When it plans to publish the next edition of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

I am pleased to announce that I have published the latest edition of the Scottish Ministerial Code today. It is normal practice to update the Ministerial Code following a Scottish Parliament election and I have taken this opportunity to make a small number of minor, technical updates. In addition to writing a new Foreword to the Code, I have made the following minor changes:Paragraph 3.8 has been updated to amend the frequency of assurance reviews carried out by my independent advisers of the support provided by the Cabinet Secretariat to Ministers to help them declare their private interests. The Code now requires such reviews to be carried out every three years rather than annually. This change was suggested by my independent advisers and I agree with them that this offers a more proportionate approach. The Terms of Reference of my independent advisers have also been updated to reflect this change;Paragraph 9.15 has been updated to add the Minister for Parliamentary Business to the list of Ministers who should be consulted on plans for publishing a policy statement or consultation paper;Paragraph 10.8 has been updated to clarify the process that should be followed by Ministers when supplying advance copies of publications before the item of parliamentary business at which they are due to be discussed;Paragraphs 8.6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.14, 11.15 and 11.18 have been updated to clarify the clearance process for Ministers wishing to travel overseas for official or personal reasons. The previous version of the Ministerial Code required Ministers to seek authorisation for overseas trips from the Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for External Affairs. However, as there is currently no Cabinet Secretary with such responsibility and it would not be appropriate for approval to rest solely on a junior Minister, this element of the code has been amended.Prior to this latest version, new editions of the Code were published in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The 2023 edition introduced the proactive publication of Ministers’ private interests and in 2024 I introduced the most significant changes to the Code since independent advisers were introduced in 2008. This included changes to allow my independent advisers to launch Ministerial Code investigations on their own initiative, without a referral from me as First Minister.