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Wildfire, as we saw this summer, is very damaging to our precious peatland carbon stores and the Scottish Government is incredibly grateful to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, gamekeepers, land managers, volunteers, partners, landowners, the extended local community, the wider land management sector and indeed to everyone who played a part in getting these under control.

Scottish Ministers held a wildfires summit on 14 October to consider how we can together to improve our preparedness for wildfires in the future. The increased wildfire risk in Scotland cannot be ignored and muirburn is a tool we cannot afford to lose.

Delaying the muirburn licensing scheme is a difficult but necessary decision to ensure there are no unintended consequences in regards to muirburns role in wildfire mitigation.

The Scottish Government has previously released the following information regarding court fees, counsel's fees and judicial expenses paid in relation to court action in which the Scottish Information Commissioner, as regulator for Freedom of Information law, was the opposing party:

Similar information to that in the above table has previously been published by the Scottish Government on our website and is accessible through the following links:

• Cumulative costs of Scottish Government legal fees from 2020
• External legal fees for Court of Session appeal XA10/23
• Scottish Government legal fees contesting Scottish Information Commissioner

The Scottish Government’s long-term vision, as set out in the Active Travel Framework, is that by 2030 Scotland’s communities will be shaped around people and place, enabling walking, wheeling, and cycling to be the most popular modes of travel for short, everyday journeys.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the aims of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 which includes introducing a licensing scheme and associated training requirements for muirburn so that it can be undertaken in an environmentally sustainable manner.

We are hopeful that the delay to the implementation of the licensing scheme until Autumn 2026 will provide us with the time and opportunity to carefully consider the upcoming changes to muirburn practices and how these changes can be brought forward in a way which does not adversely affect our ability to prevent and respond to wildfires.

For 2025-26 the Scottish Government is investing £188.7 million in high-quality active travel and bus infrastructure, with associated behaviour change programmes, supported sustainable travel integration. This funding enables local authorities to improve access to facilities for people walking and wheeling through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund and the People and Place programme. Businesses also benefit from these investments through increased footfall and accessibility. By prioritising inclusive design and place-based solutions, we are helping communities shape their environments around people, making everyday journeys safer and more accessible.

The Scottish Government is keen to learn, along with others, about the impact of wildfires to develop a better understanding of fire risks and fire resilient landscapes.

NatureScot will be reporting and monitoring the impact of the fire, which affected a relatively small area, on the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve. They will also look into assessing the impact on Culbean Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) and learning about the impact on the other SSSIs.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government

Network Rail Infrastructure Limited which is a reserved responsibility of the UK Government owns the main line railway infrastructure in the UK and is responsible for the operation, maintenance and renewal of this infrastructure.

This includes the ongoing maintenance, renewal, and any upgrades, of the railway track system.

It is not possible to provide such information because in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them are not routinely recorded as there is no business need to do this. Civil servants across a range of different business areas contributed to this publication as part of their normal duties supporting the Scottish Government.

There is no direct evidence of a link between available care home places and suicide rates or risks, though we are seeking to understand the suicide risks for older adults. Suicide Prevention Scotland is undertaking work to build this understanding and the effective interventions to address these risks.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a sustainable health and social care system that ensures people get the right care, at the right time, in the right place. Although we have overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, the statutory responsibility for delivering, commissioning, providing appropriate social care capacity and charging for services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS boards and integrated health and social care partnerships.

This year we have made available over £14 billion to local authorities, a real terms increase of 4.3 per cent, with a record £15 billion for 2025-26 set out in the Scottish Budget, a further real terms increase of 4.7 per cent. But it would be for these local authorities to assess local population needs and where investment needs to be targeted to improve the social care infrastructure within their relevant area.

Suicide prevention is a key priority for the Scottish Government and we published an ambitious 10-year Suicide Prevention Strategy: Creating Hope Together: Scotland’s Suicide Prevention Strategy 2022-2032 Creating Hope Together and Action Plan:creating-hope-together-scotlands-suicide-prevention-action-plan-2022-2025.pdf with COSLA in September 2022. This strategy recognises the complex factors affecting suicide, and our action plan sets out the wide programme of work we are taking forward with partners - across the public, private, third sector and communities - to ensure everyone affected by suicide can access compassionate, appropriate and timely support.

Scottish Government has met the Programme for Government commitment to double suicide prevention annual funding to £2.8m in the current parliamentary term, which is helping us to drive forward our ambitious strategy and action plan.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) provides guidance for the public on how to exercise their access rights responsibly. Having a fire or BBQ is an activity covered by access rights in certain circumstances. However, the circumstances are limited and the SOAC clearly sets out when and where it would not be considered responsible to have a fire, including:

• when - such as periods of high or extreme fire risk; and
• where - such as in woodlands, on peat soils, and on farmland;

and guidance on how to have a fire responsibly.

NatureScot, the National Access Forum (NAF) and the national Visitor Management Co-ordination Group also undertake other activity to promote responsible behaviour with respect to fires and BBQs, such as:

• A fires messaging framework to ensure national consistency in messaging which includes very clear “no fires” at times of high or extreme fire risk.
• Fires and BBQs in the outdoors guidance for managers, rangers and land managers
• Media campaigns annually promoting the SOAC and fires messaging at times of high or extreme fire risk.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Wildfire Forum also provide Wildfire Danger Assessments which help prioritise communication and engagement activity.