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Regarding the First Minister’s role in the transfer of ministerial responsibility for determining energy consents, I refer the member to the answer to S6W-43259 on 3 February 2026.

No legal advice was sought because, as stated in the answer to S6W-42965 on 21 January 2026, the allocation of ministerial portfolios and responsibilities is a matter for the First Minister.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The provision of weapon surrender bins is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Information on how many weapon surrender bins have been funded by Police Scotland is not held centrally. The member may wish to contact the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to ask for information in relation to Police Scotland.

In 2022, the Scottish Government operated with Police Scotland a specific surrender and compensation scheme. This related to criminalisation of certain weapons in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 which previously were legal to own. A surrender and compensation scheme was operated to allow legal owners of relevant weapons to hand them in and, if wanted, claim compensation prior to the new law taking effect. Weapon surrender bins were used for this scheme with the Scottish Government providing £2,600 to Police Scotland for bins to be purchased. It was an operational matter for Police Scotland where these bins were located with this information not being held centrally.

As set out within our NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan, we are committed to improving patient flow throughout the system, reducing delays for admission to and discharge from acute settings and bring down length of stay for patients. This is being done through, for example, optimising alternatives to hospital admission, ensuring discharge planning takes place from the point of admission, reducing delays to inpatient investigations and developing remote investigation services. The development and expansion of Hospital at Home and front door frailty services are playing a central role in supporting this shift in the balance of care and reduce hospital occupancy.

The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to provide high-quality, safe and effective person-centred care and support for all people, including those with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). Support is often provided in primary care, with specialist referral where clinically appropriate.

Boards are responsible for ensuring timely and equitable access to assessment and care, including through remote consultations and cross-Board referral pathways where these provide the most effective route to specialist input.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise (SE) and as such I have asked Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of SE to write to you with a full response.

The Parole Board for Scotland are responsible for directing the release of an individual subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) and for setting licence conditions. They will only direct release when they are satisfied that imprisonment is no longer necessary for public protection. An individual subject to an OLR in the community will have a Risk Management Plan approved by the Risk Management Authority for the rest of their life.

Decisions on Budget are made in the context of the prevailing economic conditions and government priorities. We have had to consider how best to target support within limited finances but also acknowledge that it is no longer possible to directly compare tax rates between Scotland, England and Wales due to differences in the tone dates used to derive Rateable Values. The move to three yearly revaluations and a one-year tone date was also a recommendation of the Barclay Review and was warmly welcomed by the business community and all parties in the Scottish Parliament.

The implication of that recommendation is that the tone date in England and Wales of 1 April 2022 will less accurately reflect up-to-date market and business conditions than the 1 April 2023 tone date adopted in Scotland. Different tone dates and by extension different impacts on Rateable Value growth, merit different decisions on tax rates and do not necessarily translate to higher liabilities.

By way of example, shops are expected to see an increase in total rateable value of 6% in Scotland and 10% in England. Hotels’ total rateable value is expected to rise by 28% in Scotland but 79% in England, while for pubs this is 15% in Scotland but 30% in England. For restaurants the overall increase is expected to be 8% in Scotland while the total rateable value increase of restaurants and cafes in England is expected to be 15%. The policies set out in the Scottish Budget reflect the impact of the revaluation in Scotland, not the revaluation in England.

Table 1 presents the estimated net cost of setting the Higher Property Rate at:

?43.0p for properties in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors with rateable values of £500,000 and lower,

?48.0p for other properties with rateable values of £500,000 and lower,

?50.8p for all properties with rateable values over £500,000,

compared to the Higher Property rate of 54.8p as proposed in the Budget.

These are estimates of the net revenue impact, after all reliefs including the Revaluation Transitional Relief are applied.

This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

Table 1: Cost of setting the Higher Property Rate to the same rates as England, by property class

The Scottish Government is clear that any care out with standard care areas should be avoided where possible and if required, all actions to mitigate the risks of this should be undertaken, and the length of time in which patients are in these areas should be as short as possible.

We accept that caring for patients in non-standard patient areas is sub-optimal and we are clear that no patient should be treated in a space not fit for clinical care.

Through our NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan we are investing £220 million to address high hospital occupancy, improve patient flow and improve the acute care experience for patients. Work has been underway over the last year to develop enhanced frailty services through the Healthcare Improvement Scotland - Frailty at the Front door standard. As a result, all NHS Health Boards have a frailty service which includes Multi-Disciplinary teams which support our front doors.

Support has been provided to the Comrie paths project through Transport Scotland and its delivery partner Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans). The sum of £171,788 has been awarded across three separate projects;

Invermilton to Baird’s Monument: £78,038

Baird’s Monument to Crieff: £56,250

Comrie link: £37,500

These projects provide improvements along National Cycle Network Route 775 between Comrie and Crieff, which supports and contributes to the all abilities path corridor.

In addition to this Perth and Kinross Council has received £796,000 funding through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund Tier 1 and £132,313 through the Local Authority Direct Award for Active Travel in 2025-26, both funds allow the Local Authority autonomy to invest in the region.

The large majority of roads in Scotland form part of the local road network, therefore, it is primarily Local Authorities who are responsible for ensuring inclusive access to their network. However, the Scottish Government remains committed to improving accessibility to enable everyone to be able to walk, wheel and cycle. This is both through the funding we provide and a suite of guidance and best practice documentation for those delivering infrastructure.

In April 2025, the Scottish Government published ‘Guidance on Inclusive Design for Town Centres and Busy Streets’, co-produced with disabled people, and other stakeholders, which highlights best practice for co-production and working with disabled people to design inclusive spaces. Most recently, Transport Scotland has also developed Equality Impact Assessment training for Local Authorities, which has been endorsed by the Mobility and Access Committee Scotland.

For the design and construction of new projects on the trunk roads, Transport Scotland produces ‘Cycling by Design’ and the ‘Roads for All’ guidance, which requires the use of inclusive design in the construction, operation and maintenance of road infrastructure and aims to create environments which can be used by everyone regardless of age or disability. Transport Scotland has also sought to highlight best practice and provide practical advice in addition to the requirement to undertake Equality Impact Assessments.