Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government previously engaged with key dog control interests in Scotland, including canine trainers and behaviourists, to help assess the principle of introducing new safeguards for XL Bully dogs, and we continue to regularly engage with a wide range of stakeholders to consider the impact of the new safeguards and to consider whether any additional support is needed

The Scottish Government understands the concerns expressed by dog owners about the impact that the new controls may have on their dogs. The Scottish Government takes animal welfare very seriously and is committed to the highest possible welfare standards. There is however a balance to be struck between protecting animal welfare and protecting public safety.

Helpful and practical support and guidance has been published on the Mygov.scot website ( XL Bully dogs in Scotland - mygov.scot ) to ensure owners are made aware of how to comply with the new safeguards on XL Bully dogs.

That Mygov.scot webpage contains links to the support available from both the Dogs Trust and PDSA to assist with muzzle training XL Bully dogs.

As an employer located in the Edinburgh Low Emission Zone (LEZ), there are several steps we are taking to prepare for its enforcement:

1. Understanding the LEZ regulations: We have familiarized ourselves with the specific regulations of the Edinburgh LEZ, including which vehicles are affected, emission standards, and any exemptions or grace periods. The SPCB as a body is not exempt and the basement car park can only be accessed by vehicles traveling through the LEZ , therefore all vehicles (except those exempted such as blue badge holders and emergency vehicles) using the Parliament car park will need to be compliant. Our car park is small compared to the number of people who access the Parliament each day with only 65 spaces, 47 of which are bookable (including 6 accessible bays and 6 electric charging spaces). More information about the LEZ is available on the City of Edinburgh Council website: Low Emission Zone – The City of Edinburgh Council.

2. Our fleet vehicle: The SPCB has one fleet vehicle used for visiting constituency offices. This vehicle has been identified as not compliant with the LEZ, so will be replaced with an electric van.

3. Promoting Sustainable Travel: The SPCB Sustainable Travel Plan available here encourages passholders and visitors to adopt sustainable travel patterns and details alternative ways such as public transport, walking, cycling and wheeling or carpooling, to commute and visit Holyrood.  We have good rates of sustainable travel to the building, in 2022 21% of building users walked to work, 10% cycled and 45% came by public transport.

4. Hybrid working: Since the pandemic the Parliament operates flexible work arrangements with telecommunication facilities. This allows employees to work from home or adjust their work schedules to avoid peak traffic times, opening up more public transport options and reducing the need for commuting into the LEZ.

5. Communications Programme: We are planning a suite of communications in the run up to the start date of the LEZ (1^st June) which will inform passholders about the LEZ regulations and how they can comply. There will be communication to all those that book parking spaces in the car park at Holyrood and to the wider staff body that access the Parliament building.

By taking these proactive steps, the SPCB can ensure compliance with the Edinburgh Low Emission Zone regulations.

It is not known how many XL Bully dogs there are in Scotland. This is within the context of an unknown number of XL Bully dogs in the UK as a whole.

While estimates are challenging, for the purposes of the new safeguards being introduced, the Scottish Government is suggesting that approximately between 5,000 to 15,000 XL Bully dogs may be in Scotland. This estimate carries with it a considerable degree of uncertainty and reflects an estimated range of 50,000 to 150,000 XL Bully dogs in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government supports a range of activities through the Forestry Grant Scheme and is seeking to maximise delivery of woodland creation whilst maintaining support for management of existing woodland. Scottish Forestry publishes regular Briefing Notes to inform customers of the funding available and how the funding is split across the range of grant budget categories and priority activities supported through the Forestry Grant Scheme. These Briefing Notes can be viewed at: Scottish Forestry - Forestry Grant Scheme .

Actions which we have taken and are undertaking to enable greater deployment of solar in Scotland are provided in Annex G of the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

Through our Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme, domestic owner occupiers in Scotland can claim funding for solar PV and energy storage systems. More information can be found on the HES website - Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan: overview · Home Energy Scotland .

As part of its programme, the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) provides rolling funding which supports communities, charities, and faith organisations to decarbonise their buildings and reduce energy bills. This includes solar PV and energy storage, where decarbonised heating has also been installed. Let's Do Net Zero Community Buildings Fund · Local Energy Scotland

To support the development of battery energy storage solutions (BESS), the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) has already invested £6.6 million in Aberdeen-based firm Verlume, whose multi-use BESS technology uses intelligent energy management to deliver a constant output of power from renewable sources.

The Scottish Government funds delivery of 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all three and four-year-olds and around a quarter of families with an eligible two-year-old, who experience the most disadvantage, across Scotland. This entitlement is regardless of the working status of their parents - putting children first.

We recognise how important both early learning and school age childcare are for families, especially those experiencing poverty and that is why within this year’s Programme for Government we have committed to work with local government and partners in the ELC sector to expand our childcare offers.

We recognise that younger children have different needs to those aged three or four and therefore our new offer will be guided by what the evidence tells us about what is best for children and families depending on the age and stage of the child.

We also know that for children aged under three, how much they benefit from Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) is determined by crucial factors such as their family background, what age they start in ELC, the quality of services and the balance of hours they spend between care at home and in ELC settings. That is why we are committed to listening to families and to putting quality at the heart our work on both the Early Adopter Communities (EACs) and the expansion for two year olds.

We have recently completed and published two key pieces of research to help us understand and identify what models of ELC are best for younger children. The first is a summary of work to map current ELC provision for younger children in Scotland and the second a literature review undertaken by Public Health Scotland. Evidence from this early insights work supports taking a considered approach to policy development in 2024-25, so that we understand what is right for families with under three’s.

Over the next year we will continue to build on this early insights work by piloting new approaches via funding from the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund to test models of holistic family support and by engaging with the ELC sector to understand what is required to support an expansion.

We are already engaging with families through our work with EAC’s and are working to expand our reach to include Fife and Shetland and also to broaden the work to include younger children. This work will provide us with a clearer picture about what approaches deliver the greatest impact for families with younger children.

In parallel we will continue to work with local authorities and our partners in the sector to support up-take of the existing two-year-old offer, to ensure as many children as possible receive the benefits of high quality ELC, as well as planning for a further expansion.

There has been progress in implementing the Scottish Government’s delivery plan:

• the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Act 2023 established a Parliamentary Commissioner on patient safety
• the Glasgow Complex Mesh Surgical Service offers mesh removal surgery, and women can also choose an NHS England surgeon or an independent provider
• 25 women have had the costs of previously arranged private mesh removal surgery reimbursed
• the NHS Scotland Scan for Safety Programme for implantable medical devices is planned to roll out across territorial boards by the end of March 2026
• on valproate, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency introduced regulatory measures for the prescribing of valproate and we are working closely with the agency to support their implementation

The Scottish Government considers, further to the undertaking offered in 2021, that it is taking appropriate action to pursue the outcomes sought by all of the recommendations of the 2020 report insofar as they relate to devolved matters.

The information can be extracted from the publicly available Renewable Energy Planning Database ( Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ). The following table draws out the number of battery projects planned across Scotland up to the end of December 2023.

Table 1: Extract from Renewable Energy Planning Database up to the end of December 2023 (published January 2024)

In 2024-25 there has been a regrettable 51.2% reduction in capital allocated to the Just Transition Fund in 2024-25.

There has been a 100% reduction in financial transactions allocated to the Just Transition Fund in 2024-25.

The change in budget allocation to the Just Transition Fund is due to a reduction in capital and financial transactions funding allocations from the UK Government which the Fund relies on. I remain entirely committed to the multi-annual funding commitment to provide £500m over ten years. 75m has been provided to date and 16m will be spent in 24/25.

The Just Transition Fund has allocated £75 million to date, supporting projects and communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.