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There is limited evidence about the impacts of targeted squid fishery and associated bycatches. The occurrence of squid in samples of bycatch from the Nephrops fleet is rare. The Marine Directorate is undertaking a limited trial with a number of inshore vessels to help gather information and evidence on bycatch within inshore areas to support a longer-term policy decision on fishing for squid.

The Finance and Public Administration Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the cost effectiveness of Scottish Public Inquiries. I wrote to the Committee on 30 May 2025 providing a detailed response to their request for information from Scottish Government in relation to its role as sponsor of current and previous public inquiries. This response noted that Section 17 of the Inquiries Act 2005 confers responsibility for the procedure and conduct of an inquiry on its Chair, independent of Ministers, and that this includes a statutory requirement for a Chair to act 'with regard to the need to avoid any unnecessary cost (whether to public funds or to witnesses or others)'.

Assessment of value for money would therefore be a matter for a Chair of an inquiry to consider as they deem appropriate within the overall duty to avoid unnecessary cost, and those inquiries which are currently ongoing have responded independently to the call for evidence received from the Committee on costs. Responses are published on the Committee pages of the Scottish Parliament website.

The findings and conclusions of the Committee's inquiry will be considered once known.

There are no data gathering or reporting requirements in relation to the number of medicines prescribed off-label, centrally. Health Boards are expected to collect this data as part of their local medicine governance processes.

Funding for the Deal is awarded to the Stirling and Clackmannanshire region rather than individual council areas, including joint projects between the three main Deal partners, Stirling Council, Clackmannanshire Council and University of Stirling. The Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal private sector investment total secured to date is £476,000, with this investment coming through the University of Stirling’s Scotland’s International Environment Centre (SIEC Phase 1) as commissioned work.

All other secured and leveraged investment in the Deal is from the public sector, including academia, or third sector.

I am pleased to confirm that 17 local authorities applied to partner with the Scottish Government on the Test of Change phase of the Free School Meal programme.

While considering these applications we have been able to maximise the spread of this phase across Scotland. The 8 proposed partner local authorities identified are: Aberdeen, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Fife, Glasgow, Moray, North Ayrshire, Shetland, and South Lanarkshire. We will be engaging with the local authorities on their plans in the coming weeks.

These local authorities will deliver meals to those in receipt of Scottish Child Payment in S1 to 3 for a full school year from August 2025 to July 2026. This work will be independently evaluated and we are currently undertaking an exercise to appoint the researchers.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on application processing times for Carer Support Payment as part of official statistics releases.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on application processing times for Carer Support Payment as part of official statistics releases.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This information would therefore need to be requested from the Health Boards. There have been no national tenders since the pandemic, during which time private hospitals supported with cancer treatment. Whilst the Scottish Government works with Health Boards through planning to make best use of existing NHS resources and capacity, it is for Health Boards locally to determine how they use the private sector and to agree any contractual arrangements. The Scottish Government no longer provides direct funding for planned care for private providers.

Health Boards are encouraged to improve waiting times through engaging with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, a national unit designed to sustainably improve and transform Scotland's health care system through innovation, collaboration and clinical leadership.

The Squid Co-management Group was established for the purpose of bringing industry and eNGOs together to work collaboratively with Scottish Government officials to support a longer-term policy decision on fishing for squid under the North Sea Cod Avoidance Plan (NCAP).

Stakeholder nominations for membership of the Squid Co-development Group were provided by the co-management stakeholder forum Fisheries Management and Conservation Group (FMAC). The first stakeholder Squid Co-management Group meeting took place 1 November 2024.

Squid is a non-quota species and consequently there are no Scottish vessels specifically licenced to fish for this species as their primary catch. Details of the Scottish fishing fleet and primary gears employed can be found in the annual Marine Directorate statistical bulletin at: Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2023 - corrected March 2025 - gov.scot, tables 42 & 43 provide data on the number of active Scottish registered vessels and their main fishing method.