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The Scottish Government recognises the importance of skills provision to realising the potential of Project Willow, and to securing an industrial future for Grangemouth more widely. We are prioritising skills development through the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan which will be published shortly.

This complements the support the Scottish Government is providing to Grangemouth refinery workers to retrain into in-demand industries, including those associated with Project Willow.

To the extent such systems are addressed under Scottish Building regulations, such provisions were updated as part of the February 2023 publication of Scottish Building Standards Technical Handbooks and supporting documents.

Provisions relating to the control of fixed building services are set out in the 2023 Domestic and Non-domestic Building Services Compliance Guides.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), like all public inquiries, is independent of all organisations including the Scottish Government. Under s17 of the Inquiries Act, procedure and conduct of the inquiry is a matter for the Chair. The appointment of inquiry staff is a matter for the SCAI.

Any project developer will have to satisfy environmental and planning regulations throughout the project lifecycle.

Funding for the Deal is awarded by both Governments to the Stirling and Clackmannanshire region rather than individual Local Authority areas with investment decisions ultimately made by regional partners. This includes joint projects between the three main Deal partners, Stirling Council, Clackmannanshire Council and University of Stirling.

Neither the initial capital investment location nor the lead delivery partner for a specific Deal project conveys where the economic impact of Government investment is realised at Local Authority level. An indicative investment breakdown based on project location includes:

• £21.55 million within Clackmannanshire;
• £62.08 million within Stirling; and
• £6.56 million pan Stirling and Clackmannanshire.

Local authorities must use the financial resources available to them as efficiently as possible to ensure the best possible value. How this is done is a matter for each council. Local Authority reserve balances in Scotland remain considerably higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The record funding settlement for Local Government in 2025-26 was the result of early and meaningful engagement between Scottish Government, COSLA and Councils. We remain committed to ensuring the sustainability of local services going forward and budget engagement ahead of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget has already commenced.

The three NHS Regional Chief Executives leading implementation for the North, East and West established a Task and Finish Group in March 2025. The Group’s membership comprises of the NHS Regional Chief executives, regional planners and service leaders bringing working knowledge and understanding of current services, to lead delivery of the work.

The remit of the group is to oversee and support national action and coordination required for delivery of Regional Implementation Plans to implement the move to three Neonatal Intensive Care units across Scotland. This includes work to develop a funding model, and work to model the additional impact on capacity in maternity services.

The group met on the 2 June 2025 and will meet monthly thereafter.

The Task and Finish Group will provide updates to and seek any collective agreement through the Board Chief Executives and Planning and Delivery Board reporting to NHS Scotland Executive Group.

Transport Scotland considers it good practice for local authorities to refer applicants for an independent mobility assessment, if that is required to make a clear and robust decision on eligibility.

An independent mobility assessment should be conducted by a regulated healthcare professional, such as an occupational therapist, who acts upon the instruction of the local authority to provide an assessment of blue badge entitlement.

Occupational therapists or physiotherapists are best placed to assess an applicant's eligibility, (independent of the applicants GP) due to their specific training courses, accredited by their professional bodies and subsequent registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Transport Scotland does not collect data on the numbers of assessors or their training records. This information would be held by individual local authorities.

The potential harbour purchase sits within the ‘Vessels and Piers’ budget for 2025-26, which also includes a number of port improvements and upgrades. As previously stated in Parliament, whilst we await the outcome of the commercial negotiations between CMAL and Peel Ports, we cannot provide further information during this confidential process. I will of course update Parliament once there is progress and an outcome reached.

Ministers are considering the scope and structure of the review, including how the views of stakeholders can best be taken into account.