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Responsibility for maintenance and upkeep of a listed building lies with the owner of the property. Consequently, the removal of VAT on these repairs would be a strong incentive for owners to undertake necessary work.

The Scottish Government will continue to make representations to UK Government requesting the implementation of a VAT reduction in the context of encouraging maintenance and energy efficiency improvements in traditional buildings.

Additionally, through Historic Environment Scotland’s Grants programme, we invest around £13.5 million a year to support building repairs, ancient monuments, archaeological work, and conservation.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates the financial sustainability challenges being faced by many universities due to a range of factors, including inflation, the impact of UK Government immigration policies on international student recruitment, and the increase to employers’ National Insurance Contributions.

I have written to the UK Government several times, most recently on 3 February calling for a resettlement route for refugees from Palestine who choose to leave. I have also called for those with family members in the UK to be supported to join them.

We continue to urge the UK government to use its existing UK Resettlement Scheme, and ensure it is aligned with UNHCR to provide those who want to leave with the support they require. Our New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy supports refugees from the day they arrive.

It is the responsibility of those transporting greyhounds to ensure that they are compliant with both animal welfare and animal transport regulations, including obtaining the appropriate transporter authorisation from the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Where local authorities are made aware of cases of non-compliance with the regulations, they will take appropriate follow-up action.

The statutory grounds for a Fatal Accident Inquiry were carefully considered by Parliament in 2016 following a review of the law conducted by Lord Cullen. There are no plans to look at this aspect of FAI legislation, although the member will be aware than in January I announced a focussed review of FAIs looking specifically at deaths in custody.

The Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) audit was commissioned by Scottish Government in July 2024. Whilst there was an initial delay regarding recruitment, this has now been completed, and progress now continues at pace.

Public Health Scotland are responsible for the delivery of the FLS audit and Scottish Government officials remain close to its development.

In line with all newly commissioned audits, we expect the audit to take several years to create high-quality, standardised data and consistency across NHS Boards in order to drive improvements and support clinical decision making.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-35534 and S6W-35567 on 21 March 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

Whilst all questions about Strategic Investment Model (SIM) proposals should be directed towards the SIM Project Management team in the first instance (simpm@offshorewindscotland.org.uk), the Scottish Government is happy to encourage collaboration between the SIM crew transfer and service operation projects and the analysis being taken forward by Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and others.

The leadership framework provided the Scottish Assembly with significant investment over three years from 2022-23 to 2024-25 totalling £430,000. Funding was provided for a time limited project which has reached its natural conclusion.

The funding was provided to aid with the expansion of the Scottish Assembly and the delivery of the project aims of the leadership and engagement framework. The funding was not recurring and the expectation that the Scottish Assembly would explore alternative funding and income streams to ensure long term sustainability of the organisation was made clear in the terms and conditions of funding.

Legislation does not currently allow for modifications, suspensions or revocations consents when errors in consents are found. Should any issues arise, an applicant must apply for a section 36 consent variation and go through the full variation process, including payment of a fee.

The number of section 36 variation applications consented in the past 5 years are as follows:

2024 – 5

2023 – 5

2022 – 4

2021 – 6

2020 – 1

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35884 on 1 April 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.

Legislation and regulations relating to energy networks are reserved to the UK Government and regulated by Ofgem.