Seòmar agus comataidhean

Part 9 of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015, which updated and simplified allotment legislation, placed a number of duties on local authorities in relation to allotments including a duty to prepare a Food Growing Strategy and annual allotment reports. Part 9 came into force on 1 April 2018.

To date, the Scottish Government has not collated the data contained from the published annual allotment reports as there is neither a statutory obligation for local authorities to update Scottish Ministers on the publication of their annual allotment plans or for the Scottish Government to collect these data. The data is not held in a consistent format to allow for monitoring at a national level.

Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold historic data on allotment provision or waiting lists.

Within the Scottish Government, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) is responsible for supporting Health and Care research.

CSO runs a number of project and fellowship funding schemes for Scottish-led research and this role is well known across the Health and Care research community here.

Grant Funding – Chief Scientist Office

Fellowship Funding – Chief Scientist Office

Applications on the potential use of Mifepristone to prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease are welcomed. In common with all applications, these would go through CSO's standard independent expert review process to enable funding decisions to be made.

In addition, through UK-wide funding arrangements, the majority of funding programmes administered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) are open to applications led by researchers based in Scotland.

Scottish Researchers to be able to access further NIHR research funding – Chief Scientist Office

Some NHS Boards may have shared care policies, but it remains at the clinical discretion of each individual GP to decide the best course of action for their patients. A recommendation from a private specialist for a particular medicine does not entitle the patient to NHS prescriptions for that medicine.

The National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) published guidance on Prescribing ADHD medication to adults following private sector diagnosis in Scotland in April 2022. This guidance is available to practitioners and patients.

The Scottish Government continues to support the development of our ports including the potential for new direct freight and passenger ferry services linking Scotland to Europe.

The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which is currently supporting NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. We continue scope the work required to improve Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways nationally, understanding that a stepped care model is needed to reduce waiting times for adult neurodevelopmental assessments and ensure a consistent approach to them across Scotland.

We continue to fund NHS Education for Scotland and NAIT to deliver professional learning on neurodevelopmental conditions. Training is offered at informed, enhanced, specialist, and expert levels, with strong uptake across all tiers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40003 on 8 September 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.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to delivering our vision for agriculture and support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. To achieve this we are delivering a phased transition from legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support into the new four-tier framework ensuring ensure a just transition for our farmers and crofters.

In 2025 we introduced additional measures to protect wetlands and peatlands as part of the mandatory conditions of GAEC 6. These measures are designed to promote healthy peatland contributing to improved biodiversity by providing a habitat for plants and insects as well as regulating water flow and prevent flooding.

Work is continuing with the industry as we demonstrate our commitment to co-develop the future support framework delivering the Vision for Agriculture and meeting the objectives of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2025.

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

SPS has a zero-tolerance approach to violence towards staff and has support mechanisms in place to assist prison officers who have been affected by it. Incidents of criminality are reported to Police Scotland and SPS will actively seek prosecution.

Following the successful pilot of Body Worn Video Cameras at 3 prison sites, cameras are to be rolled out across the prison estate which will include HMP Greenock.

The cameras will complement an already well established range of staff training, security systems and clear operating procedures used to promote and support safety for everyone working and living in prisons.

We are using every lever at our disposal to create well paid, skilled jobs here in Scotland. Our Programme for Government 2025-26 sets out what we are doing to deliver certainty and stability and make it easier to do business. This includes no further divergence from the UK on Income Tax for the remainder of this Parliament. The latest data shows more taxpayers have been coming to Scotland than leaving since devolution of Scottish Income Tax. Other taxes that may impact private sector job creation, such as Corporation Tax and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions, remain fully reserved to the UK Government.

Scottish Income Tax is forecast to raise a record £20.5 billion in 2025-26, £763 million more than they forecast at the Scottish Budget last year. We continue to use the additional revenue raised to support our investment in public services.

Latest figures show that Scotland continues to attract taxpayers from the rest of the UK with net migration of taxpayers positive across all tax bands and almost all age groups in 2021-22 Intra-UK migration of individuals: movements in numbers and income - GOV.UK.