Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government and COSLA are co-producing the Population Health Framework which will be published in Spring 2025. Extensive engagement has been undertaken throughout 2024 with public, third and private sector partners to support development of priorities and areas of action.

The public consultation on detail of proposed regulations to restrict promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) closed on 21 May 2024. The Scottish Government will publish an independent analysis report of these consultation responses in early 2025, alongside next steps and timelines for future regulation.

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.

The Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP) is available to local authorities which bring forward suitable project proposals associated with remediating and unblocking long-term vacant and derelict land, supporting place based approaches to delivering regeneration and sustainable inclusive growth, as part of a just transition to net-zero. Additional funding to support the delivery of new homes, where this is part of the project proposals, is considered as a part of the application process by the independent investment panel.

The VDLIP has supported the delivery of 110 homes in the Highland Council area across two projects which received funding in 2023 – 2024.

There have been no applications received for projects in Argyll and Bute, Shetland Islands or Moray local authority areas supported by the VDLIP since the fund was launched in 202. We received one application for Orkney Islands and one for the Western Isles but neither was recommended for funding.

The Scottish Government is committed to making savings by driving key efficiency programmes such as Scottish Single Estates, Commercial Value for Money (CVfM), Collaborative Procurement frameworks, Oracle Cloud implementation, the Intelligence Automation Centre of Excellence, Digital programme, and Revenue Raising. This work reflects our approach of building these key efficiency programmes into the overall PSR approach.

There has been strong progress across these programmes, with cashable savings delivered. Our Single Scottish Estate, National Collaborative Procurement, Commercial Value for Money and Digital programmes are collectively securing cost avoidance and cash releasing savings, expected to reach up to £280 million over a two-year period by the end of 2024-25, with further projected savings of nearly £300 million over the following two financial years to the end of 2026-27.

The Single Scottish Estate (SSE) will help us have a more efficient approach to public sector property management, optimising costs, enabling the delivery of excellent public services and providing staff with great places to work, recognising the shifts in working culture since the pandemic. The SSE engages with all parts of the public sector including health and local authorities as well as central government bodies. The programme is currently focused on the public sector administrative estate and is undertaking a number of location-based reviews and projects including across Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow. We are estimating £50-80m total savings from now to 2028, with associated carbon reductions and improvements in service delivery to the public. An overall total of £36m of direct Single Scottish Estate benefits have been secured.

Collaborative procurement can help public bodies achieve better value for money, through consolidating volumes, driving efficiencies and social value and making better use of skills and resources. The Scottish Government establishes national collaborative procurement framework agreements on behalf of the whole Scottish public sector. There are opportunities to increase Scotland’s collaborative buying power by expanding the use of National Collaborative Frameworks across the Scottish public sector, leading to a significant increase in financial benefits delivered on a cross-sectoral basis via economies of scale. Building on current financial benefits delivered annually of around £130m, made up of both cost avoidance and cash savings, work is underway to scope the potential to scale up the service offered by the national collaborative procurement team.

The Commercial Value for Money programme (CVfM) is providing commercial expertise and support across all Scottish Government expenditure to support increased value for money through the delivery of monetary efficiencies and/or increased impactful policy outcomes. This includes work in areas such as grant alignment, commercial scrutiny of costs, development and implementation of performance monitoring and reporting to show the effectiveness of SG spend, development of novel funding approaches and increased leverage of SG spend. Almost £7m of cashable and £600k of non-cashable savings have already been delivered, with little or no impact on policy delivery. The CVfM programme is projected to save up to £50m over the next 5 years whilst also supporting other efficiency work.

Meanwhile, the Intelligent Automation Centre of Excellence has already been realised significant benefits within government and several core agencies. £3.9M in cost-avoidance benefits have been achieved to date with a projected £14.5M by 28-29.

As the PSR programme develops further, building on the data and capacity around savings, and the embedding of reform and efficiency in the budget process, we will look to drive and quantify other and future savings opportunities.

Our commitment to reform is not a single programme; it is a cross system approach with a focus on strategic priorities which we set out in the Budget. This work is being progressed through multiple and interconnected work-streams and requires a whole-of-government approach.

There are 5.8 civil servants working in the team that is leading the core public service reform programme.

The Scottish Government welcomes IBD UK’s latest report, Crohn’s and Colitis Care in Scotland: A Vision for Change, and is grateful to the organisation for its work in this area.

We are committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, are able to access the best possible care and support. The 2025-26 Budget, if approved by Parliament, will provide £200 million to help reduce waiting times and improve capacity. This will help ensure no one waits more than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment or inpatient/day-case treatment by March 2026.

Our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan has so far delivered four mobile endoscopy units across Scotland, providing 5-6 additional endoscopy rooms, and a Dyce facility to provide additional endoscopy procedures for NHS Grampian (ceasing December 2024). The additional mobile endoscopy units have supported patients to be clinically prioritised for endoscopy, ensuring that a range of conditions, including IBD, are diagnosed and managed timeously. Additionally, the national endoscopy surveillance framework, introduced in February 2022, has been implemented in all Health Boards.

We have also funded the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) with a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in IBD care which is being taken forward through the MPPP’s National Gastroenterology Speciality Delivery Group (SDG). They have developed a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland which is due to be published imminently. The Gastroenterology SDG is also developing a lower gastrointestinal pathway which will provide primary care guidance about testing and diagnosis for people with IBD and Coeliac Disease in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers are considering all the available information on bovine EID and technology use across the UK. This includes the ScotEID pilot findings into UHF, the results and analysis of the consultation held on Cattle ID and Traceability earlier this year and ongoing close discussions with the livestock sector. All potential impacts, including those on trade, will be fully considered before a final decision is made.

We are firmly committed to supporting Scotland’s freight industry and recognising the vital role hauliers play in driving economic growth and prosperity.

In October 2014, the speed limit for goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes on single carriageway sections of the A9 between Perth and Inverness was increased from 40 mph to 50 mph. Simultaneously, the A9 average speed camera system was introduced. A comprehensive review conducted in 2018 assessed the safety performance of the route three years after these measures were implemented. The findings demonstrated a consistent reduction in collisions and casualty numbers involving HGVs over 7.5 tonnes. This evidence highlights the positive impact that increasing the HGV speed limit has had on road safety along the route.

On 27 November 2024, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation as part of the National Speed Management Review. This initiative seeks to ensure that speed limits across Scotland are both appropriate and effective in reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our roads. The proposals include lowering the national speed limit for motor vehicles on single carriageways from 60 mph to 50 mph while increasing HGV speed limits to 50 mph on single carriageways and 60 mph on dual carriageways. The consultation is open until 5 March 2025, and we encourage all stakeholders to share their views. Once the consultation responses have been analysed, any resulting changes will be announced alongside the next steps for implementation.

Through the Agriculture Reform Programme, and in collaboration with Scottish Forestry and NatureScot, we are considering opportunities to improve how we support farmers to integrate trees. The integration of trees on farms can take a variety of forms, with the criteria for the Agroforestry Grant Scheme having been amended in 2023 to include support for fruit and nut trees. We have engaged with stakeholders on the progress of that work through Scottish Forestry’s Customer Representatives Group sub-group on Trees on Farms and will continue to seek opportunities for stakeholder engagement as that work develops.

In addition, we are currently undertaking a review of the funding awarded by our Food and Drink Division to support community Grow Your Own initiatives. This funding for new and innovative food growing projects could include community orchards.

The Scottish Government also continues to provide horticulture support through the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme. Orchard fruit and nuts are products covered by the scheme, which enables funding to groups of growers recognised as Producer Organisations.

With the goal of providing a full response to the member, Scottish Government officials have liaised with a range of organisations including those reserved to the UK Government. This includes the UK National Shipbuilding Office - responsible for the UK National Shipbuilding Strategy - who have confirmed that they and UK Export Finance also do not hold a list of financial institutions that offer shipbuilder’s refund guarantees. Officials from both the Scottish Government and National Shipbuilding Office will continue to explore if such information is held centrally by the UK Government.