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The Scottish Government has not undertaken any formal assessment to assess the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. Officials engage regularly however with local authority licensing and enforcement officers to discuss enforcement matters.

We do not hold lists of organisations and their views on shock collars, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on their views.

The Scottish Government presently has no plans to review the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Officer wellbeing is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I refer the member to my response to S6W-35420 on 17 March 2025 and S6W-37984 on 9 June 2025.

The Chief Constable has stated to the Criminal Justice Committee that the wellbeing of police officers and staff is one of her main priorities. Police Scotland has made a £17 million investment in workforce wellbeing, which includes a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and enhanced occupational health services, to support officers and staff wellbeing.

Police Scotland has provided reassurance that they have a healthy recruitment pipeline and has recruited around 1,370 officers since the start of 2024.

Funding was approved for the school programme of the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 28 March 2025, some months prior to the appointment referred to.

Edinburgh International Book Festival have confirmed that appointments to their Board for directors, which are unsalaried and unremunerated, follow fully advertised and formal open recruitment processes.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39151 on 24 July 2025. 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.

Scottish Government funding in 2024-25 enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception, and Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government has increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, with £1.64 billion being invested in policing in 2025-26.

Decisions on how these resources are allocated, including the deployment of police officers, is a matter for the Chief Constable, who confirmed to the SPA Board on 27 March 2025 that the “Scottish Government funding allows us to continue officer recruitment for a full time officer establishment of around 16,500, while modernising the workforce to release experienced officers from roles which don’t need warranted powers so that we can prioritise, maximise, and support the frontline to deliver for our communities.”

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As the Agency Accountable Officer, I am accountable to the Scottish Ministers for the day-to-day operations of SPS, this includes, but is not limited to, legal compliance with the Prison and Young Offenders Rules (Scotland) 2011.

As defined in these rules, the Governor in Charge (GiC) must establish a System of Privileges, taking into consideration numerous factors, including security.

SPS remains committed to prepare those in our care for a return to their communities and, for some, this includes accessing personal items through various forms of media. However, access to watching DVDs is at the Governor's discretion and remains a privilege, not a right.

There are currently no plans to review this practice.

The Scottish Government is aware of the Law Commission’s report on the common law offence of misconduct in public office in England and Wales and its recommendation that this is replaced with two statutory offences. The common law offence of misconduct in public office does not exist in Scots law. However, there is a comparable common law offence in Scots law of wilful neglect of duty. The Government is actively considering the Law Commission’s recommendations. Any changes to this area of law will require further examination.

The Scottish Government provided funding of over £1.1m from the Equality and Human Rights Fund to organisations working to promote LGBTQI+ equality in Scotland in 2024-25.

This funding provides support for a range of initiatives, including supporting policy development for LGBTQI+ people, research into the lives of the LGBTQI+ community and an LGBT helpline.

Detailed information on funding the Scottish Government has provided LGBTQI+ charities and organisations in the financial year 2024-25 has been published on our website. You can view this at Equality and Human Rights Fund: projects funded - gov.scot.