Chamber and committees

Climate finance is key to climate action – as it is essential to allow developing countries to decarbonise in a fair way which supports communities, builds resilience, and addresses loss and damage caused by climate change, in particular frequent devastating weather events.

Scotland was the first nation to commit funds specifically to climate justice, launching the Climate Justice Fund (CJF) in 2012, and committing to trebling it to £36 million over the course of this Parliamentary Term (2021-2026). The Fund is fully committed, with £10 million mobilised to address loss and damage, in line with our commitment to urgently meet the needs of vulnerable communities.

For a full breakdown of allocations, please go to: Climate Justice Fund 2024-2026: allocations - gov.scot.

Health marketing campaigns are one intervention used by the Scottish Government to support the population of Scotland to live healthy and active lives. They typically support wider programmes of activity or run alongside other interventions.

Where possible, marketing campaigns are evaluated using bespoke quantitative research, as well as where appropriate and available, indicators of direct response to a campaign such as visits to a particular website or web pages, calls to a helpline, vaccine uptake, cancer referrals, etc – during the campaign period.

Quantitative research typically provides campaign related metrics such as awareness, recognition, message take-out, engagement and action taken in response. Knowledge, attitudes and claimed behaviour among the target audience are often also measured and sometimes tracked pre to post campaign or over the longer term.

QALY (quality-adjusted life years) is a metric that is typically used in the evaluation of wider programmes of work or longer term interventions, where felt to be appropriate.

There is a long-established practice of Procurators Fiscal instructing the police in their investigation of crime and all suspicious sudden and unexplained deaths.

Investigation and direction may be issued in relation to specific matters in the context of ongoing liaison between the police and Procurators Fiscal who can instruct the police during the course of investigations and when further investigation is required in a case.

This is carried out as routine engagement during the investigative process and as such is not recorded as specific implementation of section 12 of the 1995 Act.

The proposed reforms are intended to increase the quality of applications which are submitted to Scottish Ministers. Doing so, will in turn, allow for faster processing times.

We report emissions from across the economy on an annual basis in the Section A. Introduction to Greenhouse Gases - Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics 2022 - gov.scot. The contribution of farmers, crofters and land managers to reduce emissions and sequester carbon are reflected in the statistics for agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry.

We also complete annual statutory monitoring of the Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) Climate change monitoring report 2023 - gov.scot which outlines progress against our policies and proposals for Scottish agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry sectors contributions to our climate targets.

Our Vision for Agriculture makes clear Scotland will have a robust and coherent framework to underpin our future agricultural support regime from 2025 onwards, that delivers climate mitigation and adaptation, nature restoration and high-quality food production. I fully recognise that many farmers, crofters and land managers undertake low carbon farming practices. We provide financial support as well as guidance and advice for farmers, crofters and land managers to help reduce their emissions through initiatives like the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme and the Farm Advisory Service.

We will continue to support farmers and crofters on their sustainability journey. Importantly, we will maintain direct payments to support active farming and food production while introducing conditions from 2025 aimed at outcomes for biodiversity gain and climate mitigation and adaption. From 2026 powers from the new Agriculture Bill will be used to launch the new Enhanced Payment.

As outlined in the answer to another question raised by the member regarding treatment lengths (S6W-29773 on 3 December 2024), the Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to carry out an evaluation of the Residential Rehabilitation programme.

The Scottish Government are not seeking to increase the number of plans for individual health conditions and are therefore not developing a national allergy strategy. Rather, we are focussed on how we can best support Health Boards to deliver high quality, value-based, person-centred care for all people, irrespective of condition.

Three of the four planned Short Life Working Group meetings have now taken place, and arrangements are currently being made for the final meeting. The group’s work will then inform advice to Ministers, as per the group’s remit.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body supports the reimbursement of pedal cycle mileage expenses for MSP staff in relation to business travel as part of its commitment to sustainable and eco-friendly travel options.

Members may also claim for reimbursement of pedal cycle mileage expenses that occur because of their parliamentary work. The reimbursement rate for bicycle travel is set at 20p per mile which is in line with current HMRC approved mileage rates. This policy aligns with broader efforts by the SPCB to promote green initiatives and supports MSP staff in making environmentally friendly travel choices.

Through our 10-year cancer strategy, the Scottish Government continues to focus on improving cancer survival rates and provide excellent and equitable care for all people facing cancer.

As clear cell carcinoma is not confined to one organ, there is no single management pathway for this type of cancer. Clinical management and treatment of such cancers will be determined by the organ of origin and should therefore follow existing clinical guidelines for those.

We know that person-centred care and support is important and we are committed to supporting patients to deal with the financial, emotional, and physical health effects of cancer. We are working in partnership with Macmillan through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme. The programme ensures that every person with cancer in Scotland has access to a specialist key support worker, who can provide emotional, financial, and practical support to those who need it.