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The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to a public health, evidence-based approach to drug harms as outlined in our Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan published on 10 March. We recognise substance use as a complex health and social issue often driven by trauma, poverty, inequality and marginalisation. The Strategic Plan sets out how we will strengthen prevention, harm reduction, and treatment and care measures to promote wellbeing and support recovery.

However, many internationally recognised, evidence-based harm reduction interventions for drugs remain prohibited under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We will continue to work with the UK Government and other devolved administrations to pursue further harm reduction measures to support a public health approach.

The Strategic Plan is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/preventing-harm-promoting-recovery-scotlands-alcohol-drugs-strategic-plan-2026-2035/.

The Scottish Government allocated £4 million in 2024-25 to support road authorities in the development and implementation of 20 mph speed limits on appropriate roads. A further £10 million was available in the current financial year, reflecting the Government’s ongoing commitment to the rollout of 20 mph speed limits on roads where it is appropriate to do so.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a moratorium on data centres.

The environmental implications of all developments which require planning permission are considered through the planning process, and all proposed developments are considered on their own merits. In cases where a proposal is likely to have a significant environmental effect, these powers are further supplemented by the procedures set out in environmental impact assessment legislation. National Planning Framework 4 makes clear that significant weight will be given to the global climate and nature crises when considering all development proposals. We continue to review emerging evidence on energy use, resource implications and good practice in the operation of data centres.

The National Planning Hub has 2 dedicated Scottish Government staff – a Head of the National Planning Hub (Grade 6) and Programme Manager (Grade 7), based within Planning and Development Delivery Division. This is complemented by 2.5 posts within the Improvement Service which are funded by Scottish Government, with a team led by the National Planning Improvement Champion, a Planning and Capacity Lead, and a Planning Officer.

In 2025-26 the Planning Hub budget was £1.35m, this figure includes the costs for the Improvement Service staff and programme delivery, and the additional resources provided to planning authorities. The Planning Hub also draws on the wider capacity across Government, including the Planning Housing team that lead work on brokerage for stalled housing sites.

Decisions related to any programme activity in 2026-27 and beyond will be the prerogative of the new government, post the Scottish Parliament election. Initial funding for 2026-27 has had approval to maintain current operational delivery.

Further detail on the activities of the Hub can be seen at https://www.planninghub.scot/.

Wildlife Crime is unacceptable and the Scottish Government has taken numerous actions to tackle wildlife crime in recent years. This includes increasing the penalties for the most serious offences and increasing powers for Scottish SPCA inspectors under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Acy 2024 to search for, examine, and seize evidence of relevant offences whilst on non-domestic property when attending that property under their existing powers.

We are supporting Police Scotland by continuing to fund the full time Scottish Wildlife Crime Investigative Support Officer role within the National Wildlife Crime Unit for 2026-27. This is a crucial role that supports law enforcement investigations across Scotland. The Investigative Support Officer provides Police Officers with specialist advice and guidance as well as hands on practical support with investigations and searches.

Ultimately, prosecutorial decision-making in individual cases is a matter for the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service, who are operationally independent of the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government announced its intention to launch ScotZEB on 17 November 2025 with the scheme opening to bids on 5 December 2025. Officials met with interested stakeholders on request, and responded to all queries regarding eligibility, scheme guidance and technical requirements, both directly and through the scheme administrator, the Energy Saving Trust. The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) was also notified at the point of scheme launch.

ScotZEB3 is a capital grant subsidy scheme rather than a procurement exercise. As such, the Procurement Act 2023 does not apply. The Scottish Government does not directly procure buses; vehicle procurement is carried out by bus operators.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Transport Scotland, which is responsible for taking forward the M8 Woodside Viaducts Permanent Solution project. Work is in progress to develop the Strategic Outline Case for the project, including consideration of a range of alternative approaches that are currently the subject of a public consultation which runs to 25 March. Feedback from that consultation will be considered alongside other factors to determine the preferred approach for the project, which will balance issues such as engineering, environmental, economic, health and safety and social value considerations. Transport Scotland will discuss the emerging findings from this assessment with the Scottish Government when this work is sufficiently advanced.

The only site in Scotland that is used for decommissioning and storing nuclear submarines is the Royal Rosyth Dockyard in Fife. The Scottish Government’s position is that this activity must be undertaken under the strict oversight of the relevant independent regulators, including SEPA, to ensure that Scotland’s people and our environment are protected.

The Scottish Government is aware of the potential impacts that Heavy Goods Vehicles are having on key routes in the South West, including on various communities such as Girvan.