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The powers of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) to review alleged miscarriages of justice are provided for in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (1995 Act).

There is no limitation within the 1995 Act on the SCCRC investigating evidence provided to it during a previously reviewed case with any decision to investigate evidence provided to it during a previously reviewed case being an independent matter for the SCCRC.

No review has been undertaken of the threshold for the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) threshold since its introduction. The setting of the threshold for the ADS reflects that The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) Act 2013 provides that land transactions with a chargeable consideration of less than £40,000 are not notifiable and that no tax return is thus required.

The Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) is reserved, however the Scottish Government engages regularly with consumer organisations and fuel poverty charities on issues expected to arise from the upcoming switch-off.

I recently visited the Western Isles Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss the potentially devastating consequences on fuel poverty and access to energy if RTS meters are not upgraded on time, there and in many other communities. Consumers must not receive extortionately high or inaccurate bills or experience any interruption of supply.

To that end, I have written to the UK Government, and will seek further urgent engagement to ensure that Scottish communities are protected.

The draft Scottish Budget sets out our spending plans for 2025-26 to deliver progress for Scotland, and to improve the lives of the people of Scotland. It includes investment for regeneration of over £62 million to support communities most in need, which I can advise includes the Investing in Communities Fund supporting community-led projects across Scotland which are addressing poverty and disadvantage.

The draft Budget requires the support of Parliament before confirmation of funding for individual allocations can be provided. I would therefore urge all MSPs to support the budget to ensure that investment for community projects continues.

Rail is one of the transport modes with the lowest emissions. ScotRail provides details on managing its environmental impact on its website, which can be found here: Managing environmental impact

ScotRail also has a Sustainability Policy in place, which is available online at: Sustainability Policy | ScotRail

The following table shows the number of criminal cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal Office, Aberdeen where either the decision was made for no action to be taken or was marked for action other than prosecution in court. (Count is by case). Direct measures are an appropriate and proportionate response to lower level offending.

Work to finalise the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Review is ongoing and at present no publication date has been set. The key purpose of the Review is to consider the responsiveness, impact, efficiency, value-for-money and deliverability of the AHSP. It is not a Review of the 110,000 affordable homes supply target. The Scottish Government remains committed to achievement of this target and we have increased the affordable housing budget by over £200m in 2025-26 to ensure we continue to deliver the homes Scotland needs.

The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be delivered by the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company, in partnership with the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Scotland. Glasgow 2026 Ltd is the corporate vehicle established to deliver the Games. The event will be privately funded by the Commonwealth Games Federation, commercial income from ticketing, broadcast revenue, sponsorship, hospitality and merchandising, and additional investment from Commonwealth Games Australia.

This private investment will provide direct economic benefit for the Scottish supply chain. Glasgow 2026 Ltd has committed to the creation of a Scotland-focused procurement strategy which will provide operational and event-based contracts for Scottish suppliers and ultimately create a number of Scottish jobs, in line with other similar sized events. In addition, Glasgow 2026 Ltd will seek to make best use of the world-class event specialists in Scotland as it works to deliver the Games, providing further employment opportunities.

Visitors to the event are also expected to provide further direct spending into the economy. It is anticipated that approximately 500,000 tickets will be available for sale. Past Commonwealth Games have strongly supported the visitor economy, driving tourism and footfall. For example, 34% of all visitors to the West Midlands in 2022 said they were influenced to attend because of the Games. As with all major events it will undoubtedly bring visitors and media attention to the city, provide an opportunity to promote Scotland to key Commonwealth markets as well as reinforce our reputation as the perfect stage for events.

At this stage, Commonwealth Games Scotland estimate the total economic value of the Games to Scotland to be £150 million. Anticipated benefits will be assessed throughout the project planning phase and the event will be subject to a final socio-economic impact evaluation.

The Islands Programme awarded £120,000 in 2021-22, £72,000 in 2022-23 and £700,000 in 2023-24 to infrastructure projects supporting the delivery of housing units on islands.

Housing developments are not commonly the focus of proposals submitted for Islands Programme funding.

Housing developments are not commonly the focus of proposals submitted for Islands Programme funding.

Since 2021-22, four awards made through the Islands Programme have had the development of housing units among their deliverables. For some of these projects, the Islands Programme supported the delivery of enabling infrastructure, survey or other work required to proceed with the construction of housing units.

The following table provides a summary of housing projects that have received funding through the Islands Programme since 2021-22.