provide more advice and information to designers on property flood resilience. The updated Technical Handbooks that include section 3.3 ‘Flooding and groundwater’ will be applicable from 6 April 2026.
• The Scottish Government continues to work in co-operation with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations to ensure flood insurance remains widely available and affordable. Flood Re is a flood re-insurance scheme, which was launched in 2016 to help households at high risk of flooding. This now benefits more than 9,000 properties in Scotland.
• SEPA’s Scottish Flood Forecasting and Warning Services ensures flood forecasting and warning information is made available to the public and emergency responders throughout Scotland.

The following table sets out how many licence applications were made to NatureScot for the purposes of controlling ravens in each year since 2021. The information also sets out how many licences were subsequently issued, amended before being issued, refused and cancelled by the applicant.

Screen Scotland’s Broadcast Content Fund has awarded the following sums to production companies based in the Highlands and Islands region, in each year since 2021:

2021-22 - £170,000

2022-23 - £12,376

2023-24 - £165,000

2024-25 - £435,000

2025-26 – data not yet available

The purpose of any pilot, is to gather evidence and through the bus fare cap pilot we are testing the feasibility of a fare cap model. We will be monitoring the impact on bus patronage and services in the pilot areas to help inform future national fares policy.

The purpose of any pilot, is to gather evidence and through the bus fare cap pilot we are testing the feasibility of a fare cap model. We will be monitoring the impact on bus patronage and services in the pilot areas to help inform future national fares policy.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The number of Scottish domiciled students studying at universities across the UK is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Data can be split by entrant marker, level of study and mode of study.

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb273/figure-9

Data is not held on the total number of Scottish domiciled students studying on courses overseas.

The Scottish public sector delivers a wide range of digital services, and ensuring these are secure and resilient is critical. For more than five years, the Scottish Government has encouraged public bodies to adopt a proactive, risk-based governance approach, anchored in clear board-level accountability, to strengthen their cyber resilience.

The refreshed Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland (published November 2025) sets out the key priorities to build the cyber resilience maturity of the public sector. These include implementing robust security standards, controls and governance; maintaining and routinely testing incident response plans; ensuring staff are well-trained; and embedding learning from cyber incidents across Scotland and beyond.

The Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) plays a central role in coordinating multi-agency responses to cyber incidents affecting the public sector. SC3 provides national support by working directly with organisations, sharing real-time and emerging threat intelligence and helping them mitigate risks. This strengthens preparedness for cyber incidents and ensures public bodies have the standards, tools and skills they need to build strong cyber resilience and fend off attacks.

In addition, the Scottish Government hosts quarterly Public Sector Cyber Resilience Network webinars, bringing together cyber and information security professionals from more than 180 public bodies. These sessions enable the sharing of good practice and lessons learned, provide updates on evolving threats and risks and help identify common challenges where government support.

Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) manages the Scotch and Specially Selected assurance schemes, including their marketing and branding, helping to highlight the quality and provenance behind them.

This activity is funded through levy payments as per the Quality Meat Scotland Order 2008. No Scottish Government funding has been provided to assist in the promotion of Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb or Specially Selected Pork since 2021. In addition, no promotional funding has been provided to any organisation for game.

In 2025-26, the Scottish Government is providing £45,000 of support for the venison sector which includes £20,000 towards enhancing the Scottish Quality Wild Venison Assurance Scheme, as well as £8,000 towards implementing a promotional work programme, alongside others including the Soil Association and Food for Life, that will inform public sector buyers around venison.

The Scottish Government is not a formal reporting agency for cyber attacks or data breaches and therefore does not record the costs of ransomware attacks to public sector bodies, beyond the basic notifications encouraged by the voluntary Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incident Notification Procedure.