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The Scottish Government has not set any targets for number of play parks to be renewed by each local authority with their allocated funding but have agreed a set principles with COSLA in 2021 which should be used by the Local Authorities in line with local needs and priorities and informed by the views of the local communities.

Under the General Medical Services contract GP practices are responsible for providing the services required for the management of their registered patients and temporary residents who are, or believe themselves to be ill, with conditions from which recovery is generally expected, terminally ill, or suffering from chronic disease. This can include taking bloods as necessary.

GP practices’ contracts must include terms which require the Health Board to provide the contractor with support by providing community treatment and care services which include phlebotomy.

GP practices may also contract with their Health Boards to collect blood samples to support the secondary care management of chronic conditions. These would be considered enhanced services which are additional to the GP contract and cannot be required.

Businesses providing forestry operations services (contractors), and standing sales timber buyers (merchants), and for the research licence, research institutes and universities.

The Scottish Government committed in July 2024 to provide £2 million of support for the National Gas Transmission SCO2T Connect project feasibility study, which successfully concluded in March 2025. The conclusions are commercially sensitive and will not be published.

Forestry and Land Scotland currently holds three species licences. The details of which are as follows:

The only current operations by external organisations are standing sale harvesting operations, conducted under the FLS Red Squirrel license with the prior permission of FLS. There is a total of twenty-three sites across the landholding.

Scottish Government does not centrally collect this information for its own construction contracts or for those awarded by other Scottish public bodies.

Any changes, including transferring the licence or modifying its scope, must be agreed upon in writing with NatureScot.

The current years red squirrel licence granted to Forestry and Land Scotland contains a condition (i.e. four) stating that, this licence can only be used by agents if prior permission has been granted by a FLS Decision Maker.

The current beaver licence states in condition seven that, the licence holder may permit agents or assistants to work under the terms of this licence.

The research licence states in condition two that, this licence only covers work carried out for FLS, by FLS employees and registered volunteers.

The Scottish Government has not conducted a formal assessment of the economic and cultural impacts disaggregated to the sub-level of grassroots music venues.

However in August 2024 the Scottish Government Industry Statistics Database estimated the overall Creative Industries sector GVA in 2022 (including digital) as £5,724 million.

Considering cultural attendance at a general level, the latest data from the 2023 Scottish Household Survey shows us that cultural attendance in Scotland is high and has increased since 2022. Attendance at a live music event (at 36 per cent) was the second most common type of event for adults to attend. Within that, attendance at live music events (in venues of all sizes across Scotland) was over four in ten for 16 to 24 year olds (46 per cent), compared with 11 per cent of those aged 75 or over.

As with other sectors in Scotland’s Creative Industries, the Scottish Government also pays careful attention to external, illustrative research undertaken by partners and stakeholders, such as the April 2025 report from the Music Venues Trust.

We are working closely with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society as well as the wider fringe ecosystem on areas such as rising costs for artists and venues. This is reflected in Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society receiving £300,000 from the Scottish Government in 2025-26 to help grow the significant benefits the Fringe delivers for Scotland’s economy, society and culture sector and to help safeguard the future of the Edinburgh Fringe as a world leading cultural asset, built on the principle of free access for all.

This funding is being provided to underpin Society’s data and digital infrastructure to make it more accessible for artists, audiences and venues as well as exploring how we can collectively support Scottish artists and the sector capitalise on international opportunities developed at the Fringe.

Alongside this we are working with the Fringe and other festivals through a Strategic Partnership focused on driving and delivering progress on the key barriers to, and enablers of, future success to make Scotland’s arts festivals even more sustainable.