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The Scottish Government is fully committed to improving and protecting the welfare of all animals in Scotland and has delivered, or continues to deliver, a number of welfare commitments both independently and in conjunction with the UK Government. We welcome the publication of the UK Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, and are pleased to note that there are a number of proposals which have already been implemented in Scotland. We are carefully considering the Strategy’s content and are committed to working with the UK Government to deliver improvements for animal welfare whenever it is realistic and practical to do so.

Listed authorities play a key role in realising the ambitions of the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015, as they deliver services and information to BSL users where they live.

We fund British Deaf Association Scotland through the Equality and Human Rights Fund to support community engagement and bring lived experience, expertise and support to BSL local plans. On 3rd February 2026, the Scottish Government attended an annual event held by BDA Scotland in Glasgow. This event brought together listed authorities and members of the BSL community to share both their experiences of developing local plans and to provide examples of best practice as we move towards publication of the BSL National Plan progress report in November 2026.

In addition, the Scottish Government funds the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) to create a support network for listed authorities to enable opportunities to share good practice, resources and raise challenges around implementing local BSL plans. The network will encourage partnership working, improve data collection, foster connectivity and enable greater accountability on progress towards implementation of local plans.

This BSL National Plan (2023-2029) plan represents our ongoing commitment to making Scotland the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work, visit and learn, in line with the principles of the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015. The Scottish Government is committed not only to delivering this six-year plan but also ensuring that continued efforts are made in improving the quality of life for BSL users. Ensuring equal access, opportunity, representation and inclusion are key components of our plan stemming across areas such as education, health, justice and culture. These are areas that the BSL community have told us are important to them.

We know there is more work to do and that is why we have accepted, either in part or fully, 40 out of 44 of the recommendations made in the recent Equalities, Human Rights, and Civil Justice Committee report into BSL, which covered key areas including education, health, justice, and transport. We will consider further 3 recommendations, and we have declined one recommendation as this is not within the remit of the Scottish Government to respond to. That declined recommendation is for the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Services to consider as it relates to specific issues in the civil courts. These recommendations vary in scope and duration, with many being cross-portfolio, so we will continue that work as we head into the next parliamentary session. In addition, we will publish a progress report on the National Plan in November 2026, as per the requirements of the Act.

We continue to work with key partners who represent the Deaf and Deafblind communities in Scotland as part of the Implementation Advisory Group and are grateful for their provision of lived experience and expertise to help strengthen the delivery of the National plan, and our response to the committee recommendations.

Through the Equality and Human Rights Fund, we have provided over £1.7m to support organisations to provide access, advocacy, and support for Deaf and Deafblind people in Scotland.

The following table details the number of urology hubs and one-stop urology clinics located through NHS Scotland.

Barriers in rivers have long been identified as a significant pressure on Scotland’s migratory fish populations, including our wild Atlantic salmon. Improving river connectivity by easing or removing these barriers is a priority action under our Wild Salmon Strategy and River Basin Management Planning (RBMP).

Where barriers are no longer in use, such as weirs from historic industry, the best outcomes for fish populations are often achieved by removing the barrier entirely. However, there are a range of factors to consider when making decisions on options to ease fish barriers, including flood risk, risk of erosion associated with removal, and the heritage and amenity value of historic structures. Where historic structures are adapted to be used for flood risk management or energy generation, they will usually require authorisation from SEPA.

RBMP sets out a programme of measures to remove and ease historic and redundant fish barriers which may be funded through the Water Environment Fund (WEF). With a total investment of over £37 million, WEF over the past 12 years has removed or eased 25 redundant structures, opening over 440km of river to migratory fish. The impact of this is clear, with examples such as the removal of the Bronie Burn Weir in Aberdeenshire, which now allows migratory fish to freely access 22 km of upstream habitat for first time in over 100 years

The Energy Company Obligation is a UK Government scheme. They have advised us that external wall insulation (EWI) was installed in 421 properties in Scotland as part of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) and Great British Insulation (GBIS) schemes. In Scotland a Building Warrant is required before external wall insulation can be installed, this provides additional safeguards compared with England and Wales.

Where these EWI installs have subsequently been audited by the UK Government, they have not reported any serious faults (e.g. health and safety risks due to poor ventilation). They reported non-compliance with scheme requirements as being 34% of the audited EWI cases in Scotland.

We anticipate that a small number of Scottish homes may have been affected by poor quality installation of external wall insulation with ECO4 and GBIS finance. We have requested that the UK Government provides further information about these cases to relevant local authorities and the Scottish Government.

The UK Government report that internal wall insulation (IWI) was installed in around 6,100 properties in Scotland as part of these schemes. This work does not normally require a Building Warrant but local authority consents may be required in some cases. The UK Government has advised us about 410 properties with IWI that were referred for auditing (i.e. this includes cases where a concern had already been raised). Non-compliance was reported in 31% of audited IWI cases. The UK Government reports that serious problems were identified in 12 properties and that all of these were successfully remediated.

The number of Scottish properties affected by poor quality or faulty installation of internal wall insulation is likely to be higher. However it seems likely that these issues have affected a minority of homes and can be successfully remediated in most cases. We have requested that further information about these properties continues to be provided to relevant local authorities and the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has not made an estimate of the number of jobs that could be created by a ferry service between Rosyth and Dunkirk. This is a commercial consideration for the prospective ferry operator and port authority.

Any new ferry service will be required to comply with UK employment laws, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023. Until such time as employment law is devolved, we will continue to do whatever we can with the levers we have to promote trade union recognition and collective bargaining, at both local and sectoral levels, to achieve improved conditions and enhance effective voice.

The Scottish Government has not made its own assessment of the total future electricity demand resulting from expected AI and data centre developments in Scotland.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognised in its 2025 Future Energy Scenarios, that up to a fifth of Great Britain’s future data centre demand could be based in Scotland.

While the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) for Great Britain is still under development, NESO recognises that engaging with local stakeholders, including Scottish Local Authorities, is critical to the success of the plan. The Scottish Government is aware of NESO’s engagement with COSLA, and you may wish to contact NESO directly at box.SSEP@neso.energy for any further detail.

Following publication of the SSEP, it is anticipated that NESO’s Regional Energy Strategic Plan (RESP) for Scotland will provide further insight into the forecast future electricity demand from data centres.

The Scottish Government has not had recent discussions with the UK Government regarding seafarers’ employment rights on the prospective Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry service.

The UK Government Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and includes provisions to create a statutory framework for a mandatory seafarers charter and builds on the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 to extend protections beyond pay to include other employment rights. Transport Scotland officials liaised with their UK Government counterparts on this legislation.

The Scottish Government welcomed the additional proposals which aim to strengthen the Seafarers Wage Act by applying new duties in respect of remuneration and safe working.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions regarding the Fair Work Convention in relation to the crewing of vessels on the prospective Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry service. As employment law is reserved, any new ferry service will be required to comply with UK employment laws, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023.