Chamber and committees

As substantial financial pressures persist, we are unable to confirm whether it is possible to provide financial support to fund the planned expansion of the Scottish Events Campus (SEC). However, we continue to be open to further engagement with the SEC, which has an excellent track record and reputation for hosting conferences, concerts and events, ranking highly as it does in the global Pollstar rankings and contributing to Scotland’s reputation as The Perfect Stage.

£636,431.99 has been spent to date.

It was not possible to support all of the submitted projects within the available budget. There is currently no scope to support the reserved projects however should additional budget become available this will be considered. As part of the pipeline approach reserved projects can be considered for support in future years, subject to annual budget availability.

In the financial year 2024-2025, there was one banning order granted for tobacco and five banning orders granted for vapes.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has now entered into committee stage in the House of Lords. Following the conclusion of the Bill’s passage through Westminster, we expect to consult on the extension of restrictions on smoke-free places.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has now entered into committee stage in the House of Lords. Following the conclusion of the Bill’s passage through Westminster, we expect to consult on the extension of restrictions on smoke-free places.

Public sources of information indicate that BAE Systems is among the contenders to supply new frigates for the Royal Norwegian Navy. No discussions have taken place between BAE Systems, the UK Government and the Scottish Government on partnership in the Type 26 Norway frigate campaign. However, given the potential industrial and employment opportunities for Scotland are significant, officials from the UK and Scottish Governments have held constructive informal discussions around how the bid might be best supported.

The law underpinning judicial review of administrative action in Scotland is devolved and within the control of the Scottish Parliament. Judicial review functions are within the framework of Scots administrative law, with the power held by the Court of Session.

The time limit for judicial review is set out in the Court of Session Act 1988. The Act provides a three-month time limit for actions to be brought and where it is equitable to do so, allows the court to accept petitions out with this time limit.

The three-month time limit was introduced via the Court Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, following consultation, as this struck an appropriate balance of avoiding unnecessary delay whilst maintaining access to justice.

While the three-month time limit is the ‘standard’ period for bringing a judicial review, the 2014 Act allows for different periods to be set for particular cases. This is relevant as the time period for bringing a judicial review against any decision on any planning application or appeal determined by the Scottish Ministers is six weeks. This is set out in section 239 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

The substantive laws regarding the grounds of judicial review in Scotland are similar to those in England and Wales, however the Scottish Government will not express a view about the position in England and Wales.

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.