Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working with COSLA through the Joint Working Group on public engagement on Council Tax Reform. We have procured the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) to carry out expert and independent analysis to support this work.

The analysis is planned to be published in September 2025, in advance of any engagement activity. The budget for this independent analysis is £49,750, and is being managed within the existing resources.

The Scottish Government is not planning to undertake a Council Tax revaluation. Any suggestion of a revaluation could only proceed if a broad political consensus in favour existed – no such consensus currently exists.

Any changes to Council Tax must also be informed by robust evidence and wide public consultation. Our joint programme of engagement with COSLA on options for reform is intended to inform that public debate. This process will run for a number of years. Consequently, any substantial reform thereafter, including any suggestion of revaluation, would require a mandate from a Scottish Parliament Election and will not be possible this decade.

The powers relevant are contained within the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and related regulations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38980 on 23 July 2025. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Fair Work First principles are included in the Northern Isles Ferry Service (NIFS3) contract, including the support of progressive workforce engagement, such as Trade Union recognition and representation where possible, or otherwise alternative arrangements to give staff an effective voice.

CMAL are not the employer of any seafarers working on either MV Hellier or MV Hildasay.

The Northern Isles Ferry Services contract sets out the requirement for a Revised Base Case exercise. Transport Scotland and Serco NorthLink completed the contractual requirement to rebase the bid submission figures for Contract Years 7 & 8. As the costs were agreed by Ministers the contract runs to 30 June 2028.

Scottish Ministers require that those who deliver public contracts adopt fair employment practices for all workers engaged on delivering these contracts. Crew on board the freight vessels MV Helliar and MV Hildasay continue to benefit from the principles set out in the Fair Work Framework such as; access to training, genuine workforce engagement and payment of at least the Living Wage. Transport Scotland hold regular meetings with SNF to cover a variety of matters, including updates on union and employment issues. Scottish Ministers regularly engage with Trade Unions.

With a view to assessing the value for public money and the impact of our investment to date, we commissioned an independent evaluation of the impact of the fund in its first two years of operation. The report, which will be published shortly, emphasised the enabling role of the Fund in delivering a just transition to net zero in region.

Its findings indicate the Fund has created and safeguarded at least 230 jobs, opened up more than 750 training places via skills-focused projects and, attracted over £30 million in private investment and £4.7m in public and third sector investment from £43 million of initial JTF investment.

These are the initial impacts of the Fund and we are confident that job numbers, investment leverage and other key outputs will increase as projects continue.

Since its inception in 2022, the Scottish Government has allocated Just Transition Fund support to the North East and Moray as follows:

• 2022 - 2023: £10 million
• 2023 - 2024: £50 million
• 2024 - 2025: £12.172 million
• 2025 - 2026: £15.9 million

Shipping safety and marine traffic management are matters largely reserved to the UK Government. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible for shipping regulations and safety in UK waters, including tracking marine traffic in UK waters.