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The Independent Review of Scotland’s Legislative Framework for Children’s Care will undertake a comprehensive, independent review of Scotland’s legislative framework affecting children, young people, families and the children’s care system, and to provide Scottish Ministers with clear, evidence-based and practical recommendations with the aim of simplifying legislation for practitioners and those working with, and supporting, children and families.

The remit will be finalised in the coming weeks however it is expected to take account of:

• challenges around access to justice and effective participation;

• the need for clarity about rights, responsibilities and routes to help;

• evidence of tensions, contradictions or misalignment across statutes and policy frameworks; and

• the benefits for children’s rights of re-enacting specific provisions relating to the care system in Scotland that are currently contained in UK Acts.

Immigration legislation and policy is a reserved matter, and won’t specifically fall within the scope of the review. However unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are entitled to support within the care system, and the review will consider relevant Scottish legislation such as the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 - which applies in relation to the care, protection and support of children and young people in Scotland, including unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of timely consenting decisions in delivering transmission infrastructure for Scotland’s net zero ambitions. Working in partnership with industry and communities, we remain committed to our ambition to achieve a 52-week determination process to deliver Scotland’s energy transition.

Since 2023 the Scottish Government has been working with the UK Government on its Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which finally received Royal Assent in December. Included in the Act are provisions that minimise the risk of delays in the consenting process, including replacing judicial reviews with statutory appeals and removing the automatic public inquiry while retaining it as an option, both of which take effect from 18 February.

The Act granted other regulation-making powers to the Scottish Government, including the ability to set requirements for pre-application consultation and engagement of communities and to create a formal acceptance stage where we assess compliance before accepting applications. These powers are intended to further improve the efficiency of application processing, and we intend to consult on them later this year.

The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 grants schools the authority to obtain, without a prescription, spare adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices to use in emergency situations if they wish.

Whilst these Regulations do not compel schools to hold spare AAI devices for use in emergency situations, our guidance on supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools states there are many benefits of doing so. Primarily because the presence of these devices could potentially save the life of the child or young person since the effects of reactions can take hold very quickly, particularly so in the case of reactions to insect stings.

If a pupil has not been diagnosed with, or experienced, an allergic reaction before the school should call the emergency services immediately on 999 to seek further advice on whether it would be appropriate to administer adrenaline from an AAI device.

Childminders are a vital part of our childcare sector providing nurturing, flexible, high-quality care which is why we continued our support in 2025-26 with a further £1.6m funding for the Scottish Childminding Association to continue delivering a national programme of recruitment and retention.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners across the childcare sector to understand concerns from childminders and other childcare providers so that these issues can be factored into ongoing policy development.

In Scotland Under The Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016 all owners are legally obligated to ensure their dog’s microchip details are recorded on a compliant database, and to keep their dog’s microchip details up to date.

Any owner who has not microchipped their dog in accordance with the 2016 Regulations could face a fine of up to £500.

Under the 2016 Regulations all dogs in Scotland must be microchipped and the details recorded on a compliant database, regardless of breed. If a dog is not microchipped or that chip is registered with a non-compliant database the owner could be fined up to £500.

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

Officials have been engaging with the relevant authorities to gain a better understanding of the processes by which local Good Food Nation Plans would be produced in local authorities and health boards. This includes are search project that will help inform how we can most effectively support them in fulfilling their legislative duties under the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, ensuring that limited resources are used to maximum effect in supporting plan development across Scotland.

The importance of Loch Rannoch as a site for Arctic charr sympatric divergence is well documented. Loch Rannoch is included within the boundary of the River Tay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and as such it receives the highest level of environmental protection possible. In addition to the statutory protection afforded to the site through its SAC status, the freshwater habitat is also protected through River Basin Management Planning. It also receives wider protection against the threat of invasive species through the regulation of fish movements (through the Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003) and the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)).

Investigations have been undertaken to determine the fish species present in Lochs Rannoch, Monaghan and Finnart. SEPA have received the results of environmental DNA samples and have begun exploring the feasibility of potential management responses with NatureScot regarding the presence of non-native fish in Lochs Monaghan and Finnart. SEPA staff have also been on-site to examine the hydrological connectivity between the lochs, to inform these discussions.