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The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024-2025). The Bill provides that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027 and that date would not be impacted by any delay to the Bill passing. When other parts of the Bill come into force depends on when the Bill is passed, and it will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, Scottish Government is working with officials across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation and, in the event of any delay, the impact is expected to be minimal. Once the Bill has passed, Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024-2025). The Bill provides that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027. When other parts of the Bill come into force depends on when the Bill is passed, and it will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, officials are working across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation. Once the Bill has passed Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

As part of our commitment to New Deal for Business, Scottish Government met with the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill earlier this year to ensure that any impact of proposals on business is fully understood and that policy implementation is effective and proportionate while still delivering the beneficial outcomes for population health sought.

When the Bill passes, we will continue to work with the RRG and tobacco and nicotine retailers to support business to prepare for and understand what is required to implement the new measures. The refreshed Tobacco and Vapes retail register which was launched in January 2025 will be our key tool for engagement with retailers as well as a tool to support enforcement.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024/2025). The Bill explicitly states that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027. Any changes to this date would require amendments to the Bill and so it is not expected that this date would be impacted by any delay to the Bill passing within this session. Other parts of the Bill will come into force on set periods of time after Royal Assent or by dates to be set in regulations. It will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, the Scottish Government is working with officials across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation and, in the event of any delay, the impact is expected to be minimal. Once the Bill has passed, Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

The illicit trade of tobacco and vapes falls largely under subject matters which are reserved to the UK Government.

However, the Tobacco and Vapes retail register has been an asset to enforcement authorities in Scotland for over 15 years and a banning order can be granted on the basis of 3 or more relevant enforcement actions, one of these being a conviction for an offence of selling counterfeit goods. Through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, if passed, the retail register will be expanded to cover nicotine products, such as pouches, and herbal smoking products.

Part 5 of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill contains a suite of regulation making powers to enable requirements to be set in relation to product standards, including packaging and features of products, to enable establishment of a registration scheme for products and for information to be provided to support registration and check for compliance with product standards, and for testing of products for quality and safety.

The powers are exercisable by the Secretary of State but any regulations made under Part 5 of the Bill which contain devolved provision require the consent of the Scottish Ministers and my officials will work closely with officials across the other nations in connection with any such regulations.

We are continuing to give the SAWC reports on remote control static pulse devices and other aversive training devices careful consideration, along with the findings of our review into whether further provisions for wearable static pulse training devices are required, which was undertaken as part of the review of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020. Once we have finished our deliberations, we will announce our timeline for a further consultation.

Scottish Government officials meet regularly with the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission to discuss a range of issues. Officials were invited to subgroup meetings during the development of SAWCs report on remote controlled static pulse training collars; however there have been no specific meetings regarding the use of static pulse collars since the publiscation of SAWC's findings.

We do not hold lists of organisations and their views on shock collars, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on their views.

We do not hold lists of organisations and their views on shock collars, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on their views.

As detailed in the response to question S6W-38270, Scottish Government has awarded over £65m funding to support investment in the ChargePlace Scotland network since 2011.

Of this, over £56 million (81.7%) has been provided through funding schemes for the public sector, principally local authorities.

In addition, over £7.3 million (10.7%) has been awarded through schemes operated by the Energy Saving Trust and specifically supporting public EV charging, these schemes specifically targeted private and third sectors but also included some limited support for the public sector. The information held on these schemes by the Energy Saving Trust does not enable the value of funding specific to each sector to be identified.

A further £5.2 million (7.6%) was awarded to Scottish Power Distribution PLC through Scottish Government’s Strategic Partnership with Scotland's electricity Distribution Network Operators. The EV charge points installed under this scheme were subsequently transferred to the ownership of North and South Lanarkshire Councils.