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The development and delivery of flood protection schemes is a local authority responsibility. As such, the business case for Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme (GFPS) was prepared by Falkirk Council. This included an economic assessment of the costs and benefits of their proposed scheme.

SEPA carried out a prioritisation process for all the flood protection schemes put forward in the 2015 Flood Risk Management Plans. This prioritisation was largely based on the cost benefit ratios supplied by the relevant local authorities.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS seeks to be as open and transparent as possible, while also upholding our statutory obligation to protect the personal information of those in our care.

This information requested is not information held by the Scottish Prison Service.

The next steps in the process for the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme are to be undertaken by the local authority.

Should Falkirk Council confirm the scheme in its current form and wish to access further Scottish Government funding, it will be necessary to demonstrate that the scheme, in whole or phased elements, is value for money, and assessed against other flood protection schemes across Scotland.

The Scottish Government expects all Boards, to comply with the legislative requirements, and in their role as employers to meet the standards set out in the national workforce policies. All guidance regarding patient health, health care delivery and workforce policies and updates, are communicated to key stakeholders in Boards for dissemination.

These are all published publicly on the NHS Scotland Publications website.

The Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme (GFPS) as proposed by the council, is exceptional in terms of scale and financial cost and requires careful consideration to ensure that it delivers for the local community.

The Scottish Government must weigh up any investment decision both in terms of the impact to the individual project, but also to the impact any individual project has on its ability to invest in other areas. As such, in 2023, Ministers and Falkirk Council agreed that the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme would be removed from consideration as part of the existing national funding agreement with local authorities for flood protection schemes because its size had a distorting effect on the affordability of the overall programme.

A Task Force approach has instead been used to examine how to take forward improved and affordable flood resilience for Falkirk and Grangemouth residents and local communities.

The maintenance of the valuation roll, including the collection of evidence, valuation of properties, and decisions on the removal of properties, are the responsibility of the independent Scottish Assessors, in accordance with the legislative framework established by the Scottish Government.

Table 1 shows the number of self-catering properties removed from the non-domestic rates valuation roll since 2020-2021, by the financial year from which the decision was made effective. The Scottish Government does not have information relating to how many operators were the ratepayers for these subjects.

Decisions to remove a property from the valuation roll are generally retrospective, and the financial year from which a property is retrospectively removed from the valuation roll may precede the year in which this decision is made.

This table may also include some properties which were later reinstated to the valuation roll, and may count them more than once, for example if a property was removed, re-added, and removed again.

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Table 1: Self-catering properties removed from the valuation roll, by year for which the deletion was effective

No meetings were held with organisations or stakeholders to discuss the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers prior to the Supreme Court judgment as it is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on live legal proceedings. Following the Supreme Court ruling on 16th April, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice met with key LGBTQI+ Equality stakeholders on 17th April to discuss the judgment and understand how the Scottish Government can support the LGBTQI+ community. The Scottish Government remains committed to advancing equality for LGBTQI+ people and will regularly meet with LGBTQI+ Equality organisations to ensure we continue to promote, protect and realise the rights of every LGBTQI+ person in Scotland.

As set out in the answer to S6W-37296 on 13 May 2025, given the legitimate concerns from the local community a decision on the licence application was unable to be made ahead of the beaver kit dependency period.

This period offered an opportunity for further engagement to be undertaken to fully explore these concerns. NatureScot will publicise their decision on the licence once it has been determined.

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 has published a range of fire safety guidance applicable to a wide range of premises types, including existing high rise domestic and existing non-residential buildings. Given the complex nature of individual buildings of a height over 60m, specialist fire safety advice should be sought by the duty holder/s if required, including a robust fire risk assessment carried out by a competent assessor who will focus on the nature, use and specific circumstances pertaining to that particular building, as this will vary from one premises to another.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Management of Transgender People in Custody Policy 2023 is in place for managing transgender people in prisons who may need access to additional property to assist them to live in their affirmed gender.

The procurement of these items is subject to the same level of assurance and approval processes as it is for all items requested by individuals living in prisons.