Chamber and committees

The appearance of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids in the drug supply has been a concern for Scottish Government for some time. Public Health Scotland issued an alert regarding nitazenes in January 2023 and the UK Government have since issued a similar alert. Following the issuing of these alerts, we are working alongside colleagues across the UK to identify areas for collaborative working with the various UK administrations, national police forces and the National Crime Agency.

Nitazenes are extremely potent opioid receptor agonists, however, naloxone is still effective in the treatment of any overdose. This is why we have invested over £3 million in widening access to naloxone, making it easier for people to access and supporting Police Scotland and our other emergency services to carry kits.

Recognising the global challenge around the appearance of new synthetic opioids, the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy and members of the Scottish Governments National Mission Oversight Group on Drugs are meeting with international colleagues to hear about their experience of dealing with the appearance of fentanyl and synthetic opioids in the drug supply, and their response, in early November. A further meeting is being organised to discuss operational level issues with international colleagues and Scottish drug service delivery providers.

Having reliable data about substances of concern in the drug supply is key and is why we have supported Public Health Scotland to establish the RADAR (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response) system. We also continue to progress plans with local partners to establish drug checking facilities as this will also provide up-to-date information about the substances in the drug supply.

Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Taking into account that an individual can have multiple charges and each charge can have different disposals (for example a custodial and a monetary disposal), 250 charges (of the total 543 charges) resulted in the person convicted going to prison and 189 charges received a community sentence as main disposal.

The Scottish Government did not provide any funding directly to Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway in 2022.

Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 member services across Scotland, including Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway.

In 2022, the Scottish Government provided Relationships Scotland with core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities third sector fund.

Information on those who engaged with the consultation, the findings of this extended engagement and total number that attend the events can be found at this link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/agriculture-bill-analysis-consultation-responses .

Engagement on the Bill, on the Bill proposals, and on the wider Agriculture Reform Programme is constant and extensive. A full list of the roadshow dates can be found at https://www.ruralpayments.org/news-events/agriculture-reform-programme--arp--roadshow-dates-2023.html

Information on the ARIOB and the meetings can be found at https://www.gov.scot/groups/agriculture-reform-implementation-oversight-board/

Further information on previous Ministerial engagements can be found at this link: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/

The Scottish Government is calling on the agriculture sector to help shape the detail of future support and how it is delivered. This initiative is open to everyone and we would encourage anyone with an interest to register on the Rural Payments website so that their views are represented and they can help influence how future support is delivered.

The Agricultural Reform Route Map sets out the proposed timescales for information and interaction with the agricultural industry.

Restoring and enhancing our marine environment is vital if we are to meet our ambition to halt and reverse biodiversity decline and become Nature Positive by 2030. Scotland is unique in that most of the restoration projects in our waters are community-led, and our coastal communities, in many cases with support and funding from the Scottish Government, are rightly at the forefront of these new projects. These initiatives, alongside the protection to biodiversity already given by our MPA network, will contribute to our goals as set out in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. The Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund is also supported by Scottish Government, Crown Estate Scotland and NatureScot to leverage public and private investment towards projects that recover, restore or enhance the health of marine and coastal habitats and species across Scotland. Since 2021, SMEEF has distributed £3.3 million to 50 projects around our coasts and seas. Many of these projects are new or in early stages of development, demonstrating that the Fund acts as a key pipeline investor for this emerging sector. Alongside grant funding, SMEEF also provides guidance, and has recently published a new toolkit to help communities and groups wishing to undertake marine restoration projects understand best practice as well as regulatory requirements.

We are developing a new digital strategy to support our ongoing commitment to improve digital access for learners. This strategy will define the key elements for successful digital learning and seek to deliver the right technology, in the right place, with a workforce that knows how to use it.

Officials will engage with key partners across the education sector in development and implementation of the strategy, which we will publish in 2024.

Annex C of the Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP), published February 2021, used a taxonomy approach to assess planned infrastructure spend into low, neutral and high carbon categories, drawing on the annual carbon assessment of the capital budget. The 2022-23 annual IIP progress report, published June 2023, considers Major Capital Projects within the IIP in the context of the climate change targets.

My previous answer to question S6W-21956 on 25 October 2023 sets out details of Scottish Ministers’ commitment to comply fully with the requirements of section 94A of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

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

All applications are subject to site-specific assessments. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) states that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process. NPF4 Policy 11 requires project design and mitigation to demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed. It is for the decision maker to determine what information is required to support an application, and where Residential Visual Amenity Assessment is provided, to determine the distance to be considered in that assessment.

I can confirm that this is new investment, not funding already committed in previous budgets. It will stimulate and support private investment in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities which will be critical to the growth of a world-leading offshore wind sector in Scotland.

All applications are subject to site-specific assessments, recognising the different circumstances of individual development proposals, sites and wider locations. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) states that, when considering development proposals for renewable energy generation, potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process. NPF4 Policy 11 requires project design and mitigation to demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed.