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The Scottish Government welcomes the policy brief produced by the Rowett Institute on the potential use of hemp cake as an animal feed source in Scotland. We recognise the value of academic research in exploring sustainable and innovative approaches that can support Scottish agriculture to reduce emissions, improve resilience, and make greater use of home-grown feed alternatives. The findings of this research will help to build the evidence base that industry can draw upon as it considers opportunities for alternative livestock feeding strategies. I look forward to discussing this work further when I visit the Rowett Institute later this year.

The last review of integration arrangements, under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, took place as part of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, with a final report published in February 2021.

There are currently no plans to review the funding arrangements for Integration Joint Boards.

The Scottish Government are committed to supporting the role of lived experience on IJBs, to help amplify those voices and improve integration of those insights. We will review the statutory guidance and the approval of integration schemes to ensure the voice of lived experience is heard and to increase accountability. Engaging with service users, unpaid carers, and representatives from the third sector and IJBs will help make the guidance more relevant and responsive to community needs.

Trade policy is reserved to the UK Government. The UK Environment Act 2021 enables the introduction of controls on palm oil, cocoa, beef, leather and soy in an effort to ensure that are not linked to illegal deforestation. Similar provisions have been introduced in the European Union. Through the ENRA (Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture) research programme, the Scottish Government is directly funding work to develop sustainable feeding strategies that reduce reliance on imported soya.

The Scottish Government is aware of opportunities to utilise hemp cake for animal feed in Scotland. There is currently no active policy with regard to utilisation of hemp cake in Scotland. We would encourage innovation from animal feed suppliers in Scotland which provide farmers with choice on animal feed while supporting efforts to deliver emissions reduction in the sector.

The Scottish Government does not have any current plans to review the number of NHS Boards.

In the NHS Scotland Service Renewal Plan, we have already committed to the creation of a new single body called ‘NHS Delivery’, which will bring together the existing functions of NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland, and will allow us to review and consolidate other crosscutting delivery functions.

We will continue to strengthen collaboration across NHS Bodies to ensure a more strategic, population-based approach to planning and keep governance arrangements under review to ensure they support the needs of Scotland's population and deliver best value for public services.

There is a strong tradition of partnership working between local authorities, particularly through Regional Economic Partnerships. This partnership is a key way that services can be delivered more efficiently, and opportunities can be scaled. This is exemplified by the Northeast Regional Economic Partnership, involving Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council, who are delivering the Northeast Investment Zone in partnership with both the Scottish and UK Governments.

Regional Economic Partnerships are delivered via bespoke regional arrangements, and many other examples of joint working are on a case-by-case basis, so formal monitoring of the “level” of joint working would not be possible.

However, the Scottish Government has committed in the Programme for Government to working with local authorities and other key partners, to identify how to strengthen these partnership arrangements. This work is not yet complete, and it would not be possible to comment on outcomes at this time.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting stronger regional working. In the Programme for Government we provided that we would:

Work with regional and local partners to identify how best to formally devolve further elements of decision-making and delivery to Regional Economic Partnerships (REPs), and present options before the end of this Parliament.

Officials undertaking this work are engaging with a range of partners across the public, private and third sectors, as well as further and higher education partners, the UK and Welsh governments, and regional groupings elsewhere in the UK in order to understand how best to empower regional partners.

The Scottish Government is also working with COSLA on the Local Governance Review to consider how power and resources should be shared between national and local government and with communities. From the extensive engagement to date, there has been no specific proposals to introduce elected mayors or provosts.

The views of Local Government would inform any future changes to Local Government’s structure or governance arrangements. This is in line with the Scottish Government’s commitment to respecting Local Government’s democratic mandate as part of the Verity House Agreement.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to the principles set out by the Christie Commission.

Our Public Service Reform Strategy: Delivering for Scotland, published in June 2025, sets out a comprehensive and ambitious programme to embed these principles across the public sector. The Strategy addresses long-standing systemic barriers to reform and sets out action to deliver more efficient, joined-up, person-centred services, with a clear emphasis on prevention and empowering communities.

This approach is rooted in the Christie Commission’s vision and is essential to ensuring Scotland’s public services remain sustainable, high quality and responsive to the needs of the people they serve.