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National security and counter-terrorism, including Prevent, is reserved to the UK Government but is delivered in Scotland by devolved partners such as Education, Police, Local Authorities, Prisons and Health. The Scottish Government works closely with the Home Office and key delivery partners to ensure proportionate responses to a broad spectrum of threat. There are variations over time in the number of referrals to Prevent and the number of cases adopted to the programme. This is likely due to a combination of factors including improved training of frontline staff, increasing public awareness of terrorism, related events or high-profile incidents.

Prevent is focussed on early intervention to address all forms of ideology and does not target any one community, group, or individual. The Scottish Government’s work is centred on supporting partners, increasing awareness and improving access to training for professionals to tackle ideological causes. Our wider work to support resilient and safe communities in Scotland helps to stop people from becoming alienated or isolated, reduces susceptibility to radicalisation, and increases resilience to the narratives used to divide us.

Legitimate use of Controlled Drugs is enabled through scheduling under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, which regulates their availability according to their medicinal value and perceived risk of misuse. Controlled Drugs are placed in one of five schedules, where Schedule 1 has the greatest restrictions on activities and Schedule 5 the fewest. Psilocybin is classed as a Schedule 1 drug. All research in the UK involving Schedule 1 Controlled Drugs requires a Home Office domestic licence.

In this instance study recruitment closed in August 2025, before NHS Lothian's Home Office licence was granted.

The Scottish Government has not consulted the National Mission Clinical Advisory Group (NMCAG) regarding the potential impact of the reclassification of psilocybin on the treatment of people in Scotland with substance abuse disorders. The NMCAG is not a Scientific Advisory Group, it is a consensus seeking Clinical Advisory Group.

The Scottish Government has not proposed a 'Heroes of Net Zero' campaign, has not done so in the past and is not aware of any proposals to do so in the future. Therefore, we cannot provide a response to points (a), (b) and (c). It is worth noting that the Scottish Government publishes its marketing spend annually on gov.scot - Marketing spend - gov.scot.

Table 1 shows the estimated net non-domestic rates income from shooting rights, from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025, broken down by council area. These are based on snapshot data of relief awards from June or July in each year, and on valuation data from 1 October in each year. Estimates for 2025-2026 will be available later in the year.

The figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Where the figure is greater than £0, but rounds to £0, the value is marked as “[low]”. The totals may not sum due to rounding.

Table 2 shows the amounts awarded by the Scottish Land Fund committee to community groups for land purchase from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025. This includes all awards for the purchase of land and/or buildings.

Table 1: Estimated net NDR income (£) from shooting rights, 2020-2021 to 2024-2025

The cost incurred to date in relation to the planned National Treatment Centre in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside is as follows.

The Care Inspectorate takes account of any national policy change, where it is appropriate to do so, when carrying out its regulatory and inspection function. The forthcoming expansion of the Armed Forces Covenant would therefore be considered if it required an expansion of early learning and childcare.

Scottish Ministers are highly supportive of the aims of the Armed Forces Covenant and the commitment of organisations across Scotland to build enhanced support for the Armed Forces community and foster better integration between the community and the Armed Forces.

Officials have been in contact with MOD on the extension of the Covenant Duty and look forward to receiving more detail from UK Ministers and considering further in due course.

As part of the expansion of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to 1140 hours, local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there is a funded place available for all eligible children in their area.

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities are responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of children in ELC settings, which includes children from Armed Forces families.

In line with the National Standard for Early Learning and Childcare Providers we expect local authorities and settings to work together to support to support all children, including those with additional support needs, to access their funded ELC entitlement.

This new pilot scheme is a unique chance for communities to take ownership of renewable energy projects which need upgrading and to extend their operational life, bringing long-term benefits to the local area.

The Community Asset Transfer Scheme (CATS) is well-established, utilising an existing legislative framework that provides consistency of approach, a structured time bound route, and a defined appeals mechanism, if required.

Community bodies applying through FLS’ CAT Scheme will not be subject to a competitive tender. However, communities will still be required to pay rent, just as any business or community body would need to if operating a commercial wind farm on public land. FLS is responsible for undertaking due diligence and evaluation of the community proposal before agreeing a long-term lease of public land and a commercial rent.

FLS will engage with communities at an early stage on the criteria and options available to them, and signpost them to support available from the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) managed by Local Energy Scotland. Further information on the CATS notification, evaluation and decision process for repowering will be available by Spring 2026, before the first sites are notified.

Priority status alone did not guarantee funding; investments also had to demonstrate strong alignment with scheme objectives and deliver measurable outcomes. Variation in the accuracy and completeness of applications was also a significant factor in the outcomes.

Many island based applicants applied for standard items of agricultural equipment, mainly for general livestock management, which, while not deemed ineligible, when assessed against other capital investments did not demonstrate strong delivery against the scheme’s objectives. Examples included cattle clippers, sheep shearing machines, footbaths, water troughs, creep feeders, self-locking feed barriers, and feed storage bins.

Although these items are useful for routine livestock management, they were assessed as providing limited measurable benefit in terms of improving environmental performance, resource efficiency, or climate outcomes. For smaller businesses, these capital investments can represent meaningful improvements, however within a competitive assessment framework they did not score as highly as proposals that delivered more substantial benefits in line with the schemes purpose and objectives. This does however provide us with useful information about the kind of capital items that small and island based businesses need support with, and this information will be used to help inform how we develop future schemes moving forward.

This government has a strong record of delivering a range of support schemes to our island based farming and crofting businesses. From 2015 to August 2025, over £33.1 m in Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme funding has been committed, helping over 5,200 crofters with their businesses. Since January 2007, the Scottish Government has approved Croft House Grant payments of almost £26 million helping to build and improve over 1,160 croft homes. The Scottish Government also provides support through the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme and Basic Payment Scheme – demonstrating our commitment to continuing support and investment for the sector, all in stark contrast to support policy in other parts of the UK.

The regulation for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is currently reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As a result, the Scottish Government has not assessed any lessons learned regarding the Australian Government’s approval in 2023 for psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder, and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression.