- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee 1st Report 2025, Follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland (SP Paper 720), what specific "burden" it considers would arise from implementing the recommendation that all fish mortality data be made public; which Scottish Government directorate, agency or public body would bear that burden; what additional tasks or functions would be required to implement the recommendation; what assessment has been made of the associated costs, resource implications or operational impacts, and what analysis or evidence was used to reach the conclusion that publication of this data would constitute a "burden".
Answer
All mortality data collected by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in relation to Scottish salmon farming is already made public on Scottish Government and Scotland’s Aquaculture websites, resulting in a high level of transparency and more data being available for salmon farming in Scotland in comparison to other farming sectors.
A formal assessment of impacts of data collection has not been undertaken. However, additional data is not required for regulation and its provision would generate data collection, handing and processing by producers at both a site and company level, as well as by the Scottish Government’s Fish Health Inspectorate, and this is disproportionate to the regulatory need.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments it expects will remain to be paid by 31 December 2025.
Answer
Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.
Payments started in November and Social Security Scotland expects the vast majority of payments to be issued by the end of December. Work will continue throughout the rest of the winter to finalise any remaining payments.
As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made. Updated figures will be published in the next management information release on 4 February 2026.
Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 17 December 2025, in which the Cabinet Secretary commented that she had made a "private call" to a person with no officials present, stating that she subsequently made a note of this on the basis that “everything needs to be on the record”, whether it will confirm how many other similar such calls have been made by each minister since May 2021; what the circumstances of each call was, and what subsequent note of the call was recorded by the minister.
Answer
All engagements carried out by Ministers where government business was undertaken are published on Scottish Government website three months in arrears, as is required by the Scottish Ministerial Code and the Scottish Government’s Records Management policy. There is no requirement for the origin of any such information to be collated and there is no mechanism for capturing the detail on the number of calls made by each Minister since May 2021.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government which organisations have received support from the Equality and Human Rights Fund in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) the amount awarded, (b) the duration of the funding and (c) whether the award was (i) a new allocation or (ii) the continuation of an existing funding arrangement.
Answer
The Equality and Human Rights Fund supports projects that work to promote equality and tackling discrimination and prejudice.
The following table, which is available on the gov.scot website, shows which organisations have received support from the Fund in the last five years. It also provides a breakdown of the amounts awarded to each organisation for relevant periods.
Funding to each organisation from October 2022 onwards has been a continuation of the arrangements established at the outset of the Fund.
Organisation | October 2021-September 2022 | October 2022-March 2023 | April 2023-March 2024 | April 2024-March 2025 | April 2025-March 2026 | Total Award |
Age Scotland | £396,404.00 | £201,625.50 | £406,743.50 | £406,743.50 | £406,743.50 | £1,818,260.00 |
Amina – the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre | £207,839.00 | £102,183.50 | £207,019.00 | £207,019.00 | £207,019.00 | £931,079.50 |
BEMIS Scotland | £215,000.00 | £107,500.00 | £215,000.00 | £215,000.00 | £215,000.00 | £967,500.00 |
Boots and Beards | £59,102.00 | £36,968.00 | £75,660.50 | £75,660.50 | £75,660.50 | £323,051.50 |
British Deaf Association | £224,507.00 | £113,964.00 | £230,182.50 | £230,182.50 | £230,182.50 | £1,029,018.50 |
Central Scotland Regional Equality Council | £72,686.00 | £37,114.00 | £75,077.00 | £75,077.00 | £75,077.00 | £335,031.00 |
Civil Rights First | £48,574.00 | £35,917.50 | £70,560.00 | £70,560.00 | £70,560.00 | £296,171.50 |
Close the Gap (SCIO) | £216,307.00 | £114,774.50 | £226,539.50 | £226,539.50 | £226,539.50 | £1,010,700.00 |
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights | £142,599.00 | £71,624.50 | £144,479.50 | £144,479.50 | £144,479.50 | £647,662.00 |
Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations - Scotland | £199,100.00 | £99,550.00 | £199,100.00 | £199,100.00 | £199,100.00 | £895,950.00 |
Deafblind Scotland | £71,391.00 | £36,880.50 | £74,979.00 | £74,979.00 | £74,979.00 | £333,208.50 |
Disability Equality Scotland | £170,357.00 | £81,458.50 | £164,821.00 | £164,821.00 | £164,821.00 | £746,278.50 |
DISABILITY INFORMATION SCOTLAND | £164,525.00 | £83,190.00 | £167,737.50 | £167,737.50 | £167,737.50 | £750,927.50 |
Edinburgh Napier University - Equate Scotland | £311,596.00 | £169,871.50 | £355,626.00 | £355,626.00 | £355,626.00 | £1,548,345.50 |
Elect Her | £105,793.00 | £46,939.50 | £100,047.50 | £100,047.50 | £100,047.50 | £452,875.00 |
Engender | £346,980.00 | £177,623.50 | £359,806.50 | £359,806.50 | £359,806.50 | £1,604,023.00 |
Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) | £51,954.00 | £25,805.00 | £52,813.00 | £52,813.00 | £52,813.00 | £236,198.00 |
Equality Network Limited | £503,322.00 | £251,603.50 | £503,265.00 | £503,265.00 | £503,265.00 | £2,264,720.50 |
Ethnic Minorities Law Centre | £195,138.00 | £94,856.50 | £190,713.50 | £190,713.50 | £190,713.50 | £862,135.00 |
FENIKS Counselling, Personal Development & Support Service Ltd | £78,869.00 | £40,179.00 | £81,482.00 | £81,482.00 | £81,482.00 | £363,494.00 |
Generations Working Together | £201,388.00 | £101,887.50 | £206,930.75 | £206,930.75 | £206,930.75 | £924,067.75 |
Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector | £247,709.00 | £121,348.00 | £245,945.00 | £245,945.00 | £245,945.00 | £1,106,892.00 |
Glasgow Disability Alliance | £333,325.00 | £166,667.50 | £333,337.50 | £333,337.50 | £333,337.50 | £1,500,005.00 |
Glasgow Women's Library Ltd | £123,395.00 | £61,747.50 | £125,056.00 | £125,056.00 | £125,056.00 | £560,310.50 |
Grampian Regional Equality Council Ltd. | £28,667.00 | £14,160.00 | £28,445.00 | £28,445.00 | £28,445.00 | £128,162.00 |
Inclusion Scotland | £850,000.00 | £412,500.00 | £825,000.00 | £825,000.00 | £825,000.00 | £3,737,500.00 |
Intercultural Youth Scotland (IYS) | £203,379.20 | £104,985.60 | £216,095.70 | £216,095.70 | £216,095.70 | £956,651.90 |
JustRight Scotland SCIO | £95,567.00 | £48,450.50 | £97,442.00 | £97,442.00 | £97,442.00 | £436,343.50 |
Kairos Women+ | £50,754.00 | £21,520.50 | £46,444.50 | £46,444.50 | £46,444.50 | £211,608.00 |
Leadership Equality and Active Participation (LEAP) in Sports Scotland | £70,043.00 | £35,257.50 | £71,402.50 | £71,402.50 | £71,402.50 | £319,508.00 |
Legal Services Agency Ltd. | £129,748.00 | £66,367.50 | £137,156.50 | £137,156.50 | £137,156.50 | £607,585.00 |
LGBT Healthy Living Centre | £171,053.00 | £93,310.00 | £189,932.00 | £189,932.00 | £189,932.00 | £834,159.00 |
LGBT Youth Scotland | £281,930.00 | £143,982.00 | £290,870.50 | £290,870.50 | £290,870.50 | £1,298,523.50 |
Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project | £148,828.00 | £75,306.50 | £152,409.00 | £152,409.00 | £152,409.00 | £681,361.50 |
Multi-Cultural Family Base | £44,892.00 | £22,719.50 | £45,717.00 | £45,717.00 | £45,717.00 | £204,762.50 |
Neighbourhood Networks in Scotland | £94,461.00 | £46,512.50 | £93,956.50 | £93,956.50 | £93,956.50 | £422,843.00 |
Outside the Box Development Support Ltd | £56,995.00 | £29,422.00 | £59,027.00 | £59,027.00 | £59,027.00 | £263,498.00 |
Romano Lav | £82,583.00 | £38,421.50 | £73,597.50 | £73,597.50 | £73,597.50 | £341,797.00 |
Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Charity | £79,860.00 | £38,565.50 | £78,655.00 | £78,655.00 | £78,655.00 | £354,390.50 |
Scottish Trades Union Congress (Scottish Pensioners' Forum) | £47,819.00 | £23,831.00 | £48,913.00 | £48,913.00 | £48,913.00 | £218,389.00 |
Scottish Women's Budget Group | £72,062.00 | £37,127.00 | £74,383.00 | £74,383.00 | £74,383.00 | £332,338.00 |
Scottish Women's Convention | £196,666.00 | £98,333.00 | £196,667.00 | £196,667.00 | £196,667.00 | £885,000.00 |
STEP | £157,725.00 | £83,772.00 | £171,137.50 | £171,137.50 | £171,137.50 | £754,909.50 |
Stonewall Equality Limited | £103,992.00 | £52,594.00 | £106,505.00 | £106,505.00 | £106,505.00 | £476,101.00 |
The Poverty Alliance | £116,101.00 | £69,862.50 | £133,988.50 | £133,988.50 | £133,988.50 | £587,929.00 |
The Scottish Older People's Assembly | £49,100.00 | £24,550.00 | £49,100.00 | £49,100.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC) | £140,906.00 | £73,440.00 | £147,660.50 | £147,660.50 | £147,660.50 | £657,327.50 |
YWCA Scotland | £107,477.00 | £83,782.00 | £144,652.00 | £144,652.00 | £144,652.00 | £625,215.00 |
Total | | | | £8,292,078.95 | £8,242,978.95 | £36,843,807.15 |
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the organisations that submitted applications to the Equality and Human Rights Fund in each of the last five years but were declined, broken down by (a) any information it can provide regarding the reason for refusal and (b) the assessment criteria or framework used in determining the decision.
Answer
The Fund has not been open to new applications following the original bidding process in 2021 which received 242 applications. The Equality and Human Rights Fund invests in a range of civil society organisations that deliver work focussed on tackling inequality and discrimination, furthering equality, and advancing the realisation of human rights in Scotland. Organisations were awarded funding based on assessment of their applications and how their proposed project would deliver against the intended outcomes i.e.
- People have greater awareness and understanding of their human rights, and how to access them
- People with protected characteristics have increased access to remedy where their rights have not been upheld
- People with protected characteristics have increased participation in public life
- People with protected characteristics have increased influence in decisions that affect them
- The Scottish Government has better access to data and depth of information about the experiences of people with protected characteristics
- Actors in civil society increasingly use Scotland’s domestic and international equality and human rights framework to influence and effect change
- The experience of people with protected characteristics is increasingly used to inform the policy and practice of public bodies
- Public services increasingly embed equality and human rights in their strategic planning and their day-to-day functions
Organisations whose applications were unsuccessful were advised to contact Inspiring Scotland, the Fund Manager, to receive individual feedback on their applications.
- Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that all eligible recipients of the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will receive payments in 2025-26.
Answer
Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.
As of 14 December 2025, over 837,000 payments of our Winter Benefits have been made to help households with heating costs, including more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments. This payment replaces the Department for Work and Pensions’ Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland and is set at a higher rate than the equivalent support elsewhere in the UK.
Payments commenced in November, and we expect the vast majority of payments to be issued by the end of December. Work will continue throughout the rest of the winter to finalise any remaining payments.
Eligible people of State Pension age will receive a payment between £101.70 and £305.10 depending on their circumstances. Most will get their payment automatically–no application is needed.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has carried out to estimate future inflows of immigrants relocating from other parts of the UK because of Scotland’s differing housing policies.
Answer
People relocate for multiple reasons and the Scottish Government does not conduct modelling which distils the complexity to exclusive categories, such as differing housing policies.
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility for assessing current and future housing requirements, which includes consideration of demographic trends including migration.
- Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what the next steps are following the consultation, Enhancing the accessibility, adaptability and usability of Scotland’s homes, and when it expects to update Part 1 of the Housing for Varying Needs design guide.
Answer
We reaffirmed our commitment to deliver change in this area during the passage of the Housing (Scotland) Bill and are giving detailed consideration to the consultation feedback to ensure that we get the fundamentals of this work right.
We recognise that enhancing the accessibility, adaptability and usability of Scotland’s homes is essential to enable people to live well and stay in their homes for as long as they wish and, during Stage 3 of the Bill in the autumn of 2025, we committed to instituting change within two years.
To help ensure that (a) changes to Part 1 of the Housing for Varying Needs design guide and (b) the introduction of an all-tenure Scottish Accessible Homes Standard are meaningful and proportionate, we will work closely with the building sector and other stakeholders as work progresses. Crucially, this will include those with lived experience.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42209 by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025, what action has been taken by Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to mitigate any disruption to the supply chain in the medium to longer term, and whether there has there been any evaluation of lessons learned as a result of the collapse of NRS Healthcare Limited.
Answer
Scottish Government remain engaged with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) following the insolvency of NRS Healthcare, however ultimately decision making around procurement is the responsibility of local services.
Through this engagement we know that HSCPs are taking immediate steps to mitigate any disruption and ensure continuity of service delivery, this includes continuing to work with the equipment providers included in their contractual framework and by entering new contractual arrangements with other suppliers.
The National Equipment and Adaptations Network provides HSCPs with a platform to discuss mitigations and share lessons learned at a national level.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) allocated budget and (b) actual outturn expenditure for the Young Patients Family Fund in each financial year since its introduction.
Answer
The first year of YPFF delivery was from July 2021 and there is complete expenditure data up to March 2025. The fund is demand-led and the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring sufficient funding to NHS Boards to support all valid YPFF claims. Actual spend may differ from profiled spend as demand requirements change over time. Budgets for Young Patients Family Fund are as set out in the following table along with the outturn expenditure for each financial year.
Year | Budget | Expenditure |
2021-22 | £5 million | £1,486,464 |
2022-23 | £4 million | £2,692,814 |
2023-24 | £4 million | £2,923,657 |
2024-25 | £4 million | £3,111,953 |
