Chamber and committees

Scottish Government's CivTech Programme, has invested in diverse technologies that include Web 3.0, and has attracted over 90% of its participants from innovative start ups and SMEs, including participants from the USA, India, Finland, Greece, Italy and Spain, many of whom have gone on to set up Scottish bases. The Scottish Government has also provided funding support to the Scottish GovTech Cluster, which aims to support collaboration within the technology sector focused on connecting government agencies, businesses, researchers, academia and all other groups and individuals wishing to use technology (including Web 3.0) to improve and transform public services. The Scottish GovTech Cluster are working to attract investment both from within Scotland and from outside the country matching businesses and researchers with funding opportunities and provide support to help them secure investment.

We invest expert staff time in continuing to advise and support Scottish Enterprise’s work coordinating private sector activity on Web 3.0 technologies, through its Digital Trust Scotland - Blockchain Taskforce. The work of Scottish Enterprise produced a report in May 2023, Blockchain In Scotland Landscape Overview , which demonstrates the comprehensive engagement we have through this Taskforce. Hence, through involvement in the Taskforce, we would expect to have opportunity to provide more support where there are gaps identified that clearly lead to economic impacts.

We recognise that one potential private investment channel available for Web 3.0 companies is digital assets - for example cryptographic utility tokens. Our Financial Services/FinTech team are currently addressing related policy questions around Digital Assets in Scots Private Law. We would expect this work give Web 3.0 businesses in Scotland more legal clarity about such funding mechanisms.

We recognise the pioneering research and private investment in Web 3.0 technologies across Scotland. Nevertheless, our focus in applying digital technologies for Public Service Reform is based on an understanding of end-to-end services and user needs, rather than committing to use particular technologies.

We invest expert staff time in continuing to advise and support Scottish Enterprise’s work coordinating private sector activity on Web 3.0 technologies, through its Digital Trust Scotland - Blockchain Taskforce. The work of Scottish Enterprise produced a report in May 2023, Blockchain In Scotland Landscape Overview , which demonstrates the comprehensive engagement we have through this Taskforce. Hence, through involvement in the Taskforce, we would expect to have opportunity to provide more support where there are gaps identified that clearly lead to economic impacts.

The Scottish Government’s CivTech Programme enables research, development and commercialisation between the public sector, industry, regulators and academia across a broad range of technologies, including Web 3.0 approaches where they are relevant.

Through open innovation challenges delivered by the CivTech programme a range of innovative start ups and SMEs have worked with Public Sector bodies including Scottish Government Departments, Local Authorities and Non Departmental Public Bodies to develop experimental technologies which use Web 3.0 approaches on a range of issues including,

• tracking of Scope 3 Carbon Emissions,

• Building Standards certification processes,

• helping people access support they are entitled to and

• high integrity approaches to Nature Finance.

The CivTech programme has a strong track record in developing innovative technologies to solving challenges faced by the public sector while creating jobs and opportunities for new innovative businesses.

The Scottish Government has also provided funding support to the Scottish GovTech Cluster, which aims to support collaboration within the technology sector focused on connecting government agencies, businesses, researchers, academia and all other groups and individuals wishing to use technology (including Web 3.0) to improve and transform public services. The Scottish GovTech Cluster are working to attract investment both from within Scotland and from outside the country matching businesses and researchers with funding opportunities and provide support to help them secure investment.

We recognise that one potential private investment channel available for Web 3.0 companies is digital assets - for example cryptographic utility tokens. Our Financial Services/FinTech team are currently addressing related policy questions around Digital Assets in Scots Private Law. We would expect this work give Web 3.0 businesses in Scotland more legal clarity about such funding mechanisms.

We recognise the pioneering research and private investment in Web 3.0 technologies across Scotland. Nevertheless, our focus in applying digital technologies for Public Service Reform is based on an understanding of end-to-end services and user needs, rather than committing to use particular technologies.

We invest expert staff time in continuing to advise and support Scottish Enterprise’s work coordinating private sector activity on Web 3.0 technologies, through its Digital Trust Scotland - Blockchain Taskforce. The work of Scottish Enterprise produced a report in May 2023, Blockchain In Scotland Landscape Overview , which demonstrates the comprehensive engagement we have through this Taskforce. Hence, through involvement in the Taskforce, we would expect to have opportunity to provide more support where there are gaps identified that clearly lead to economic impacts.

Scottish Government's CivTech Programme, has invested in diverse technologies that include Web 3.0, and has attracted over 90% of its participants from innovative start ups and SMEs, many of whom have gone on to set up Scottish bases. The Scottish Government has also provided funding support to the Scottish GovTech Cluster, which aims to support collaboration within the technology sector focused on connecting government agencies, businesses, researchers, academia and all other groups and individuals wishing to use technology (including Web 3.0) to improve and transform public services. The Scottish GovTech Cluster are working to attract investment both from within Scotland and from outside the country matching businesses and researchers with funding opportunities and provide support to help them secure investment.

We recognise that one potential private investment channel available for Web 3.0 companies is digital assets - for example cryptographic utility tokens. Our Financial Services/FinTech team are currently addressing related policy questions around Digital Assets in Scots Private Law. We would expect this work give Web 3.0 businesses in Scotland more legal clarity about such funding mechanisms.

The Scottish Government continues to work towards meeting 2013 and 2020 household recycling targets.

To help us meet our targets, the Circular Economy Bill and draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map set out further measures to improve and modernise local recycling services and drive up reuse and recycling rates.

This Bill also includes a commitment – in line with advice from the Climate Change Committee – to set new circular economy targets from 2025 so they are future proofed, support our work to tackle the climate emergency and help us measure progress in reducing emissions.

The Scottish Government has committed to publishing an update on progress on the Investor Panel recommendations and intends to do this in the coming months. The update will be published on the Scottish Government’s Investor Panel webpage.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water is currently developing its Long Term Strategy, due for publication in January 2025, which will include the investment requirements for addressing the forecast supply-demand deficits through demand reduction activities, increased connectivity between supply systems and potentially new water sources.

Scottish Water is also working on a zonal model which will inform the strategic choices for managing their supply-demand balance. Scottish Water is in the middle of the detailed planning activities and will be in a position to respond to the specifics of this query by the end of December 2024/early in 2025.

Scotland continues to use public procurement to achieve a vast range of positive economic, social and environmental outcomes making Scotland a better place to live, work and do business.

Latest available figures show that our £16 billion public procurement spend generated around £13.8 billion pounds of economic activity for Scotland and supported around 130,000 full time equivalent jobs.

Spend in Scotland alone was £8.9 billion and, where relevant details are known, 55% of this was with SMEs, and almost half was with businesses in the 60% most disadvantaged areas in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to maintaining alignment with the EU where such alignment would be possible and meaningful in protecting and advancing the standards we share.

On waste management sources of energy, where waste is unavoidable and unrecyclable, the Scottish Government’s aim is to recover the highest value, while minimising as far as possible the environmental impacts of managing this waste, including through energy recovery. The second report of the Review of the Role Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy made recommendations on the decarbonisation of residual waste, and the Scottish Government accepted these recommendations in full or in principle, including on the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, ending the unnecessary incineration of plastic, incentivising heat networks and supporting the development of Carbon Capture Utilisation Storage (CCUS).

On heat networks, the Heat Network Support Unit, sponsored by the Scottish Government, supports heat network projects through the pre-capital stages of development through advice and funding. This support includes offering advice and grant funding for developing feasibility studies, Outline Business Cases (OBCs) and project commercialisation. The HNSU has supported several projects that seek to utilise excess heat from Energy from Waste facilities. This includes a recent feasibility study with Glasgow City Council, exploring the opportunity to utilise heat from the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC). Through Scotland’s Heat Network Fund and its predecessor the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, the Scottish Government has provided approximately £32.8 million combined funding for heat networks which utilise recovered heat, including two projects using recovered heat from waste facilities in both Aberdeen and Midlothian and a project recovering Heat from a Waste water treatment facility in Stirling. In addition, the Scottish Government, in collaboration with Scottish
‎ Enterprise, will shortly publish a guidance document which provides information about how we can improve the capture and utilisation of heat from industrial and commercial processes.

In taking these things forward we will of course be mindful of existing and new EU legislation, like the EU Waste Framework Directive, Industrial Emissions Directive and Renewable Energy Directive.

The second report of the Review of the Role Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy can be found here: 1 Introduction - Decarbonisation of residual waste infrastructure: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The Government Response to the second report of the Review of the Role Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy: Supporting documents - Decarbonisation of residual waste infrastructure: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The circumstances for the use of the direction-making powers in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are not set out in legislation, nor are they a matter of convention. In deciding whether or not to use these powers, Ministers would consider a range of factors, including carbon reduction goals and capacity needs, and would also take into account SEPA’s role and statutory functions as Scotland’s independent environmental regulator.