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No Scottish vessel has failed to comply with the economic link requirements in the last five years.

Non-compliance with the Economic Link licence occurs where a vessel has failed to meet the 55% landings threshold and failed to agree a quota payback.

Vessel owners are provided with the opportunity to query the landings data and the quota payback calculation.

There have been no instances of a vessel seeking to appeal the application of quota pay-back for not meeting the Economic Link compliance criteria since 2019.

While the deployment of police officers is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, it is for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to undertake risk assessments to identify and mitigate any potential risks to court users, court staff, Judiciary and justice partners. I can confirm that Police Scotland and SCTS to work in partnership to ensure that court security is maintained, whilst making best use of resources.

The Dynamic Support Register (DSR) provides a mechanism for national data collection on people with learning disabilities and complex care needs. Out-of-area placements are those where the individual is accommodated out with their Health and Social Care Partnership area. Out-of-area placements can be an appropriate option, depending on an individual’s needs and preferences. The focus of the Coming Home Implementation Report is to reduce inappropriate out-of-area placements.

The DSR only collects data on adults (aged 18+ years) and, therefore, cannot provide data on children with learning disabilities who are in out-of-area accommodation. Additionally, as the DSR was established in May 2023, we do not hold data for adults before 2023.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) collect and publish quarterly data from the DSR, with the most recent collection from 7 March 2025 published on 17 June 2025. At that time, there were an estimated an estimated 1,264 people on the DSR, of which 842 were appropriate out-of-area placements, and 45 were inappropriate out-of-area placements.

Additionally, PHS publish monthly data on delayed discharges. The most recent figures for May 2025 can be found here. This data is broken down to Health Board and Local Authority level.

Victims are not provided, in whole or in part, the criminal record of any offender in the context of a prosecution.

Prosecutors may present an accused person’s previous convictions to the court for specific purposes, including the consideration of bail and bail conditions, or in determining the most appropriate sentence. This information is obtained from Police Scotland using the accused person’s Scottish Crime Records Office (SCRO) number, which is a unique identifier used across the justice system in Scotland. This ensures that relevant information is accurately linked to the individual, regardless of any change of name or gender identity.

All public bodies in Scotland, including National Parks are required to demonstrate value for money in the discharge of their functions via compliance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) and Accountable Officer (AO) Framework. The use/publication of cost-benefit analysis as a tools to support and inform spending decisions is an operational matter for individual organisations to consider with the overarching financial framework of governance and accountability set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM).

Scotland’s National Parks generate significant economic benefits via tourism, employment and investment. Like all Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs), National Park’s Annual Reports & Accounts are formally reviewed by external auditors before being laid in the Scottish Parliament for public scrutiny. The Scottish Government has not routinely raised concerns about these formally audited records of public spend, and nor have concerns been raised by other bodies.

The Scottish Government have no current plans to change the fine balance of rights and responsibilities in relation to access which was agreed by the Parliament and is set out in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. NatureScot work with the National Access Forum (NAF) to address access issues that do arise though providing new guidance, resources and advice.

The Scottish Government has published this information since the amended economic link licence condition was implemented from 1 January 2023. It can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-economic-link/

The Scottish Government is in the process of conducting a review of the amended economic link license condition. This will be published in due course