Chamber and committees

I discussed the subject of the HSE improvement notice at a meeting with the SFRS Chair and Chief Officer on 6 March. I received and welcome the reassurances provided that SFRS is committed to addressing the concerns raised through the formation of a working group to ensure robust management of actions planned to meet the requirements of the improvement notice. SFRS is engaging with HSE, local councillors, staff and unions on this subject.

The recently passed Scottish Budget for 2025-26 includes £412.2 million for SFRS, £47m of which is capital funding. In terms of capital funding this is a £4 million increase over 2025-26 which will allow SFRS to continue to invest in better facilities, property, fleet and equipment. Operational decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the SFRS board and Chief Officer.

I visited Salmar Aker Ocean’s Ocean Farm One, the world’s first offshore salmon farm, in Norway in August 2023, where I learned about high farmed fish survival rates, alongside reduced environmental impacts, made possible through farming in higher energy locations.

SalMar Ocean (previously Salmar Aker Ocean) has since met with the Scottish Government to discuss the consenting process for developing a salmon farm between 3 – 12 nautical miles.

Alongside work which builds on the fish farm consenting pilots aimed at delivering improvements to our consenting system, we have also been working to address regulatory gaps and to consider the long-term policy and regulatory framework required to support ‘offshore’ salmon farming in Scotland, as committed to in our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture.

This includes our recent consultation on proposals to extend marine planning zones, to allow developers to submit planning applications for aquaculture developments out to 12 nautical miles to the relevant local planning authority. Results of the consultation are currently being analysed and will be published in due course.

Due to the innovative nature of the proposed development, Scottish Government officials and aquaculture regulators have met with the business to advise on consenting processes.

The Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate routinely inspect Scottish and non-Scottish vessels based on risk. Under remote electronic monitoring for pelagic vessels, this will include analysis of catch data compared with vessel capacity. Additionally, targeted analysis will be undertaken where there is relevant intelligence. Standard enforcement procedures will be invoked where offences are detected. This may include requiring pelagic vessels to facilitate an inspection at sea or in port. On occasions, it might be a requirement to detain a pelagic vessel in port, especially when the master is non-domiciled to the UK.

The draft Shetland Regional Marine Plan has been through public consultation and work to ensure the final plan is adoptable is advancing.

Officials will continue to work constructively with Shetland Marine Planning Partnership to refine and develop their plan with an aim to seek approval of the Scottish Ministers for adoption in 2025.

Mandatory remote electronic monitoring (REM) requirements for pelagic fishing trips come into force on 7 March 2026. The legislation can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2024/165/contents/made

From this date Scottish pelagic vessels covered by the legislation will be required to have a fully operational REM system for the duration of all relevant fishing trips wherever they are fishing.

For non-Scottish pelagic vessels the legislation requires an REM system to be fully operational for the duration of all relevant fishing trips in the Scottish zone.

Technical specifications for REM systems as set out at https://www.gov.scot/publications/pelagic-fishing-remote-electronic-monitoring-technical-specifications/

Scottish Government officials wrote to all CLLD delivery stakeholders on 18 December 2024 to extend the deadline to submit final claims to 14 April 2025.

The deadline is aligned with Scottish Government end of year financial procedures. This allows for payment of claims to be attributed to the financial year in which they were budgeted, which is a financial standard required by audit.

Scottish Government officials wrote to all CLLD delivery stakeholders on 18 December 2024 to extend the deadline to submit final claims to 14th April 2025.

The deadline is aligned with Scottish Government end of year financial procedures. This allows for payment of claims to be attributed to the financial year in which they were budgeted, which is a financial standard required by audit.

The announcement of the second tranche of 2024-25 Community Led Local Development (CLLD) funding totalling £4.25m was provided to all delivery stakeholders on the 27 November 2024 and grant letters with details of their funding awards were issued to all areas on 28th November.

This was later than the Government would have liked, owing to the extremely challenging financial position across the public sector through 2024-25 and the announcement of expenditure controls in August. This required further review of all expenditure. Fortunately the second tranche was able to go ahead.

We recognise that this has compressed the timescales for delivery and have provided an extension to the final deadline for submitting payment claims to Scottish Government.

Social Security Scotland has an established process for requesting information from GPs. The initial request will always be sent through the Scottish Care Information Gateway system, unless we are informed otherwise. If no response is received Social Security Scotland will contact the GP by telephone and send the request via letter if required.

Social Security Scotland recognise the complexity of using that system, and the challenges GPs and the wider health and social care sector face in responding to information requests. They are actively working on engagement to increase awareness of Social Security Scotland and to identify potential improvements in how they can gather supporting information to ensure applications are processed as quickly and effectively as possible.

This engagement activity has started, utilising in-house Health and Social Care Practitioners to offer discussions at the GP practice when they are in contact about one of their patients.

Social Security Scotland will continue to work with senior leaders in Health & Social Care Partnerships and Health Boards in 2025 to offer similar meetings to raise awareness and understand how we can improve communication.

All homes and businesses across Scotland should be able to access, as a minimum, a superfast broadband connection through commercially available or publicly subsidised terrestrial or non-terrestrial services. This includes fixed broadband services such as full fibre and fixed wireless products, as well as 4G mobile and satellite solutions. The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is available to support residents and business owners who cannot currently access, or are not in plans to receive, a fixed superfast broadband service. If there are issues pertaining to specific premises, please do highlight these to the R100 Team through our website at https://digitalconnectivity.campaign.gov.scot/.