(a) The First Minister announced his intention to publish a strengthened Scottish Ministerial Code later this year on 4 September 2024, as part of his Programme for Government statement in the Scottish Parliament. Under his new Code, the First Minister's independent advisers will be able to launch investigations into alleged breaches of the Code whenever they feel it is warranted, without a referral from the First Minister. They will also be able to provide advice to the First Minister on appropriate sanctions should the First Minister deem that the Code has been breached. The advisers will also be given a role in scrutinizing Ministers' declarations of interests and their Terms of Reference will be published.

The 2023 Scottish Ministerial Code already set an extremely high bar in terms of standards in public life. The forthcoming updates to the Code, which, collectively, will be the most significant since independent advisers were introduced in 2008, will further increase transparency and independent scrutiny. The changes meet a number of the asks of Petition PE2093, which is currently being considered by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee.

(b) In accordance with PQ answer S6W-03307, the Scottish Government has considered matters relating to Special Advisors, including the Code of Conduct for Special Advisors, which is reserved to UK Government. The Scottish Government has no plans to ask the UK Government to make changes to the Special Advisers' Code. The Scottish Government’s plan for implementing the recommendations of James Hamilton’s report, alongside the recommendations of the reports by Laura Dunlop QC and the Scottish Parliament Committee on the Handling of Harassment Complaints, were published in June 2021 and implemented through the Continuous Improvement Programme, which was reported regularly to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee.

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.

The reduction of £1 million referred to in the letter from the Finance Secretary to the Scottish Parliament's Finance and Public Administration Committee dated 3 September relates to the nature restoration budget line, rather than the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF). The £1m reduction will result in reduced scope of some projects and delay in implementing other projects.

The Edinburgh Process strand of the NRF is provided directly to Local Authorities and the £5 million allocated to this strand for 2024-25 has been redirected to help meet the public sector pay deal. Scottish Ministers have made a commitment to replace this funding in 2025-26. We remain firmly committed to tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. However we are also taking on significant additional financial pressure, not least as a consequence of wider decisions around funding made by the current and previous UK Governments. The Finance Secretary has been clear that painful choices have had to be made as a result. The Scottish Government will work with local authorities to understand and mitigate any impacts on rural jobs, wherever that is feasible in these circumstances.

Scottish Ministers know the vital role local government employees play in delivering local services which are valued by the public. This pay offer demonstrates just how much we value these workers too. It will provide an above-inflation pay increase for all council employees and ensure the most support is focused on the lowest paid.

Whilst this difficult fiscal choice has had to be made, NatureScot is providing NRF funding to 14 partnership projects this year, to transform nature including through river and woodland restoration, rainforest regeneration, tackling invasive species and conserving iconic species such as the red squirrel.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Forth Green Freeport and Forth Ports as a consortium member, to ensure that it delivers maximum positive impact as soon as possible, including at the tax site in Leith where a renewable energy hub is being developed and a potential customs site at Edinburgh Airport. This includes regular engagement at official level to support the development of their recently submitted full business case.

Scottish Ministers have had a number of engagements with Forth Ports in the last few months about the company’s challenges and opportunities as they look to support a just transition to a decarbonised economy. This includes a visit of Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop to Port of Grangemouth on 6 March 2024, a meeting between Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes with Forth Ports CEO Stuart Wallace on 12 July and a visit to the Leith tax site of Forth Green Freeport of Minister for Employment and Investment Tom Arthur together with UK Government Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on 22 August 2024.

Green Freeports will play a crucial role in the Scottish Government’s commitment to a just transition to net zero, by creating clusters of high-tech manufacturing excellence in low carbon sectors and high-quality, well-paid new jobs within these sectors.

We recognise that the current situation in respect of disabled young people's transitions must improve, and remain fully committed to developing a strategy which recognises the urgency of the improvements we have heard are required whilst also allowing sufficient time to support the meaningful engagement and participation of those impacted by the strategy.

We are currently analysing our recent engagement with over 500 people, including disabled young people themselves. Following this, we will further develop the timeline for the strategy to ensure that it can be published alongside a range accessible formats. I commit to writing to the Member in due course to provide a further update on this.

The Scottish Budget 2024-25 ensures that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

The Scottish Government works closely with local authorities, third sector partners and all other agencies involved in supporting children and young people involved with the criminal justice system. This includes support for parents and carers. This collaborative approach ensures that a broad range of expertise and resources are brought together to address the needs of young people holistically. By partnering with organisations that provide specialised services such as mental health support, family counselling, and education, the Scottish Government ensures that young people receive the targeted interventions they need to prevent reoffending and to successfully reintegrate into society.

This includes organisations such as Cyrenians and Aberlour, which receive funding through the Cashback for Communities programme. Cyrenians’ Keeping Families Together project works across Scotland in partnership with Scotland’s four secure centres, offering mediation, whole family support and conflict resolution workshops. The approach enables young people and families to improve communication, address underlying issues and build stronger, more positive relationship.

Aberlour’s project, Alternative Routes #CashBack, supports young people aged 10-25 and their families most at risk of being involved in antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending. They use a whole system approach involving the whole family and community, which improves confidence in young people and provides them with opportunities to connect, flourish and achieve at home, school, and in the community.

Includem’s ADAPT project – funded through the Scottish Government’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund – also focuses on young people who are in conflict or at risk of being in conflict with the law. The project works with young people and their families to help them navigate a way out of a variety of difficult circumstances by diverting them from the criminal behaviour and a resultant trajectory into the criminal justice system.

The Scottish Government also funds the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ), who work closely with a number of organisations providing a range of support services to both children and their parents and carers. This includes local authority practitioners, Police Scotland and third sector organisations such as Action for Children, Includem and Barnardos.

As part of their Promise implementation work, CYCJ is leading a project to engage directly with parents of children in conflict with the law. The aim of this is to develop a network of parents who can participate in the development of policy and practice. In order to reach these parents CYCJ is actively engaging with existing parenting networks such as Parenting Across Scotland and Families Outside.

The Scottish Government also ensure that child victims and their families are offered trauma-informed and person-centred support and advocacy through the Victim-Centred Approach Fund and the development of a Bairns’ Hoose model in Scotland.

The Intensive Support Monitoring and Supervision (ISMS) programme is a key component of Scotland’s youth justice system, aimed at providing an alternative to secure care or custody for young people (typically between the ages of 12 and 18) who are at high risk of reoffending or presenting significant risks to themselves or others. ISMS combines electronic monitoring (such as tagging) with intensive support services, including:

• Structured supervision with regular check-ins and monitoring by social workers or case managers.
• Individualised interventions including tailored programmes focusing on addressing offending behaviour, mental health, substance abuse, or other personal challenges.
• Support with education and employment including assistance in engaging with school, vocational training, or employment to foster personal development and reduce reoffending risks.
• Family support with efforts to involve and support the family in the rehabilitation process.

This programme allows young people involved in offending behaviour to remain in their communities under strict conditions, while receiving the support needed to change their behaviour, rather than being placed in a secure unit or prison. ISMS is considered a more rehabilitative and community-based approach to managing serious offending.

Where a child is placed in secure accommodation, centres will utilise a range of interventions, supports and strategies to meet their needs, ensure their safety is maintained and risk is managed. Throughout a child’s stay in secure care they will be supported to participate in education; interventions identified as part of their Child’s Plan; with required health supports and recreational, leisure and social activities.

In terms of direct financial support, the Scottish Government’s policy towards local authority spending is to allow each local authority the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of local authority funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then for individual local authorities to manage their own budgets. They allocate the total financial resources available to them, including support for youth work, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The new Household Recycling Code of Practice will be co-designed with local authorities and other stakeholders to deliver modernised and more consistent waste and recycling services across Scotland.

The co-design process will provide opportunities to consider collection of a range of new items and materials, which may include PET and/or PP plastic plant pots. Our approach to determining changes to the Code of Practice will be evidence-led and take account of different local circumstances and needs.

The Scottish Government has received a total of £52 million from the UK Government for deployment via the R100 contracts.

£17 million of UK Government funding is being deployed via the R100 North contact, £7 million via the Central contract and £28 million via the South contract. These figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds.

The Reaching 100% (R100) programme met its original aim of ensuring everyone could access a superfast broadband connection by the end of 2021. However, as per previous statements, the R100 contracts – which are now providing full-fibre and gigabit-capable connectivity – are expected to deliver connections until 2028.

Scotland’s potential for renewable energy generation is one of our greatest environmental and economic opportunities. The forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will chart a path to a clean, fair and secure energy system.

As part of a just energy transition, the Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to continue to grow a thriving community energy sector. This is evidenced by our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), which has recently awarded funding to 20 projects from 19 community groups across Scotland through the £1.5 million Community Energy Generation Growth Fund. This funding will support these communities to develop their own renewable energy projects.

Our ambition to reach 2GW of community and locally owned energy by 2030 includes different types of community and local ownership to reflect the different needs, requirements and opportunities available to communities across Scotland. The latest Community and Locally Owned Energy statistics show at the end of December 2023, there was an estimated 1,028 MW of community and locally owned renewable energy in Scotland.