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Scottish Ministers have long argued for a comprehensive Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) deal with the EU, and have therefore welcomed the commitment made at the UK - EU summit of 19 May 2025 that the UK Government and European Commission should work towards establishing a Common SPS Area by way of an SPS Agreement. It is vital that the details of the SPS Agreement to be developed should benefit all parts of the UK and reflect the interests of Scottish producers and consumers.

The UK Government has argued that there are some areas in which it will need to retain its own rules, rather than align with EU regulation. Scottish Government policy is to seek dynamic alignment with the EU where it benefits Scotland to do so – including on gene editing, where neither the EU nor Scotland currently recognise a legal distinction between gene editing and genetic modification, and Scots and EU law remain aligned. We are engaging proactively with the UK Government on the exceptions they are seeking to the SPS agreement which overlap with devolved competencies.

The Scottish Government has one contract with Fujitsu (Case 440206 Electronic Counting for Local Government Elections) to deliver electronic vote counting for Scottish local government elections. The contract commenced October 2020 at a value of £6,345,172 and is currently scheduled to conclude on 16th February 2027. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking an open procurement exercise to re-let this contract.

With regard to future procurement activity, the Scottish Government conducts its procurements in line with Scottish public procurement legislation and Scottish Government policy. All organisations bidding for contracts need to pass the selection criteria detailed in the procurement documents, which will include mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds. Any decision to exclude Fujitsu from participating in Scottish Government tenders will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Where a ground for exclusion applies, a supplier may be able to provide evidence of self-cleansing measures taken to demonstrate their reliability despite the existence of a relevant ground for exclusion, should this evidence prove that the measures taken by the supplier are sufficient then the supplier would not be excluded. These decisions will be made in accordance with regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

At this time, the Scottish Government is not aware of Fujitsu tendering for any Scottish Government contracts.

The Scottish Government has not engaged directly with any UK departments regarding the possibility of the Open Championship being held at Trump Turnberry and it has no future meetings planned.

Although the Scottish Government has a funding relationship with the R&A to support their events in Scotland, all venue decisions are solely at the discretion of the R&A and the Scottish Government is informed of venue selection after the decision has been made. The Scottish Government is not involved in the decision-making process.

VisitScotland provided £180k (£150k + VAT) to the DP World Tour for the Nexo Championship event, for the brand profile opportunity.

The NDA Framework document underwent routine three yearly revision in 2024 and text was updated throughout the document. On pages 36-38 of the updated 2024 Framework Document there is a commitment that the NDA will comply with a range of government guidance, documents and instructions. These set out a number of requirements for openness and transparency to ensure that NDA continues to embody these principles in its operation and engagement with Scottish Government. Information on key risks is included in the NDA Annual Report and Accounts which is provided to Scottish Government as well as being published and laid at the Scottish Parliament every year.

In addition, specific requirements relating to accountability of the NDA to Scottish Ministers for its operations in Scotland as well as provision of relevant information and other specific requirements pertinent to Scottish Government remain in the updated 2024 Framework document.

Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support to people who would otherwise be destitute while waiting for a decision on their asylum application. Asylum accommodation is therefore provided by the UK Government to those who are eligible whilst in the asylum system and is managed under UK Government contracts.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Home Office, Local Authorities and Police Scotland to monitor activities surrounding community cohesion and protest activity. Police Scotland has existing powers to respond to instances of violence and intimidation within communities. There are no plans to introduce additional specific protection measures at asylum accommodation.

Both National Park Authorities publish sections on remuneration and staffing within their Annual Report and Accounts.

For Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority this can be found at: Annual Report & Accounts - Here. Now. All of us. - Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and the Cairngorms National Park Authority reports can be found at: Cairngorms National Park | Search.

The Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS) was launched in 2015 to promote land management practices which protect and enhance Scotland’s natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk and mitigate and adapt to climate change.

AECS has a strong uptake from farmers and crofters in Orkney. Since 2015 there has been 486 approved contracts from 288 businesses, valued at £24.48 million (figures as of August 2025).

This scheme is expected to continue until at least 2026 to deliver elements of Tiers 3 and 4 until new Elective and Complementary Support mechanisms are introduced.

Co-development and co-design with rural partners will be the foundational approach to the development of future support structures and delivery. We will work with farmers and crofters to make sure that our support is informed by their needs and experience. This will include specific consideration of our island farming and crofting systems to ensure funding is relevant and remains accessible to as many as possible. For example, a review of AECS is currently underway with stakeholders such as the National Farmers Union (Scotland) and the Scottish Crofting Federation inputting into this process.

Farmers and crofters can volunteer to help shape the policy and support that affects them by registering their interest here: Agricultural Reform Programme (ARP) - Volunteer to take part in research and design (Page 1 of 11)

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service. We have invested over £51 million to date on expanding access to thrombectomy. While we continue to face significant financial challenges, we are committed to further expanding the service, ensuring access is as equitable as possible.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde operate their service: Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm for patients arriving directly at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm for patients arriving at West of Scotland spoke hospitals.

Whilst the Scottish Government cannot currently provide a timeline for expanding the service, Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

We have provided funding for thrombectomy nurse posts in spoke sites with high rates of ischaemic stroke, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and this will support maximising access to thrombectomy across Scotland

Procurement of a national artificial intelligence imaging tool is underway and, once implemented, this will help delivery of the service by improving detection of patients with strokes suitable for thrombectomy.

The Scottish Government has no plan to commission an independent review of records retention and data gaps that affect the identification of people exposed to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES). This is because there was no central system for recording which medicines were prescribed for individuals available at that time and individual paper medical records from this period are unlikely to be retrievable which would make any such exercise extremely challenging.