Seòmar agus comataidhean

A detailed stakeholder identification and mapping exercise is currently underway as part of NHS Education Scotland’s discovery work into onboarding primary care services into MyCare.scot.

The Scottish Government welcomes Scottish Disability Sport’s (SDS) National Survey and Call to Action. We acknowledge that disabled people are less likely to be active, and we remain committed to working with SDS and wider partners to reduce barriers to participation.

Our national agency for sport, sportscotland, has invested £750,000 into SDS for 2025/26, and is working to create an inclusive sporting system through initiatives such as the Moving to Inclusion Framework, which supports governing bodies of sport to tackle inequalities in participation.

Addressing inequalities in participation of sport and physical activity requires a whole-system approach beyond sport, encompassing transport, education, social security, and health. Our Physical Activity for Health Framework sets out a vision for a more active Scotland across eight strategic areas. Implementation of this Framework will help ensure that physical activity is embedded into everyday life for all.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42711 on 7 January 2025. 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 Scottish Government is continuing to consider the recommendations from the independent review of the AA and PA roles in England, and I await further policy and legal advice before reaching a formal position. As part of my consideration, I will also have a keen interest in any outcome of the judicial review ongoing in England.

I did write to the MAPs Programme Board to commit to using the Leng Review as a framework for future discussions. Given this, and the agreement to a four-nations approach to the work, the views of Scotland are actively being considered through new structures that have been established by the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. This includes Scottish representation on a newly established Clinical Advisory Panel.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Mingyang’s potential investment to the growth and success of the offshore wind sector. The Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Government and Mingyang is a matter of public record.

The UK Government is responsible for national security, the regulation of international trade, elements of critical national infrastructure including energy, and the application of the National Security and Investment Act. The proposed Mingyang investment is subject to a national security decision by the UK Government and we await the outcome of that process.

The Scottish Government undertakes a range of impact assessments when developing or introducing new policy, taking account of other ongoing policy development that may interact with the options being considered. Where relevant, this includes Business and Regulatory Impact Assessments, which consider businesses of all sizes and the cumulative impact of multiple policy changes and their timing.

The Scottish Government report on the 2023 non-domestic rates revaluation was published on 5 July 2023. The report set out the changes in rateable values for different property classes as a result of the 2023 revaluation. A report on the 2026 revaluation will be published once final values are available.

On Short-term lets we continue to work with stakeholders to monitor implementation of the licensing regime. In response to stakeholder feedback we commissioned VisitScotland to launch an expert group to revise short-term let guidance, bringing industry and local authorities together to provide recommend updates to short-term let licencing guidance.

In relation to the visitor levy, impact assessments were carried out to support the original Visitor Levy Bill/Act and we are revising them for the new Bill, but these were on the overall impact of a Visitor Levy. Each Local Authority must assess the impact of its proposed local Visitor Levy’s scheme while it is developing and consulting on it.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made.

A release of Official Statistics on Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will be published on 19 May 2026 which will include payments made each month.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission will publish its latest economic and fiscal forecasts alongside the Scottish Budget on 13 January 2026.

We are providing a package of support that ensures the people of Scotland will receive more help with heating costs this winter, than anywhere else in the UK. Based on the SFC’s forecasts from summer 2025, we are investing around £227 million in winter heating benefits in 2025-26, providing vital assistance to those who need it most during the coldest months of the year, with more than 837,000 payments already made to help households with heating costs this winter.

The Equality and Human Rights Fund supports projects that work to promote equality and tackling discrimination and prejudice. It was originally intended as a three year Fund running from October 2021 to September 2024. The funding periods were amended to align to financial years to enable approvals as part of annual budget considerations.

The Fund Managers, Inspiring Scotland, assess and report on all organisations on a six monthly basis to ensure that projects continue to deliver. Ministers have continued to extend the Equality and Human Rights Fund as its original objectives continue to be relevant.

Decisions on grant funding for 2026-27 will be announced following the passing of the 2026 Budget Bill.

There are no records available to publish.