Chamber and committees

Decisions on future funding for third sector organisations dealing with domestic abuse will be confirmed on completion of the budget process later this year.

The Scottish Government is committed to an ongoing programme of land reform, working with the powers and resources available to us, to tackle the pattern of land ownership in Scotland. Communities in Scotland now have more options than ever before to take ownership of land and assets. Since 2016, the Scottish Land Fund has approved 300 awards of funding for the acquisition of land and land assets, totalling over £50m, bringing over 24,500 acres into community ownership.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill introduced into Parliament earlier this year sets out ambitious proposals that will change how land is owned and managed in our rural and island communities for the better. If passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Bill will prohibit certain sales of over 1,000 hectares, until Ministers can consider the impact on the local community. Potentially, this could lead to some landholdings being lotted into smaller parts if this will support community sustainability. The Bill also seeks to empower communities with more opportunities to own land through introducing advance notice of certain sales from large landholdings.

West Lothian Council (WLC) is the Planning Authority, who granted the planning permission in principle for the Winchburgh development in April 2012.

As a statutory consultee, Transport Scotland, acting on behalf of Scottish Ministers, provided a response prior to this decision which included reasonings for why it did not support the provision of a station, at that time.

The content of the Section 75 Agreement and Decision Notice was decided upon by WLC.

Transport Scotland does not have the powers to prevent WLC applying Section 75 developer obligations.

The station proposal is a developer led proposal with planning permission in principle granted by the Planning Authority, in this case West Lothian Council. It is for Winchburgh Developments Limited to progress the above items.

Transport Scotland, utilising its considerable experience of rail infrastructure construction, is currently supporting West Lothian Council and Winchburgh Developments Limited as they look towards identifying a lead promoter, or promoters, and the development of both the station design and business case process.

The two schemes are not related.

The decision by the then Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity to progress the Levenmouth Rail Link was based on the findings of the Levenmouth Sustainable Transport Study.

The study was undertaken in line with Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and provided robust evidence of a Strategic Business Case (SBC) for the Rail Link. The SBC provided the initial stage of the business case for the Rail Link in accordance with Transport Scotland's guidance on the development of business cases, which then progressed through the subsequent stages of the business case process.

The Winchburgh station proposal is developer led. It is for Winchburgh Developments Limited to progress the required business case.

Transport Scotland has fully allocated its budget to rail projects which are currently the Scottish Government’s priorities.

These projects have been subject to review under our Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG).

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of accountability and seeks to ensure that it is built into everything that we do. Regarding monitoring arrangements, the responsibility for oversight of compliance with the Equality Act 2010, including compliance with the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 including Regulation 11, rests with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which has issued guidance on how the Regulations should be applied in practice.

The following public bodies are currently considered to be government advisory groups, in line with the National Public Bodies Directory:

• Boundaries Scotland
• Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
• Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland
• National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB)
• Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland
• Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards
• Scottish Commission on Social Security
• Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel
• Scottish Law Commission
• Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee

Information regarding advisory groups that previously existed is not held centrally, and this response is restricted to those advisory bodies currently in place.

Information regarding expenditure for several of these bodies can be found on their own websites:

Boundaries Scotland

https://boundaries.scot/corporate-documents

Judicial Appointments Board

https://www.judicialappointments.scot/publications

Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland

https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/accessible-transport/mobility-and-access-committee-for-scotland-macs/#42413

Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland

The Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland was established from 1 July 2019. Links to their accounts since this date are as follows:

2019-20 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Annual-Report-Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-2019-20.pdf

2020-21 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-Annual-Report-2020-21.pdf

2021-22 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Annual-Report-Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-2021-2022.pdf

2022-23 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-Annual-Report-2022-23-.pdf

2023-24 https://povertyinequality.scot/publication/the-poverty-and-inequality-commission-annual-report-2023-2024/

Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS)

https://socialsecuritycommission.scot/publications/corporate-documents/

Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel

https://fuelpovertypanel.scot/our-publications/the-scottish-fuel-poverty-advisory-panel-annual-report/

Scottish Law Commission

https://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/publications/annual-report/

The National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board was established in November 2023 and had incurred no expenditure up to 31 March 2024.

The Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards was provided Secretariat provision by the Common Services Agency, which is now known as NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). Information on expenditure for this public body is not held centrally.

The Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee was reconvened in April 2013 after it had previously been stepped down in 2013. Spend on this committee for the financial year 2023-24 was £90,985. Financial information on spend prior to 2013 is not available due to the age of this data and the changes in the finance system since this date.

The pay framework for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is reserved to the UK Government. The level of the basic pay increase to be applied to SCS staff each year is set by the UK Government in response to recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Body, and which the Scottish Government are required to comply with.

From 2017 onwards, the Scottish Government has published details of Senior Civil Servants who are paid a salary of over £100,000. The Cabinet Office have also published the salaries of ‘high earners’, which are those who are paid a salary of £150,000 and higher, since 2010.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Government does not hold any information on senior staff salaries prior to 2009-10, as this information was published by neither Scottish Government nor Cabinet Office. Between 2009-10 and 2012-13, only information on those earning £150k and over is available, based on information published by Cabinet Office. The Scottish Government now has a rigorous publication schedule in place to ensure that senior salaries are published each year.

Local authorities have the freedom to create exemptions and rebates at a local level to suit the needs and demands. When local government and the tourism sector have a strong consensus that there is a need for a specific exemption from the scope of a visitor levy, the Scottish Government will explore delivery in partnership with local government.