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The Scottish Government does not hold any such data.

To date, £174,000 of the Scottish Government's £1.5 million investment in the Outer Hebrides Food and Drink Programme has been allocated to Acarsaid Harbour Redevelopment on the Isle of Eriskay and a gear storage facility at Vatersay Pier on the Isle of Vatersay. This will be followed by the release of further funds once we are in receipt of the remaining project business cases from the Island Growth Deal's Programme Management Office and these have been reviewed and endorsed.

Through this package of support, multiple investments will preserve and enhance local markets for traditional fishing industries, enable the sustainable development of the primary food production industries in the Outer Hebrides in a socio-economic context by developing local food and drink markets and respond to sectoral opportunities linked to product diversification. This will build economic resilience, community wealth and well-being by supporting communities and businesses across the Outer Hebrides throughout the Island Growth Deal's ten-year lifespan and beyond.

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

The Scottish Government has undertaken no such assessments. It is the responsibility of the enforcement agencies to plan and execute any stop and search of vehicles entering Scotland by ferry. On the call from the Dogs Trust for visual checks on all dogs entering Scotland, we consider this impractical, as it would require significant resources to be permanently deployed. Additionally, it should be recognised that it is a small minority of individuals that are involved in the smuggling of puppies from NI to Scotland and so visually inspecting every dog arriving in Scotland would be disproportionate. We consider intelligence-led, targeted checks to be the most effective approach.

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to raise the minimum legal age for dogs travelling non-commercially into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to raise the minimum legal age of dogs travelling non-commercially into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

The Gaelic and Scots Team has a sponsorship role for Bòrd na Gidhlig and meets with officers in the body regularly and consistently. The nature of the sponsorship duties combined with the Gaelic and Scots Team’s policy role requires close working at different levels and on a range of subjects. The Gaelic and Scots Team is in contact with Bòrd na Gidhlig every week and this pattern of working has been in place for the last five years and before. In addition, Bòrd na Gidhlig Chair and CEO meet with ministers at least twice a year; with Scottish Government directors at least twice a year and officials from the Gaelic and Scots Division support these meetings. Gaelic and Scots officials arrange quarterly meetings and regular media meetings with the senior team at Bòrd na Gidhlig.

Since the announcement of the freeze on marketing expenditure, the following public health campaigns have subsequently been assessed and approved to run in 2024-25 in line with the process set out in the answer to question S6W-30726 on 20 November 2024, and the desired health outcomes and aims that need to be achieved for each.

• Early Cancer Detection – Detect Cancer Earlier

• Dementia Stigma

• Appropriate Use of NHS Services - Right Care Right Place

• Adult Mental Health

• Organ Donation & Tissue

• Winter Vaccines (delivered by Public Health Scotland)

• The Importance of Home Recovery - Home First

• Sexual Assault Referral Centres

• Abortion Safe Access Zones

All activity is developed and evaluated against SMART objectives to help deliver policy outcomes, which includes actions that contribute to improving or saving lives. Where there is substantial spend on paid-for media, quantitative evaluation is carried out by an independent research agency to assess campaign performance. Return on investment is considered to assess the number of people in a target audience who can be reached, and how frequently, via a particular media channel to ensure campaigns are delivered cost-effectively.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Following the implementation of emergency spending controls (which included the public sector marketing expenditure freeze), a process was put in place across all policy areas to rigorously assess which essential marketing expenditure should still proceed in 2024-25 and what activity can be halted or postponed. This assessment process is aligned with the 4 key priorities of the Scottish Government and with individual policy outcomes. All Scottish Government marketing expenditure with an essential need for 2024-25 is subject to the First Minister’s approval.

For clarity, the Scottish Government has not suspended public health marketing campaigns and remains committed to the importance that campaigns have in communicating public health priorities. It should be noted, however, that marketing is just one of a number of interventions that can affect health outcomes.

All Scottish Government media planning and buying is proposed by media agencies appointed in call-off arrangements from the Media Planning, Buying and Associated Services Frameworks. The Providers of the Framework services have all been successful as a result of competition which evaluates Quality and Price, therefore offering the Most Economically Advantageous Tender(s) within the market place.

Media agencies take an evidence-based approach to developing a media strategy to deliver campaign objectives reflecting audience media consumption. All media plans and schedules procured in the call-off arrangements from media agencies are robustly assessed by Scottish Government marketing teams, across a range of different criteria including audience reach and frequency by channel; effectiveness of the media mix in delivering against SMART marketing objectives and policy outcomes; along-side quality and price.