Chamber and committees

The National Plan for Scotland’s Islands says that, as part of Strategic Objective 2, the Scottish Government will “Build on Scotland’s National Marine Plan to ensure that fishing and other economic activities stemming from the sea provide increased opportunities for island communities, but at the same time that they are pursued in a sustainable manner.”

We are proposing that HPMAs protect ecosystems and the services they provide, including essential fish and shellfish habitats, which will deliver societal benefits, including for island communities. By being properly designed and located we believe HPMAs would be compatible with, and could contribute to the objectives of, the Islands Plan by providing long term and sustainable benefits for island communities.

As part of our initial consultation on our overall approach to HPMAs, which closed on 17 April, we sought views on a partial Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA). These views will be factored into the ICIA process which can only conclude once specific site proposals have been developed. No sites have been proposed. Site selection will be a participatory process with meaningful island and coastal community engagement at every stage to ensure that any potential differential impacts on islands can be understood and assessed before final site proposals are formally consulted on.

To secure long term economic opportunities from our seas, we must take transformative action to protect and restore nature and broaden our measures of economic success.

Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transition sets out our ambition to become a wellbeing economy that takes a broader view of what it means to be a successful economy, society and country and put people and the planet first and foremost.

Transition to a wellbeing economy means developing an economic system within safe environmental limits which serves and prioritises the collective wellbeing of current and future generations. It means looking beyond GDP to measure other indicators of economic success and viewing economic activity as a means to an end – that of collective wellbeing of people and planet – rather than be considered an end in itself.

The proposals we have consulted on to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas in Scotland’s seas, across both inshore and offshore waters, from east coast to west coast, are one action we are taking to protect and restore nature and secure long term economic opportunities for marine sectors, helping to support achieving the aims of the Strategy.

We have conducted a range of initial impact assessments, including an initial Sustainability Appraisal (composed of a Strategic Environmental Report and a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment); a partial Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) Screening Report; and a partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA). We sought views on these as part of our initial consultation, which closed on 17 April. However, as was noted in the consultation, any specific potential impacts can only be considered in full once specific site proposals have been developed, following close stakeholder and community engagement.

Under the terms of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract CalMac do not report on a target for reliability of services. However, CalMac do report on both Contractual Reliability and Contractual Punctuality.

It is the responsibility of the operator, CalMac Ferries, to conduct negotiations for the charter of a vessel. Scottish Ministers have no involvement in these discussions.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac Ferries continue to pursue any opportunities to bring in additional tonnage to add resilience to the fleet.

No meeting has taken place between my predecessor and the National Farmers Union and subsequently there is no information to publish. The request to meet with the National Farmer’s Union will carry over to me as the new Transport Minister to consider within my parliamentary business.

The weather conditions and condition of the vegetation on the hills and moors of Scotland at this time of year lend themselves to fires starting easily and spreading quickly. This is something the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is very aware of, and has been working closely with a number of key partners on this for some time to establish a common understanding on the risk, prevention measures, and response procedures. Through the auspices of the Scottish Wildfire Forum (SWF), which SFRS chairs, a wildfire danger assessment is carried out every 5-7 days by a third party expert, and when the risk of wildfire reaches very high or extreme then the assessment is circulated across a wide network of key contacts, including public sector and private to ensure as wide a coverage as possible. This information is also used to produce a public facing message that is issued by SFRS across various media channels.

As stated in the response to the member to parliamentary question S6W-15750, climate change is identified as a strategic priority in the Scottish Government’s Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022. The Framework asks SFRS to continue to invest in the provision of specialist resources, technological advancements and forward thinking operational practices to enhance its response to wildfire incidents. It states that SFRS should continue to make use of local assets available to bolster its response during prolonged or widespread incidents such as wildfire.

We are already seeing warming here in Scotland, with more extreme weather events and rising sea levels. As a nation we must continue to adapt to these changes and prepare for the impacts of global climate change which are already locked in. The Scottish Government is responding to the full range of climate risks identified for Scotland through its 2019 Adaptation Programme, which sets out more than 170 policies and proposals to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change as part of our Just Transition to net zero emissions by 2045. We are also preparing our next Programme, in response to the most recent UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, for publication in 2024.

The following table details the support given from the enterprise agencies between 2017 and 2022 to the 5 mountain centres and Snow Factor (currently closed). Please note the drawn down figure can be lower than the overall allocation available from the enterprise agency. This does not include the £7 million in Covid-19 support provided by the Scottish Government.

Trade and Investment Envoys are a voluntarily network of senior business people who offer their time to share their business insights, connections, and expertise to help guide our collective trade and investment effort. They provide a valuable contribution that complements the knowledge and reach of our, and UKG international networks. The principal function of our Envoy network is to provide Scotland with a network of influential and business-experienced advocates in locations of particular interest to our priority sectors and opportunity areas. Each Envoy agrees an annual work programme that is aligned with our trade & investment plans which sets objectives to guide their efforts. We review progress with our Envoys on a quarterly basis. As our Envoys primarily operate at a more strategic, rather than operational level we do not attribute specific KPIs to them.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the Scottish Snowsports sector and our economic agencies to contribute to the sectors financial sustainability.

Independent research commissioned by the Scottish Government ( Snowsports sector - Economic, Social and Cultural Impact: Research - Technical Report) was published in April 2023 and explored ways in which mountain resorts may improve their financial sustainability. In addition to improvements to the winter offer provided at resorts the research highlighted the need to expand the range of activities/sports which could be provided by venues all year round.

Financial support is available to snowsports venues via Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise. Both economic agencies provide support for capital investments with specific intervention rates applied. The necessary due diligence is carried out and all proposed projects are assessed on an individual business case.

This information is not held centrally.