As part of our commitment for the decarbonisation of the Scottish Government vehicle fleet, our replacement policy since 2015 has been to consider the overall environmental impact of the fleet and actively reduce the emissions produced by replacing end of life petrol and diesel vehicles with zero or ultra-low emission alternatives where possible.

We have not conducted a formal cross SG review. As explained in the answer to S6W-33501 and S6W-33502 on 28 January 2025. Decisions on memberships are made by Directorates, Division and Departments following the guidance outlined in S6W-33505 on 28 January 2025 which states it must be directly relevant to the person’s current job and of relevant value to the SG. Heads of Profession will also oversee and advise on memberships based on industry and practice requirements, and their knowledge of each membership’s efficacy and value for money.

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.

Buildings owned by the Scottish Government on the Core estate fall into the following EPC categories.

A – 0 Buildings

B – 1 Building

C – 4 Buildings

D – 5 Buildings

E – 2 Buildings

F – 3 Buildings

G – 2 Buildings

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the delivery of national emissions reduction targets, directed by our new Carbon Management Plan. As part of ongoing maintenance and upgrades within our buildings, we aim to incorporate energy efficiency improvements alongside these works wherever possible.

Information on Ministerial engagements is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot

Visits are not recorded by parliamentary region.

A wide range of public bodies and infrastructure providers have compulsory purchase powers, which can be used to support the delivery of projects in the public interest. Bodies with compulsory purchase powers are known as ‘acquiring authorities’. As set out in Circular 6/2011: Compulsory purchase orders,https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-planning-series-planning-circular-6-2011-compulsory-purchase-orders/, acquiring authorities are expected – where practicable – to seek to acquire land by agreement before making a compulsory purchase order (CPO). In this context, it is not possible to predict how many CPOs will be made over the next twenty years.

There are 6 buildings with Solar PV, 1 building with an air source heat pump, 2 buildings with biomass heating.

The solar PV provides approximately 5% of each of the building’s total electricity use.

The air source heat pump replaced a gas boiler.

The biomass boilers replaced gas and oil heating at rural locations.

A wide range of public bodies and infrastructure providers have compulsory purchase powers, which can be used to support the delivery of projects in the public interest. Bodies with compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers are known as ‘acquiring authorities’.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes a register of CPOs submitted by acquiring authorities to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation since 2012: https://www.gov.scot/publications/compulsory-purchase-order-register/. The current register, published in December, includes CPOs received up to the end of October 2024.

The register includes information on when a CPO is submitted, who the acquiring authority is, the date of the Scottish Ministers’ decision on confirmation, a description of the project, the location, including local authority area, the type of CPO (for example, for Planning, Housing, Energy or Transport purposes) and legislation under which it was made.

The Scottish Government has a centrally-managed contract with Office Papers to supply newspapers on an ad-hoc rather than subscription basis. The contract allows for newspapers to be bought according to requirement and cancelled when not required, for example during Parliamentary recess.

On software subscriptions, the SG's IT Division, iTECS make use of tools such as our IT Service Management Tool and our Information Asset Tracker for monitoring software assets and purchases, which provides visibility into licence usage to manage compliance efficiently.

iTECS has an appointed licensing office whose role is to manage licencing, including taking regular audits of software and software usage to ensure compliance and value for money.

Software that is inadequately licenced, or out of vendor support, is removed from our network as its presence jeopardises our Cyber Essentials and other security accreditations we maintain.

Our central finance team also undertakes an annual exercise to track the continued usage of software assets to ensure that spend is current.

As explained in the answers to questions S6W-33501 and S6W-33502 on 28 January 2025, decisions on professional memberships, including assessing whether they deliver value for money, are made by senior staff in Directorates, Divisions and Departments. 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.

How compulsory purchase orders are factored into the planning for large infrastructure projects is a matter for the relevant acquiring authority (i.e. body with compulsory purchase powers) in the circumstances of the project. As set out in Circular 6/2011: Compulsory purchase orders,https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-planning-series-planning-circular-6-2011-compulsory-purchase-orders/, acquiring authorities are expected – where practicable – to seek to acquire land by agreement before making a compulsory purchase order.