The Scottish Government seeks to support the adoption of innovative aquaculture practices and recognises the role which legislative frameworks and other incentives play in fostering innovation. A recent example is the reduction of SEPA’s CAR licence fees by 50% for sites which plan to utilise innovative waste capture technologies.

The potential for a Scottish marine aquaculture innovation site was explored by the previous Aquaculture Industry Leadership Group. The Scottish Government remains open to discussing the purpose and aims of a marine innovation site further with stakeholders.

The Scottish Government did not provide any funding directly to Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway in 2022.

Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 member services across Scotland, including Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway.

In 2022, the Scottish Government provided Relationships Scotland with core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities third sector fund.

The rise in the prison population is driven by a complex set of factors, including the court backlog caused by reduced court capacity over the pandemic. Progress has been made in reducing this backlog through the justice recovery fund. This has allowed an increase in court business resulting in the fall of the number of outstanding scheduled trials by a third since last January. Other factors include the increase in average sentences imposed for certain offences and growth in the number of serious sexual offence and domestic abuse cases prosecuted in the courts. While both arrivals and departures increased over the first 8 months of the year, arrivals outpaced departures, resulting in a rising population. As the outlook for the population remains highly uncertain the Scottish Government continues to monitor it.

Scottish Ministers recognise that Atlantic salmon returning to Scottish rivers have been declining and that predation is a complex pressure impacting on the species. That is why the Scottish Government continues to support research into non-lethal solutions to address seal-salmon interactions in rivers. The accompanying Implementation Plan to our Wild Salmon Strategy was published in February 2023 which sets out the collective actions to be taken across government, business and charitable sectors for the protection of wild Atlantic salmon.

Licences to kill or take seals can be granted under Part 6 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) determine such licence applications on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Licences may besought in some circumstances to conserve seals or other wild animals (including wild birds) or plants. One instance in which an application would be considered is the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon.

MD-LOT consider applications on a case-by-case basis, based on information submitted by the applicant and input from consultees. Where sufficient evidence is provided to justify the need to kill or take a seal, for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon in a particular location, a licence may be granted.

Alcohol Focus Scotland’s objectives as set out in their grant letter for 2022-23 were:

• Advocate for the continuation and optimisation of minimum unit pricing in Scotland
• Build community capacity to engage in the licensing process
• Improve the accessibility and effectiveness of the licensing process
• Encourage strategic action to reduce the availability of alcohol
• Build support for controls on alcohol marketing as recommended by the Expert Network.
• Engage with communities of interest to explore and publicise experiences of alcohol marketing
• Expand the evidence base and our policy advocacy work to protect children and young people from the impact of alcohol
• Increase awareness of the impact of alcohol on children and young people
• Build capacity of practitioners to identify and work with children and young people
• Improve knowledge of alcohol and understanding of risks
• Build capacity of practitioners to identify and work with children and young people
• Support the routinisation of Alcohol Death Reviews, and the sharing of knowledge from them, across Scotland
• Support interventions to reduce alcohol-related deaths

The licensing regime for growing hemp is a reserved matter controlled by the UK Home Office, however we recognise the potential benefit for hemp production in Scotland as a sustainable crop with multiple uses.

The Scottish Government has not engaged in any discussions on this issue with the UK Government. Currently, industrial hemp is not a major crop in Scotland; although there are a small number of independent growers who grow hemp for a variety of reasons and we are keen to speak with those interested in growing hemp to find out more about this crop.

The Scottish Government is interested in understanding the evidence behind the benefits of hemp. As such, as part of the Strategic Research Programme, we have funded several projects via the Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Research Institutes (SEFARI) Gateway Fellowship programme. These include a study entitled “Potential Market Opportunities for Hempseed and Fibre in Scotland” published in October 2022 in partnership with the University of Aberdeen and the Scottish Hemp Association. More about this study can be found at the following link: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/16425/ .

The Scottish Government allocated an additional £500k in capital funding to Museums Galleries Scotland in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.This was in recognition of the important contribution museums make to our communities, and was directed towards crucial repair and maintenance work, to reduce museum running costs and increase resilience.

Government officials will continue to engage with and discuss the sector’s capital needs with Museums Galleries Scotland. The creation of an ongoing open access capital fund will be considered as part of future capital budget processes.

The capital outlook is extremely challenging as the UK Government did not inflation-proof their Capital Budget which has resulted in a projected 6.7% real terms fall in our capital funding over the medium term between 2023-24 and 2027-28.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22375 on 3 November 2023. 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 objectives of the grant funding provided to SUSE throughout 2022 were to:

1. Provide the governance and project management function for the PSP.

2. Progress Apt through the PSP stages, which include:

• Designing and developing pilot projects for delivery throughout the grant period;
• Ensuring that those projects are evaluated;
• Refining and finalising pilot projects before outlining procurement options for the public sector.

3. Ensure that the PSP has a public corporate identity, including by:

• Creating and maintaining a website hosting such information that is deemed necessary by the steering group.

4. Appointment of PSP Development Manager to:

• Effectively support employers with "complex" needs;
• Engage an additional 40 employers to the PSP Workstreams;
• Capture baseline data on employers.

5. Ensure that the Apt continues to deliver interventions for employers:

• Continue delivery of pilot projects;
• Further development of a strong evidence base to support each pilot project;
• Production of a design blueprint which describes the range of tools, products and services offered by the PSP across their journey

Information on those who engaged with the consultation, the findings of this extended engagement and total number that attend the events can be found at this link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/agriculture-bill-analysis-consultation-responses .

Engagement on the Bill, on the Bill proposals, and on the wider Agriculture Reform Programme is constant and extensive. A full list of the roadshow dates can be found at https://www.ruralpayments.org/news-events/agriculture-reform-programme--arp--roadshow-dates-2023.html

Information on the ARIOB and the meetings can be found at https://www.gov.scot/groups/agriculture-reform-implementation-oversight-board/

Further information on previous Ministerial engagements can be found at this link: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/

The Scottish Government is calling on the agriculture sector to help shape the detail of future support and how it is delivered. This initiative is open to everyone and we would encourage anyone with an interest to register on the Rural Payments website so that their views are represented and they can help influence how future support is delivered.

The Agricultural Reform Route Map sets out the proposed timescales for information and interaction with the agricultural industry.