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The Scottish Government recognises the pressure on household budgets which is why the 2025-26 budget continues to allocate over £3bn a year to policies which tackle poverty and the cost of living, including providing free bus travel for all children and young people under 22.

There is range of support available to anyone experiencing financial difficulties. We continue to support free welfare, debt and income maximisation advice services across all areas of the county with funding of over £12m allocated in 2024-2025 and have a dedicated Cost of Living website, signposting to helpful information across a range of subjects including energy and bills, debt and money and health and wellbeing.

Recognising the specific impact of the cost of living crisis on island communities, since December 2022 the Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund has distributed over £3.4 million to support islanders facing cost of living pressures.

This data is not held centrally.

This is a matter of law, therefore the Scottish Government do not hold a position on these issues. Lease agreements will vary depending on the circumstances and individuals should take their own legal advice.

The Scottish Government’s 2024 Addressing Depopulation Action Plan sets out our strategic approach to supporting communities facing population decline. We have established an Addressing Depopulation Fund and, as part of this, provided five local authorities with £60,000 each in 2024-25 to trial locally-identified measures to support population retention in affected communities. These are focused on key issues such as childcare, housing and skills. We have also continued to offer part-funding this year for three Community Settlement Officer roles in rural and island local authorities, to support people currently living in, or moving to these areas.

The Scottish Government has additionally awarded £125,500 in 2024-25 to the Rural Youth Action Network, which is delivered in partnership between Scottish Rural Action and Youth Scotland. The network mobilises and networks with young people across mainland rural Scotland, and works closely with youth-led groups such as the Young Islanders Network, Scottish Rural & Islands Youth Parliament, and Youth Local Action Groups.

The draft budget for 2025-26 proposes planned investment of £768 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, an increase of more than £200m compared to the 2024-25 published budget. This will help tackle the housing emergency while contributing towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be social rented homes and 10% in rural and island areas.

Discussions on the use of the Financial Transaction (FT’s) funding for the 2025-26 financial year are ongoing and no decision has been made at this time.

The Scottish Government continues to support home ownership and have interventions in place to help first time buyers through our Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme which helps people on low to moderate incomes to buy their first home.

No section 16AA licences have been granted which specify the land to which the licence relates as the area immediately surrounding a line of grouse butts.

The Scottish Government understands from current training providers that 215 individuals have completed the online and practical course. We do not hold information on the number of land managers who are planning to complete the training.

This data is not held centrally.

One of the key roles of our enterprise agencies is to support job creation, through the advice and assistance they provide to businesses and projects and by attracting investment into their regions. They have a keen focus on maximising opportunities for young people.

For example, South of Scotland Enterprise is delivering a pioneering pathways project that will support young entrepreneurs to bring their business visions to life through coaching, advice and financial support. Since September 2024, the project has resulted in 409 enquiries, with 267 young people receiving place-based enterprise coaching support. To date, 41 young people on the programme have started to trade. In addition, South of Scotland Enterprise has engaged with 2100 young people at its pop up enterprise events across the South of Scotland since April 2024 (up 170% on last year).

HIE’s Graduate Placement Programme 2024-27 aims to create around 40 graduate placements in businesses and social enterprises across the Highlands and Islands, with at least 50% of the placements in remote and rural island areas.

Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Regional Groupsworks with pupils and schools across Scotland to raise awareness of the breadth of job opportunities and career pathways available, including in their local area. Young people can also access careers advice from Skills Development Scotland, which has a qualified Careers Adviser based in each secondary school in the country.

Our agencies work closely with employers, colleges, universities and training providers to strengthen training provision in growth sectors and create opportunity for work based learning with industry. Skills Development Scotland works with DYW to promote apprenticeships across each region and supports modern apprenticeship provision in island and rural areas via a Rural Uplift payment.

The Scottish Government has not sought formal advice on this issue. Regular discussions are held between Scottish Government officials and NatureScot regarding commencing of the muirburn licensing provisions. NatureScot are working towards putting the necessary arrangements in place to allow for commencement of these provisions ahead of the 2025 muirburn season.