Chamber and committees

Delivery of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme completed in November 2023 and no further funding has been allocated to this programme beyond 2023-24 .

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the development of the Acorn project and the Scottish Cluster, which are essential for the production of low carbon hydrogen at scale. I attended the Inter-Ministerial Group in February and sit on the UK CCUS Ministerial Forum to represent Scottish interests and make the case for progress on Acorn to be accelerated. The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, and the previous Cabinet Secretary for Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy have also written to the UK Government in recent months to make the case for the acceleration of the Acorn project.

The decision to award the Acorn project is reserved to the UK Government and despite announcing in July 2023 that the Acorn project is ‘best placed’ to meet the criteria, there is still no final decision from the UK Government. This adds further delays to the deployment of CCUS in Scotland.

a) A formal staff consultation was not triggered prior to the announcement as there are no compulsory redundancies.

Staff are VisitScotland's priority, and they are engaging with them to discuss their options such as re-skilling, redeployment and voluntary redundancy.

VisitScotland have established a staff engagement programme, which involves every iCentre and allows for both collective and individual engagement and representation throughout the change programme.

b) VisitScotland consulted with Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union prior to the announcement and continue to work with them during the on-going change programme.

The Scottish Government has invested over £7.3 million to deliver the Breathing Space service over the last 3 financial years, as follows:

2021-22: £2.372 million

2022-23: £2.354 million

2023-24: £2.6 million

Breathing Space forms part of a wider range of mental health and wellbeing services delivered by NHS 24, including the Mental Health Hub, the Enhanced Mental Health Pathway and Living Life.

The 2024-25 funding for mental health services, including Breathing Space, is currently under discussion with NHS24.

Although there is no blanket ban on wood burning stoves, the Scottish Government has been listening to the concerns raised over the past weeks about the reliance on biomass and wood burning stoves in rural and remote areas, and is taking these fully on board.

The New Build Heat Standard, as it currently stands, applies only to new buildings and certain types of conversions applying for a building warrant from 1 April 2024. Wood burning stoves or other ‘direct emission heating systems’ can under this current standard still be installed to provide ‘emergency heating’.

However, we acknowledge that the way in which technical guidance is currently drafted on what constitutes emergency heating can be difficult to reconcile with the nature of wood burning stoves which are often installed for more frequent use, rather than solely as emergency systems, particularly in rural homes. We are currently considering the guidance and will work with concerned parties, developers, and Local Authorities to ensure any updates to the existing technical guidance address these concerns.

VisitScotland’s Strategic Change Programme seeks to ensure that they continue to make the biggest possible positive impact on the visitor economy.

As part of VisitScotland's Strategic Change Programme, a detailed review has considered their role in information provision. VisitScotland's future information strategy is based on research including trends and data that show how visitors plan their trips. As part of the review process, VisitScotland also took into account data related to their iCentre network.

The following key research sources were utilised:

• VisitScotland insight data over a number of years as published in their annual reports: Our Annual Performance Report | VisitScotland.org
• VisitBritain: MIDAS - Full Research Report - Dec 2022
• Expedia: Expedia Group's Path to Purchase Study on Traveler Behaviors: Key Findings and Methodology
• TripAdvisor: E conomicPortraitofTraveler2023

In addition to the above, VisitScotland drew upon the professional knowledge and experience of their staff.

VisitScotland has taken the decision to close its iCentre network by March 2026 in response to reduced footfall and demand for information, with data showing that the majority of visitors to Scotland access information ahead of travelling to the country. As this was an operational decision for VisitScotland, the Scottish Government did not conduct an impact assessment.

However, data indicates that the previous phase of iCentre closures in 2018-2019 did not negatively impact the visitor economy. Since 2019, the number of overseas visitors to Scotland has increased by 14%, with the number of tourism businesses increasing by 6%.

VisitScotland continues to support the growth of the visitor economy in every region of Scotland through its marketing activity, support for events, destination development and free-to-access business advice and support programme.

There has been no specific assessment of impact on bridge infrastructure in light of cessation of sale of combustion engine cars in 2030. Design loading for bridges is primarily influenced by heavy goods vehicles. The slight increase in the weight of cars from 2030 is not expected to affect this loading.

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a Just Transition Plan for the Mossmorran industrial complex following delivery of the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan. Work will commence in early 2025. This will allow for a thorough evaluation of the approach taken at Grangemouth to maximise learning and outputs. The Scottish Government intends to publish the Just Transition Plan for Mossmorran by the end of the parliament.

The Scottish Government intends to establish a board to oversee and co-design the development of the Just Transition Plan for Mossmorran and will take cognisance of any learnings from the Grangemouth Future Industry Board.