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The current round of the Housing Infrastructure Fund launched in October 2021 and forms part of the overall Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget. £40.71m of funding has been approved by the Scottish Government in this round and, of that, £9.927m of has so far been drawn down.

The Scottish Government has previously confirmed that the provisions of its proposed Heat in Buildings Bill will take a technology-neutral approach to decarbonising Scotland’s buildings, enabling building owners to choose the technology which is right for them.

A total of £10.066 million was set aside for the Housing Infrastructure Fund within the 2025-26 Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget reflecting spend profiles provided by grant recipients.

As set out to Parliament by the former Acting Minister for Climate Action, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, on 3 April, our intention is to introduce the Heat in Buildings Bill during this Parliamentary session. Final decisions on timing will be taken as part of the overall legislative programme.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with local health boards through the Public Health Scotland-led National Drug Deaths Incident Management Team process, which strives to support and coordinate multi-agency activities to reduce drug related deaths including through consideration of ongoing trends and risks. Through this process, we have engaged with local areas following reports of an increase in clusters of drug harms in people using heroin during the course of 2025, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, and Lanarkshire.

Local response to trends and risks is coordinated through Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships, appropriately applying local intelligence and coordinating the collaborative deployment of resources of local partners and services, including those of local authorities. The Scottish Government engages regularly with representatives of the ADPs – with the last meeting with those from the named localities and others on 11 June 2025.

The Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme is a legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) EU Scheme. It was introduced in 1997 and until the UK’s Exit from the EU it was funded by the European Commission.

Since October 2020, the Scottish Government has funded producer organisations in the scheme with a Head Office in Scotland. Match-funding is based on a producer organisation’s actual expenditure of pre-approved, eligible items.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) currently deliver the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme on behalf of Scottish Ministers. A breakdown of money reimbursed to the RPA, based on the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme year (January to December) from 2020 to 2024 is below.

2020: £1,253,200

2021: £2,544,356

2022: £2,483,127

2023: £2,325,718

2024: £1,707,894

Please note that the European Commission part funded 2020 expenditure. Please also note that final 2024 claims are still being processed and therefore the 2024 figure above does not reflect a final figure for 2024 expenditure.

Data on the average age of a doctor leaving the oncologist or radiologist NHS Scotland workforce is not held centrally.

Official Statistics published by NHS Education for Scotland, and available on the Data and reports | Turas Data Intelligence website, show that 32 doctors, across all ages, left the combined clinical oncologist, clinical radiologist and medical oncologist NHS Scotland workforce in the year to 31 March 2025. There were 43 joiners, and a turnover rate of 5.2%, which is the lowest turnover rate since at least 2010.

These Official Statistics also show that the median age of the combined clinical oncologist, clinical radiologist and medical oncologist NHS Scotland workforce was 46 years old as at 31 March 2025 – the same as 10 years prior. The proportion of this workforce aged 55 and over has increased from 17.7% at 31 March 2015 to 21.5% at 31 March 2025.

The Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme is a legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) EU Scheme. It has been delivered by the Rural Payments Agency on a UK-wide basis since its introduction. There have been a total of four producer organisations (POs), with headquarters in Scotland that have received funding through the scheme since it was introduced; one in Angus, two in Fife and one in the Scottish Borders.

Three of these POs have received funding via the scheme in every year since it was introduced. The remaining PO received funding for expenditure relating to one scheme year. Where possible, the Rural Payments Agency and the Scottish Government work with POs so that applications for operational programmes meet the necessary eligibility criteria as set out in legislation and the National Strategy.

The Scottish Government has not had any recent discussions regarding potentially extending the regulatory protections pertaining to red deer to encompass native wild goat populations.

As set out in our response dated 25 May 2025 to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee’s consideration of Petition PE2151 – Grant Protected Status To Primitive Goat Species In The Scottish Borders, whilst feral goats can bring benefits, they are an invasive non-native species that can cause damage to the natural environment and forestry interests.

We currently have no plans to increase regulatory protection for primitive goats, or feral goats as they are more commonly known.

The Scottish Government has committed to continuing the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme in Scotland. The Scheme is based on multi-annual funding and operational programmes submitted for approval can run for a maximum of three years. Applications for new operational programmes submitted this year are expected to run until the end of December 2028.

A public consultation, seeking views on proposed legislative changes and the longer term future of the scheme was launched on 23 June. We will continue to work with stakeholders to explore how the scheme can be improved to ensure it operates as efficiently and effectively as possible.