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We are investing over £190 million annually in the implementation of primary care multidisciplinary teams through the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) as well as additional funding for annual pay uplifts. The utilisation of PCIF funding held in reserve from the previous year to support in-year PCIF objectives is an approach we have now taken for a number of years. It is prudent to reinvest these public funds given the challenging financial context.

Flytipping is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, albeit one in relation to which a Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued to discharge any liability to criminal conviction. Through our National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, we are working with stakeholders to improve reporting, investigation, and enforcement. We will continue engaging with Local Authorities, Police Scotland, and SEPA to ensure they have the necessary tools to tackle flytipping effectively.

The master of the vessel convicted of fishing in the South Aran Marine Protected Area was initially offered a £10,000 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), the maximum permitted under the FPN scheme. This consisted of £4,000 for the "access offence" and £6,000 for the value of the catch, as determined when the catch was inspected by Marine Directorate Officers at the time of landing. The FPN was not paid and the case was reported the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service and the case went to trial where the master was fined £4175 by the Sheriff.

The catch consisted of 914kg of king scallops, which was sold to a merchant. The merchant provided the Marine Directorate with a salenote stating the value of the catch was £4548.50. The value of the catch would have been paid to the owner of the vessel.

Further details of the FPN are available - Marine compliance: fixed penalty notices - gov.scot

As this is an operational matter, I have asked Scottish Water and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to reply. Their responses are as follows:

a)

Not all spills from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are sewage spillages – CSOs are an integral part of the sewer network, designed to spill during heavy rainfall to prevent sewage backing up and flooding homes and businesses. Normally, what is spilled is wastewater which has been highly diluted by rain water - the toilet sewage element is less than 1% of the total volume.

Considering locations where Scottish Water is required to report annually to SEPA and where it has a long-term record of overflow events, there has been no recent increase in event frequency or in total event duration. In 2024, Scottish Water was able to publish some further overflow event information for other locations where it has reliable data. However, Scottish Water does not have long-term trend information at these locations.

The publication of information for additional locations has the effect of increasing the number of overflow events / duration for locations in the Firth of Clyde. As Scottish Water has deployed more Event Duration Monitors (EDMs) over the whole country, it expects that the total number of overflow events and durations included in the published dataset will increase.

b)

The SEPA responds to public and Scottish Water notifications of pollution from sewage and carries out a programme of inspections of sewer networks and sewage treatment sites. SEPA is not aware of an escalation in incidences of polluting sewage spillages into the Firth of Clyde. However, where sewer overflows are causing a water quality impact, SEPA works with Scottish Water through River Basin Management Planning to prioritise investment.

Up until six years ago the River Clyde was in the worst category for water quality and was classified as Bad by SEPA. Between 2010 and 2021, £610 million was invested by Scottish Water in wastewater assets bringing significant water quality improvements. The Clyde is now moving up classification and is into Good in a number of aspects. Aquatic species are returning to the waters, which supports a much more diverse aquatic life such as fish and birds with Atlantic Salmon returning.

The Scottish Government is aware of the concerns raised by the Foreign Affairs Committee regarding equipment manufactured by Hikvision, and other such companies, where such companies are subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China

Scottish Government, as part of the already underway replacement integrated security system, decommissioned all Hikvision cameras across its estate last year.

As indicted by the First Minister’s answer to S6F-03667 on 9 January 2025, any decision on security cameras used by other public sector organisations is for them to make. Although public agencies may choose to follow the Scottish Government’s lead in decommissioning all Hikvision cameras in the Scottish Government estate, they are under no obligation or duty to do so.

We encourage all organisations to follow National Cyber Security Centre supply-chain security guidance when selecting a technology supplier. The guidance clearly sets out the security standards that suppliers should meet and the considerations that organisations should make during the procurement process.

All answers to oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for the Official Report can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

My December 2025-25 Budget announcement included the commitment to conduct our first five-year review of LBTT by the end of this Parliament, to support an evaluation of key aspects of the tax legislation, including the application of the ADS where exceptional circumstances and events occur.

As part of this review, officials will engage a range stakeholders and members of the public on a range of general and specific relating to the LBTT and Additional Dwelling Supplement legislation.

The upcoming review will in part look to build further understanding on the impact of the ADS where difficult or exceptional circumstances apply, as well as understanding any complexities and uncertainties for the tax system for accommodating any subsequent changes.

The review, which will commence this coming spring, will support decisions in the next Parliament on the case for any legislative changes.

The relationships, sexual health and parenthood consultation report is now being prepared for publication. I am grateful for the extensive contributions to the consultation and the report will be published shortly.

We must ensure our children and young people learn about the issues affecting their daily lives, including consent and healthy relationships. The concerns raised by the Young Women's Movement and NSPCC around the consistency in delivery of RSHP education highlight the need for us to ensure we get the revision of the RSHP guidance right.

However, that should not restrict the professional judgement of our teachers who are able to use a range of resources to deliver age-and-stage appropriate education on consent and healthy relationships in a way that enables children and young people to make informed decisions about their lives. That can include using the excellent resources developed by the Young Women's Movement through their Young Women Know campaign.

As confirmed in the latest Programme for Government, we will implement the Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC), with work already underway on a number of curricular areas, including health and wellbeing. The CIC introduces a systematic approach to ensure that Scotland's curriculum remains relevant, forward looking, clarifies knowledge and ultimately support high quality teaching and learning. We will ensure this important work aligns with the work to update the RSHP teaching guidance to help ensure consistency in delivery of learning and teaching.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education, which is an integral part of the Health and Wellbeing area of the curriculum.

The current Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes for Health and Wellbeing set out specific learning outcomes on respect, boundaries and behaviours and what constitutes a healthy relationship. They also include learning outcomes on consent, gender stereotypes, power dynamics in relationships and where to access support if required. To support learning and teaching of these experiences and outcomes, RSHP lesson plans are available, from Education Scotland's website, that include learning about the importance of the principle of consent.

The Scottish Government has also published a resource for professionals to help them support young people aged 11-18 in their understanding of healthy relationships and consent. The Healthy relationships and consent: key messages for young people resource sets out that relationships should be mutually respectful, consensual, positive, healthy and enjoyable.

The Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland is in a very strong position and the Scottish Government continues to engage with the 11 Scottish Local Government funds, which each have responsibility for their own investments.

We are monitoring developments in England and Wales to inform decisions around our approach to Scotland.