Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government provided funding to support the efforts of Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland to commemorate the anniversary of VE Day through a concert at the Usher Hall on Tuesday evening. Titled Scotland’s Salute to VE Day 80, this was Scotland’s national commemorative event to mark this anniversary and told of the historic efforts which lead to victory in Europe 80 years ago.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government wrote to MSPs and Local Authorities to highlight the funding being made available from the UK Government to arts organisations across the UK from April to August of this year to share stories of towns, cities and villages during the Second World War, as well as the funding available from the National Lottery Community Fund Awards for grants to host community events, activities and exhibitions to help tell the stories of the Second World War at a local level. I subsequently wrote to local MSPs and Local Authority Veterans Champions to reemphasise this support.

Following the cessation of oil refining at Grangemouth, the Scottish Government is backing a proposal by Unite the Union for an asset review at Grangemouth. Understanding what existing assets could be repurposed is critical to securing the transition, therefore I have written to the UK Government expressing support and calling on them to do the same. My officials have initiated work on this however we will need the consent and support of Petroineos and the UK Government to achieve this, and would urge Paul Sweeney MSP to help with those calls to his colleagues in the UK Government.

The Scottish Budget: 2025-26 published on 4 December 2024 allocated £46.0 million of capital to Ferguson Marine for the financial year commencing 1 April 2025 (with details in Table 9.13: Ferguson Marine Spending Plans (Level 3).

This allocation is designed to cover capital spending associated with completion of the MV Glen Rosa and investment in yard capital equipment and infrastructure in the current financial year. Over the current and next financial years, 2025-26 and
2026-27, the Scottish Government is committed to invest up to £14.2 million in Ferguson Marine’s investment programme subject to standard commercial tests being met.

Work on Ferguson’s investment programme began in December 2024, with approved funding being directed towards addressing essential repairs and new equipment to enhance yard productivity.

The Scottish Government has engaged with Trading Standards throughout the drafting of The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 (the Vapes Regulations).

The Scottish Government has published a range of fire safety guidance applicable to a wide range of premises types, including existing high rise domestic and existing non-residential buildings. Given the complex nature of individual buildings of a height over 60m, specialist fire safety advice should be sought by the duty holder/s if required, including a robust fire risk assessment carried out by a competent assessor who will focus on the nature, use and specific circumstances pertaining to that particular building, as this will vary from one premises to another.

Council tax is a local tax, set and administered by individual local authorities, who had full flexibility in setting rates for 2025-26. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. It is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities. There will be no reduction in the local government finance settlement as a result of extended producer responsibility for packaging payments in the first year of the scheme (2025-26).

Prior to the Refinery’s closure, we understood that significant financial investment would be required to retain refinery operations at Grangemouth. Noting the fiscal constraints within which Scottish Ministers are required to operate, such an intervention would clearly require UK Government action.

Given the expansive fiscal levers at its disposal, the UK Government must exhaust all options at its disposal to ensure a future for the Refinery site.

The Scottish Government engages with both Ineos and Petroineos as a matter of course. We remain open to discussion on all commercial options for the future of the Finnart Terminal and would urge the present owners to engage constructively with any parties with an interest in utilising it in the future.

Extended producer responsibility for packaging funding will be paid directly to local authorities by PackUK (the scheme administrator) and it will be for each local authority to decide how it manages this funding. Under the Verity House Agreement, local government funding in Scotland will not be ring-fenced or directed, unless there is a clear joint understanding to do so. Similarly, council tax is a local tax, set and administered by individual local authorities, who had full flexibility in setting rates for 2025-26. There will be no reduction in the local government finance settlement as a result of extended producer responsibility for packaging payments in the first year of the scheme (2025-26)

Project Willow did not specifically examine the Aker Solutions study focussed on Equinor Refining’s Mongstad facility. However, both hydrogen for fuel switching and the development of sustainable aviation fuel (HEFA and e-fuels) are proposed pathways in Project Willow. The potential usage of hydrogen as a means of decarbonising via fuel switching is already being progressed by Ineos O&P at Grangemouth and is being supported by investment from the Scottish Government of £5 million in the form of grant funding delivered by Scottish Enterprise.