Chamber and committees

The draft Budget set out yesterday ensures the estimated revenues raised from non-domestic rates in 2026-27 will be 6% lower in real terms than pre-COVID, using the Consumer Price Index, and introduces the lowest Basic Property Rate for 2026-27 since 2018-19. It decreases the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates in 2026-27, delivering the lowest Basic Property Rate since 2018-19.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting communities experiencing rapid population growth and recognise that inclusive and connected communities are a ‘must-have’ for a resilient, safe and thriving Scotland.

Through our Population Programme’s ‘More Balanced Population’ strand, we also work with partners to monitor demographic changes and support the delivery of sustainable services. This includes targeted funding of £427,500 in the current year for project delivery which responds to local need around key topics such as housing, skills and childcare in areas affected by population decline.

These actions all deliver on Scotland’s Population Strategy and its commitment to balanced growth, ensuring that population change strengthens communities, maintains cohesion and supports long-term resilience.

We are also providing an additional £300,000 this year to support grassroots projects that are uniting people from different backgrounds, cultures and faiths, in addition to £7.9 million already allocated to third sector organisations to support anti-racism work, interfaith dialogue, hate crime prevention and asylum and refugee integration projects.

The Scottish Government is doing everything within its power to ensure that the renewable energy opportunity for Scotland is realised.

In offshore wind, we continue to work to provide investors with policy certainty. We have consulted on proposals to update Scotland’s offshore wind ambition and will publish an updated Offshore Wind Policy Statement setting out an updated ambition for Scotland in 2026. We have committed significant investment to support offshore wind infrastructure and the supply chain in Scotland. To date, we have unlocked almost £900m of investment: our own investment of almost £150 million is crowding in a further £70m from UK public finance institutions and leveraging up to £670 million in private investment.

Where a decision by the UK Government is required to enable manufacturing proposals to move forward, we await the timely outcome of that process.

Through the Colleges Tripartite Alignment Group, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), along with Colleges Scotland, regularly discuss issues in the sector, including funding. I value this collaboration and met with the Group in December.

The Scottish Government intends to publish a multi-year Scottish Spending Review (SSR), alongside the 2026-27 Scottish Budget on 13 January. Our focus in the SSR is to align government spending with the delivery of our four priorities: eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency, and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services. We recognise the benefit of providing longer term financial plans to support organisational planning across Scotland. We are keen to provide as much certainty as possible but must carefully balance this against the risk that spending plans may be disrupted by external events. We are carefully considering the level of detail provided in the SSR.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on staffing levels, operational decisions are for individual colleges to determine.

Colleges are responsible for making workforce-related decisions in line with legislative requirements, the Code of Good Governance for Scotland’s Colleges and the Scottish Funding Council’s Financial Memoranda. Such decisions are made in response to the changing needs of the local economy and industry skills demands, as well as ensuring the institution is financially sustainable.

The Scottish Government is reforming the post-school education and skills system, including the introduction of a new Scottish Government-led approach to national skills planning, and strengthening regional skills planning, to ensure that post school provision becomes more responsive to Scotland’s strategic skills needs and priorities.

Alongside reform, we are taking targeted action to meet urgent skills needs in specific sectors. For example, we are investing up to £2 million to develop engineering skills in the Glasgow City Region through a programme led by Clyde Maritime Cluster, and the defence sector, with Skills Development Scotland. Member authorities, led by Inverclyde Council, are leading on engagement with local employability partnerships to identify individuals who would benefit; and offer training opportunities through interventions including Skills Academies, paid work experience and guaranteed interviews. We are also investing £3.5 million in colleges to provide courses in important skills in offshore wind and social care via the Offshore Wind and Care Skills Programmes, with the intention of creating industry-leading new courses and upskilling students across the country. These interventions are designed to support progression into sustainable employment and align with Fair Work and inclusive growth objectives.

Operational decisions such as curriculum delivery are the responsibility of individual colleges.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with companies in the offshore wind supply chain. Our strategic investment in critical enabling infrastructure and supply chain facilities is leveraging significant private investment and crowding in additional funding from UK public finance institutions. Under our Just Transition Fund, our 2025-26 projects have a particular focus on enabling offshore wind infrastructure and the wider supply chain, as does our funding for the Energy Transition Zone.

Our enterprise agencies work closely with companies through innovation accelerators including the Launch Academy and CAN-DO feasibility funding calls as well as through manufacturing factsheets and masterclasses. And our agencies’ demand-led programmes connect offshore wind projects with innovative Scottish floating wind technology and service providers.

Offshore wind developers have made commitments to invest an average of £1.5bn in Scotland per project across the ScotWind projects. We expect developers to honour their Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) commitments, which were a condition of their being awarded Lease Option Agreements.

Much of the law on prosecution and punishment of road traffic offences is reserved to the UK Government (UKG). However, the Scottish Government continues to discuss the importance of implementing Road Traffic Diversionary Course (RTDC) which includes Speed Awareness Courses, with the UKG.

Since this area of law is reserved, officials are actively engaging with the UK Government through a dedicated steering group to progress the development of proposals and to introduce these courses in Scotland.

While a date for the commencement of these courses has not yet been finalised, we are committed to working with the UKG to bring forward legislative change as soon as possible.

My sympathies go to anyone bereaved after a loved one endured a long A&E wait. The Scottish Government recognises the link between prolonged waits and increased risk of harm. We monitor A&E performance through weekly data and operational reviews, analysing factors such as bed occupancy, delayed discharge, workforce pressures and seasonal demand. This informs actions to reduce delays and improve patient flow.

We acknowledge the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s modelling, which estimates excess deaths associated with long waits. While based on modelling rather than case reviews, it highlights the need to address underlying causes. Our analysis shows high bed occupancy and delayed discharge are key drivers, compounded by winter pressures. To tackle these, we have invested £220 million in 2025-26 to improve hospital flow, reduce waiting times and expand community care, including frailty services and Hospital at Home. I will meet RCEM later this month to discuss ongoing improvements.

I met with the UK Minister for Energy Consumers most recently on 3 December during which the Warm Homes Plan was discussed.

In its advice to the Scottish Government on Scotland’s Carbon Budgets, the Climate Change Committee noted that “Making electricity cheaper, through rebalancing prices to remove policy levies from electricity bills, is a key recommendation the Committee have made to the UK Government and will be essential to delivering Scotland’s targets, in tandem with action by the Scottish Government.”

It is therefore legitimate that the Scottish Parliament should be able to consider the Heat in Buildings Bill in the context of the Warm Homes Plan and any UK-wide action that may be taken to make electricity cheaper. We will therefore continue to press the UK Government to share more information on the timing and content of the Plan in order to bring forward legislation whilst ensuring the transition to clean heat is affordable and deliverable.