Chamber and committees

I met with the Chair and Chief Executive of Loganair, HIAL’s largest customer, on 20 December 2022 to discuss the industrial action at HIAL’s airports and the measures that Loganair had put in place to minimise the disruption for passengers.

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a Bill on the regulation of legal services within this parliamentary session, and will continue to engage with stakeholders representing the consumer and legal perspective taking that forward.

The Scottish Government responded to the legal services regulation reform consultation analysis report on 22 December 2022. The response may be viewed at the following link: Legal services regulation reform - consultation analysis: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The response underpins the Scottish Government’s commitment to reforming legal services and to retaining the sector’s independence within a system that provides greater flexibility in how complaints are handled, to benefit both consumers and legal professionals. The response also sets out how the existing regulatory framework for legal services should be modernised to provide users with increased confidence, support growth in the sector and strengthen consumer protections.

I understand that the Law Society of Scotland has written to you directly on this matter however, I can confirm that it is the Law Society’s policy and practice to remove any suspended solicitor from their online searchable database. This is done as soon as they have been suspended, regardless of any outstanding disciplinary processes.

Marine Scotland Science, as a statutory consultee in the fish farm planning application process and part of Scottish Government Marine Scotland Directorate, provided advice to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Planning Authority and is available to view on the planning portal; 2021/0357/DET | Installation of a Marine Fish Farm and associated development including shore base, slipway and pontoon and road upgrades | Beinn Reithe Loch Long (lochlomond-trossachs.org).

Advice from Scottish Government aquaculture policy unit was provided to the park authority on the national significance of the project, as the first application for a semi-enclosed marine loch fish farm in Scotland. Advice is available to view on the planning portal; 2021/0357/DET | Installation of a Marine Fish Farm and associated development including shore base, slipway and pontoon and road upgrades | Beinn Reithe Loch Long (lochlomond-trossachs.org).

Scottish Ministers approved new Scottish Environment Protection Agency fish farm Controlled Activity Regulation charges in September 2022. Where an operator achieves a reduction in 80% of expected emissions, SEPA will halve the application fee.

In terms of support for emerging technologies, the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre, part funded by the Scottish Funding Council, was established in 2014 to fund and support collaborative research, applied science and innovation to reduce the environmental footprint and increase the economic impact of aquaculture.

Assistance may be available through the Marine Fund Scotland, where projects require public funding to proceed, and deliver outcomes in Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision.

The Scottish Government will consider how innovation can be further supported through the regulatory review of fish farm consenting, the Vision for sustainable aquaculture and National Marine Plan 2.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13304 on
‎ 5 January 2023. 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

No assessment of the potential of semi-closed containment aquaculture to support jobs in rural Scotland has been made by the Scottish Government. Employment opportunities and benefits are considered as part of the statutory fish farm planning process.

New innovative technologies, including semi-closed containment systems, have the potential to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s aquaculture industry. Systems must be designed to operate in the conditions in the surrounding environment, meaning that there is no one size fits all approach.

Waste capture technologies can result in a significantly longer return on economic investment, however, they have the potential to reduce interactions with the environment and reduce some of the operational costs of fish farming, for example, by lowering the cost and number of fish health treatments required in a production cycle.

The Scottish Government provides local authorities with an annual local government finance settlement which in 2022-23 amounts to almost £12.7 billion. Over 93 percent of this total funding, representing £11.8 billion, is by means of a block grant. Individual local authorities can allocate this sum together with their locally raised income through council tax and fees and charges to meet local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government does not allocate education funding on a per subject basis and therefore does not hold the information requested. Statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities and schools as set out under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. This provides local authorities and schools with the autonomy and flexibility to plan their curriculum to best meet the needs of their learners and local circumstances. The setting of school budgets remains the responsibility of each local authority.

Education Scotland, Regional Improvement Collaboratives and local authorities provide direct support to schools in terms of teaching and learning across all subjects. The Scottish Government also funds other bodies direct to deliver additional support. For example, in 2022-23 we are funding the Scotland’s National Centre for Languages £570,000 to support teachers and schools in delivering high quality language learning.

Emerging contaminants of concern, including microplastics and Bisphenol A, are continuously being risk assessed by the EU under the Water Framework Directive for inclusion as priority substances. The EU Commission has recently proposed a revised list of priority substances, including Bisphenol A, for further consideration by the Council and the European Parliament. The Scottish Government has made clear its commitment to maintain or exceed environmental standards in place upon EU exit, and to maintain alignment with developing EU standards, as far as possible.

When applications for wind farm developments are submitted to the Scottish Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989, the impact on the water environment is assessed within the Environmental Impact Assessment Report submitted with the application. The Scottish Ministers take into account the impacts on the water environment and on granting consent for wind farm development conditions can be attached to the deemed planning permission in relation to water quality and monitoring as required.