Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is determined to support businesses during this time, and we are offering a package of support worth £2.2 billion for businesses who can now claim rates relief and apply for one-off grants to help them deal with the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

Estate agents will be able to benefit from the 1.6% universal rates relief in 2020-21, which will apply automatically to their non-domestic rates bills.

Small estate agents claiming the Small Business Bonus Scheme or Rural Relief may also be eligible for a £10,000 one-off business support grant in 2020-21.

Waste charges are the responsibility of individual local authorities and therefore any relief from charges for depositing waste at council facilities is a matter for local authorities to decide upon.

We welcome the common sense decision to postpone COP26. Given the global health and economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that hosting an international conference in November would be difficult if not impossible. The decision also means that much needed resources can be focussed on the immediate task of saving lives and protecting the economy.

It is critical that COP26 increases global ambition to tackle climate change. The Scottish Government hopes that a date can be agreed shortly that allows the world to focus on the immediate priority of Covid-19 ensuring an ambitious COP26 can be delivered.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing the circular economy in Scotland, including opportunities to promote reuse. We are continuing to pursue a number of key initiatives including the Circular Economy Investment Fund to stimulate business innovation; the ‘Revolve’ reuse quality standard for shops selling second-hand goods; and our Food Waste Reduction Action Plan.

The Scottish Government is committed to achieving safer road travel in Scotland for all. We note that traffic flows have greatly reduced since non-essential travel was prohibited during the COVID-19 outbreak and therefore the Scottish Government has not considered reducing speed limits at the current time. However, it is vitally important that motorists continue to take care while making any journeys that are absolutely necessary for essential reasons.

Preparations for COP26 are well underway, but significant adaptation to how we engage with partners and stakeholders has been made to reflect the public health emergency that we now find ourselves in the midst of. The situation is having serious implications both for the health of the nation and our economy. In this changed landscape, governments, globally are taking stringent measures to halt the spread of the virus. The current position remains that the summit is due to take place in Glasgow, November 2020.

We will continue to work with partners and will be guided by scientific advice in the run-up to the event but our immediate concern, as would be expected, is in dealing with immediate impact of the virus.

As autonomous institutions, universities do not have to follow the same pattern for exams. However, we know there is considerable engagement across the sector at this time, as institutions try to work together to deal with the range of issues arising from the impact of COVID-19.

The Scottish Funding Council is engaging with institutions on COVID-19 related issues on a daily basis and my officials are also speaking regularly with sector representatives at this time.

Our consultation on the Bill did not recommend inclusion of a right to food but proposed that Scottish Ministers should be obliged to have regard to international obligations, which are wider than just the right to food, when developing statements of policy on food.

The Scottish Government looks forward to welcoming the world to Glasgow for COP26 – a critical moment in the global fight against climate change. It is important that COP26 is inclusive and has representatives from the Global South, who play a key role in tackling the global climate emergency and meeting the sustainable development goals.

The Scottish Government will seek to develop a programme of opportunities where all voices can be heard in a respectful and collaborative way. We will also encourage the UK Government to provide assistance and ensure the process of securing visas is as easy as possible, and so that delegates from around the world are able to attend COP 26.

The Scottish Government has a wide range of funding streams that refugee support organisations can apply to for appropriate projects.

Through the equality budget, the Scottish Government allocated over £2.7 million to organisations supporting refugees and people seeking asylum from 2017 to 30 September 2020. Arrangements for future funding will be announced soon.