Chamber and committees

On 28 May 2025 the Chief Executive and Accountable Officer of Historic Environment Scotland informed the Scottish Government that her absence from work which had begun on 2 May 2025 would be greater than four weeks, and that she expected to be absent for a further period. In doing so she also confirmed that during this period there would be no major events or matters planned which would require Accountable Officer approval.

Regarding the continued absence of the Accountable Officer at Historic Environment Scotland, I wrote to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Convenor on 17 December following publication of Audit Scotland’s Section 22 Report about Historic Environment Scotland, setting out the circumstances around this extended absence of an Accountable Officer. That letter is now on record and published on the Parliament website. Historic Environment Scotland Accountable Officer | Scottish Parliament Website

As stated in my letter to CEEAC, the Historic Environment Scotland, Chief Executive and Accountable Officer (Katerina Brown) resumed her Accountable Officer duties on 20 October 2025.

The Scottish Government continually works with stakeholders to understand the impacts of the many factors affecting Scotland’s high streets, including Scottish and UK taxes.

That is why in the draft Budget, published on 13 January, we announced plans to reduce the non-domestic property rate that retailers will be liable for, delivering the lowest Basic Property Rate since 2018-19.

We are, however, taking this course of action without the full economic powers needed to fully address the issues facing Scotland’s economy, and have called on the UK Government to take action to reverse its damaging decision to increase employers’ national insurance contributions, and to remove barriers for the re-use and re-development of town centre buildings through a review of the rate of VAT for the refurbishment of existing buildings.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the current and future skills needs of the economy, respecting that operational decisions such as course provision are a matter for individual colleges.

The Draft Budget 2026-27 invests over £2.4bn in post school education and skills. Scotland’s colleges will see a combined increase of £70m in resource and capital funding, equivalent to a 10% uplift on last year’s budget.

I will continue to work closely and collaboratively with Colleges Scotland, learners, and the wider sector, to support skills development and ensure a successful and sustainable future for our colleges.

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 draft Budget, published on 13 January, does reduce the non-domestic property rate that retailers will be liable for, delivering the lowest Basic Property Rate since 2018-19. As a result of the decisions in the Budget, it is estimated the revenues raised from non-domestic rates will be 6% lower in real terms in 2026-27 than pre-COVID and 0.3% lower in real terms than the revenues collected in 2010-11, using the Consumer Price Index.

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.

Scotland’s Road Safety Framework 2030 contains a commitment to implement speed awareness courses in Scotland as part of a broader roll-out of Road Traffic Diversionary Courses, which aim to divert ‘low-level’ road traffic offenders from punishment into education to prevent re-offending and help equip participants to change their behaviour towards speed and can also reduce pressure on the criminal justice system.

In August 2024, a multi-agency steering group, led by Transport Scotland officials, was convened to consider the implications and requirements of introducing RTDCs in Scotland. The group contains representation from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and Police Scotland.

In November 2024, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) published their thematic inspection of road policing in Scotland, making the following recommendation: Police Scotland should engage with UK Road Offender Education (UKROEd) and other key stakeholders to progress the full implementation of educational training courses for people who commit driving offences that may be appropriately addressed through learning.

Given that the legislation in this area is not devolved, Transport Scotland have been liaising with Home Office colleagues to confirm where we can assist with the laying of the required legislation in Westminster. The last meeting between Transport Scotland and Home Office officials took place on the 16th December 2025.

Further to this we are in process of discussing and agreeing with key partners areas of policy which will define the detail of legislation and this is unfortunately taking longer than anticipated and we are stressing to all partners the need conclude this.

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.

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.

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.