Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is proud of the positive impacts of these three pieces of legislation.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced the community right to buy and the crofting right to buy. There have been over 275 applications under the various rights (including those introduced in 2015 and 2018). It also created a legal framework for the right to responsible access for land.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 built upon this success by establishing the Scottish Land Commission, ensuring we now have a permanent public body providing independent research and analysis and supporting Land Reform objectives. It also put the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement on a statutory footing, supported transparency of land ownership through the creation of the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land and promoted community engagement.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 created new rights for community bodies and placed new duties on public authorities contributing to significant progress in supporting the empowerment of communities across Scotland. The Act has also encouraged greater numbers of public service providers to engage with their communities on a range of matters to help improve local service delivery. In relation to Asset Transfer in the Act, it is the first of its kind in the UK and around 500 asset transfer requests have been made since 2017. Community organisations have taken ownership or lease of forests, parks, woodlands, sports and recreational facilities and community hubs.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a variety of work related to this legislation. The Scottish Government regularly commissions research including ongoing work through the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Strategic Research Programme:

• Scotland’s Land Reform Futures | SEFARI
• Land Reform Land Reform in Scotland Insights

The Scottish Government has commissioned research on the impact of diversity of land ownership:

• Attitudes to land reform: research - gov.scot
• The impact of diversity of ownership scale on social, economic and environmental outcomes: Exploration and case studies - March 2016

Each of the three pieces of legislation in the question cover numerous different policy issues. Different parts have been reviewed through different work programmes over time, across various research projects, reports, and evidence reviews, in particular:

(a) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 contains four policy parts, introducing legal powers aimed at improving public access and enabling community land ownership.

As part of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, specifically part 1, there was a review of the whole Act by the Land Reform Review Group published in 2014 - The land of Scotland and the common good: report - gov.scot.

In 2012 - Overview of Evidence on Land Reform in Scotland - gov.scot provided an overview of the evidence available on the implementation and progress of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The Scottish Government is also currently undertaking a review of Community Right to Buy due to complete by the end of 2025.

(b) The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 Act has 11 policy parts. On 31 March 2025, the Scottish Government published the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015: update and findings report which provides in-depth reviews of Part 3: Participation Requests and Part 5: Asset Transfer, an assessment of the implementation of Part 2: Community Planning and an update on all the other parts of the Act.

(c) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 contains 12 policy parts, introducing different legal powers and responsibilities.

The Scottish Land Commission provides evidence-based advice to inform land policy in Scotland. They provide independent oversight and strategic advice on matters relating to land in Scotland, and the Land Commissioners’ functions includes reviewing the impact and effectiveness of laws and policies and recommending changes. More information about their work can be found on their website.

(d) In reference to concentrated land ownership, please see my response S6W-40547.

Improving access to primary care is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the vital role that GPs, community nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other members of the primary care team play as the foundation of healthcare in our communities.

We are committed to strengthening the whole primary care system, building on our ongoing commitment through the Service Renewal Framework to shift more care into community settings and make services more accessible for patients.

As part of this, we will develop options for new and innovative ways to improve access to primary care, including local walk-in models which will provide more flexibility for patients. It is our intention to develop proposals for a model would see these services open Monday-Sunday. We will develop these proposals first as a pilot model which will complement current core general practice and provide a range of same-day assessment and small-scale diagnostics. To do this we will work in collaboration with NHS Boards and primary care delivery partners to ensure they strengthen, rather than duplicate, existing primary care services.

The Scottish Government will set out further details as these plans develop.

The UK Government’s hostile and restrictive migration policies are damaging Scotland’s health and social care sector.

In Scotland we need a migration system that works for our NHS, our social care sector, our businesses and third sector. Until we have the full powers over migration that will come with independence, we will do all we can within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament to mitigate the UK Government’s harmful approach to migration.

I am therefore pleased to confirm today that the Scottish Government will create a bespoke offering to help social care workers who have been displaced to come to Scotland and contribute to our care sector.

We will provide £500,000 to mitigate the devastating impact of the UK Government’s closure of the care worker visa route and provide targeted support to help displaced social care workers.

This will support international social care workers already in the UK who have lost their social care jobs as a result of their employer losing their visa sponsor licence, to come to Scotland and contribute their valuable skills to our social care sector. It is our intention for this work to begin immediately so that social care workers can settle into new jobs before Christmas.

The impact that the Highlands and Islands Development Board (HIDB), the precursor to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), cannot be overstated. HIE has an excellent timeline on their website: 50 Years of Highlands and Islands Enterprise which highlights the history and key stories as it evolved into the agency we see today and is being updated to mark its 60th anniversary this year.

At the outset, in the face of chronic population decline, sparse economic activity and high unemployment, HIDB was set up to assist the people of the Highlands and Islands to improve the economic and social conditions in the region. Over the past 60 years, the GVA gap between the region and Scotland, has narrowed considerably. In 1965 the region accounted for 2% of Scotland’s total. In 2023 this had risen to 8.5%. Since 1965, population across the region has grown from 381,000 to 470,000, an increase of 23% compared to 6% across Scotland. The very fact that HIE exists today is testament to the success HIDB made in laying the foundations and supporting economic development.

HIE continues that legacy, having never lost sight of its original role, and it is an integral part of the Scottish Government’s economic development landscape, alongside our other economic development agencies, Scottish Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise.

More recently, HIE has supported key projects such as Sumitomo, with its new £350m subsea cable manufacturing plant at Port of Nigg. It continues to deliver the Scottish Land Fund, in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund, on behalf of the whole of Scotland, enabling people to take control of local resources for the long-term benefit of their communities. It’s development officers play a key role in supporting communities with grassroots driven community wealth building. And HIE’s commitment to a place-based approach through its 8 area teams, keeps it grounded and in touch with the needs of businesses and communities across a diverse part of our country.

During 2024-2025 HIE’s support led to a record 15 inward investment projects, securing £81 million in external investment for the region. Its work led to around £24 million in green investment and £28 million in external investment in community group projects and social enterprises. We have continued to protect HIE’s budget as far as possible with an increased opening budget of £56 million, for 2025-2026.

HIE’s Scottish Government sponsor team, finance partners and policy officials are regularly appraised of HIE’s activities and assess performance on an ongoing basis, through its annual reports and accounts, and regular engagement.

I look forward to seeing the work of HIE contributing to the next 60 years and beyond.

I am pleased to see Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and its hard-working staff, leading on marking this significant milestone both internally and through a series of communications. HIE’s Chief Executive Stuart Black, highlighted the approaching anniversary in his recent blog: Celebrating 60 years – shaping the future of the Highlands and Islands | HIE in August.

Ministers have been invited to join an evening reception to celebrate the joint 60 anniversary of HIE and Prosper, in Inverness on 27 November. And the First Minister is delighted to have the opportunity to address HIE staff in early November as the Anniversary arrives, to reflect on the past 60 years and to thank HIE colleagues for their hard work and contribution to economic development across the Highlands and Islands.

During 2024 to 2025, HIE have supported over 600 projects and secured £81 million in external investment in the region. That, alongside £28 million flowing into community projects, and social enterprises, as HIE continues to prove its worth as a key part of our economic development landscape.

The economic potential of the region is massive, as evidenced by the publication of the Regional Transformational Opportunities research | HIE commissioned by HIE. The First Minister and I have both put on record our support for the work that HIE do, and we will continue to advocate strongly for the key contribution HIE, makes to the economy of the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Government works closely with the UK Government’s National Shipbuilding Office to ensure that the Scottish Shipbuilding industry benefits from the national and international opportunities of its Shipbuilding Strategy. There are no current plans to develop a Scottish shipbuilding strategy.

The management of the Police Scotland estate, including the allocation of resources to the police estate, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

We are investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26. This includes £70 million of capital funding for investment in police assets, including the police estate.

Planning for the Scottish Spending Review has begun, and the review will identify opportunities to optimise the use of Scottish Government funding over the longer term. As part of this process, we are working closely with the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to understand their 2026-27 budget requirements.

Part-time learning is a decision which should be taken in agreement with the school and the local authority. It should take into account the circumstances of the individual learner including the existing planning arrangements in place for the child or young person.

We continue to work with all our partners to ensure that all children and young people get the support that they need to reach their full potential.

We are refreshing our national guidance on attendance – Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1 to set a clear expectation that any use of part-time timetables includes a plan to support the young person return to full time education at the earliest appropriate point. We anticipate refreshed guidance will be published in early 2026.

The management of the Police Scotland’s estate, including assessments of the condition of its buildings, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) to discuss housing and homelessness issues and with local authorities on the importance of fulfilling their statutory duties. The Scottish Government’s approach is to work collaboratively with partners to address the acute pressures in housing and homelessness.

In its assessment of systemic failure, the SHR identified three major strategic challenges in providing homelessness services: the significant numbers of people in temporary accommodation; maintaining a sufficient supply of appropriate temporary accommodation; and ensuring access to the number of permanent homes that are needed.

The Scottish Government’s housing emergency action plan published on 2 September sets out a suite of actions to help address the challenges identified by the SHR. The plan commits to up to £4.9 billion over the next four years for the delivery of affordable and social homes. It ensures that £808 million will be available for affordable homes in Scotland this year, which includes £80 million for councils to acquire family homes now to relieve pressure. This fund will help to replenish temporary accommodation stock that has been converted to permanent homes. We are also funding a pilot private sector leasing scheme to reduce the use of unsuitable temporary accommodation, which will support local authorities to comply with their statutory homelessness duties.