Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24110 on 18 January 2024. 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 .

Scottish Ministers met with the Scottish Hospitality Group on several occasions in advance of the Scottish Budget 2024-25.

The Scottish Hospitality Group are represented on the New Deal for Business Non-Domestic Rates consultative sub-group which is chaired by the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance who has portfolio responsibility for non-domestic rates. The sub-group has met regularly, and the meetings of 3 October and 24 November provided the opportunity for members, including the Scottish Hospitality Group, to share their views specifically on non-domestic rates in advance of the Scottish Budget 2024-25. The Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance also met with members of the Scottish Hospitality Group’s board on 12 December to discuss the Scottish Budget 2024-25.

On 29 November, the Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade met with the Scottish Hospitality Group and other key hospitality bodies to hear first-hand about the current issues facing the sector.Ministers value the insights provided by the trade bodies representing hospitality businesses and are aware of their asks and concerns.

The Scottish Government recognised that damage from flooding during the autumn of 2023 extended into parts of the Highlands and for this reason the eligible area of the Agricultural Floodbank scheme has been extended to include Highland Speyside.

In June this year, a delivery action plan was announced aimed at ramping up tree planting levels. This included a £1 million investment by Scottish Forestry to provide comprehensive training for its staff to speed up the woodland creation application process.

Other measures announced include increasing the level of support for smaller scale woodland projects, providing more advice and support for farmers, refreshed community engagement guidance and more support for riparian planting.

I will chair a Woodland Creation Summit on 12 December, with industry leaders and stakeholders directly involved in woodland creation, which will look at the opportunities for growing more trees and also look at overcoming any associated barriers in meeting the woodland creation targets.

To date this year, Scottish Forestry has provided regulatory approval for over 11,200 hectares worth of new woodland applications, which already exceeds last year’s total, with more approvals expected.

As stated in my answer to S6W-18715 all correspondence with the Committee will be made publicly available. My letter of 16 June setting out the findings of the gateway review and the Scottish Government response is available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-6-net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2023/scotlands-deposit-return-scheme-16-june-2023 .

I also wrote to the Committee on 28 June to provide them with as full a version of the gateway review as I am able, given we have been obliged to make some redactions to protect the commercial interests of the parties involved. The letter and gateway review are available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2023/drs-gateway-review-28-june-2023.pdf .

All correspondence received by the Committee is published on the Parliament’s website and is therefore publicly available. Gateway reviews are routine components of the Scottish Government’s approach to project management, providing a snapshot of implementation progress. As I set out in my letter of 9 June to the Committee, given the decision by the current UK Government to exclude glass and to set out interoperability conditions, the pathway on which we are now embarked is very different from the context in which the Gateway Review was carried out, and, very different from that in which we sought to frame our response to the Review. Given the very clear call from all stakeholders for certainty, it is important to make sure that our response to the Review best reflects the position we are now in. I will ensure this is provided to Committee before Parliamentary recess.

The Scottish Government has taken into account the findings of the gateway review commenced in March 2023 and has taken action to address the issues raised. A letter and plan of action which outline how the Scottish Government has addressed or plans to address the recommendations will be sent to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee imminently.

The recent Policy Prospectus confirmed the Government’s continuing, strong commitment to matters covered by the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands portfolio, and set out actions that government is taking across a number of portfolios in order to create jobs, strengthen food production and food security, and support repopulation and green skills development in our rural communities – boosting the rural and coastal economy.

The Prospectus highlights a number of these commitments, including around Housing, where we will ensure that at least 10% of our 110,000 affordable homes target in remote, rural and island communities. We are also making available up to £25 million in a demand led fund targeted at affordable homes for key workers, such as those working in the public sector and emergency services; and the £30 million Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community groups.

The Rural Delivery Plan, that we will publish by the end of this Parliament, will further confirm how this Government is delivering for Scotland’s rural, island and coastal communities.

The composition of the ministerial team and the allocation of portfolio responsibilities are routinely kept under review by the First Minister and shift as a variety of factors require.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is a separately constituted statutory body, independent from the Scottish Ministers, that has primary regulatory responsibility for protecting and improving the environment. Scottish Ministers are not responsible for SEPA’s operational matters, including the exercise of its enforcement functions. It is up to SEPA to consider its enforcement position in relation to this matter.

As a non-Police specialist reporting agency, SEPA has the option to submit reports to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Both SEPA and COPFS are clear that such enforcement action is a last resort, used for the most significant offending. SEPA is an independent regulatory agency and is not required to consult with COPFS or others when taking regulatory positions. This includes the published position concerning online takeback for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which provides reassurance to retailers that no enforcement action will be taken by SEPA with respect to DRS takeback obligations whilst this aspect of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 is under review.

The Scottish Government plans to carry out a further Gateway Review during week commencing 13 March 2023, in line with the last Assurance of Action Plan report’s recommendations for a review to take place in February 2023, or close to that date. The Scottish Government will consider carefully the recommendations from this review, and will share these and its response with the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee in due course.