Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government and NatureScot have agreed to undertake a review of the Sea Eagle Management Scheme and White-tailed Eagle Action Plan. Terms of reference for this work have been drafted and will be shared with the Sea Eagle National Stakeholder Panel shortly.

The review will assess progress on delivering the aims of the Sea Eagle Management Scheme to support farmers and crofters to manage their livestock alongside a growing sea eagle population.

The Draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy includes commitments to continue effective species recovery, reintroduction and reinforcement programmes and to introduce an agricultural future support framework which delivers for nature restoration and biodiversity.

The current Action Plan ends in December 2023. Future plans will be informed by the review mentioned in my answer to question S6W-22193 on 26 October 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

I recently met with representatives from Community Land Scotland to discuss the Land Reform Bill and I will consider its proposals in the ‘Beyond community benefit – a new deal for thriving communities’ paper.

We are committed to introducing a Land Reform Bill to further improve transparency of land ownership, help ensure large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest, and empower communities by providing more opportunities to own land and have more say in how land in their area is used.

This new Bill will build on our land reform measures to date and will complement existing community right to buy mechanisms. The Scottish Land Fund, which was increased to £11m this year, is available to community groups across Scotland, whether they are acquiring an asset through any of these rights, or entering into a negotiated sale with a willing seller. We have committed to increasing this to £20m by the end of 2026.

The Scottish Government is clear in its expectation of producers to drive mortality to the lowest possible levels. Our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture articulates our expectation of improvements to fish health and welfare, and we will continue to work with regulators, producers, innovation centres and fish vets to better understand the reasons for mortality and to encourage adaptation to challenges. Increases in sea water production mortality should be considered in the context of the trend seen since 2002, which indicates stable average mortality levels with peaks and troughs in different years.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children.

The First Minister announced in this year’s Programme for Government that the Scottish Government remains focused on tackling child poverty in Scotland. We know that food provision is an important part of the mission to tackle child poverty, and that is why there is a range of support already in place for families.

An expansion to S6W-21642 requesting % of payments made within 5 working days, which are not inclusive of electronic procurement card. As noted in the response to S6W-21642, top level figures on payments made within 5 days is only held from 2014 onwards.

The Scottish Government supports and encourages an environment where those working in our health service feel confident to raise any concerns they may have, in the knowledge that these will be treated seriously and, where appropriate, fully investigated. Boards are expected to investigate concerns fairly and appropriately in line with national policies.

The Scottish Government expect NHS Forth Valley to work closely with trade unions to address and resolve concerns.

An Assurance Board was established in December 2023 to monitor and scrutinise NHS Forth Valley against an agreed Improvement Plan. The Assurance Board has met 13 times and continues to meet monthly to review progress.

We published a Statement of Intent in September 2023 and this is currently being tested through wider engagement. This is a crucial step in gathering wider views on whether the draft vision and priorities are the right ones, ultimately for inclusion in the strategy.

Following this current engagement, the strategy will be drafted, and we aim to launch a formal public consultation in Spring 2024. We plan to publish a summary of all the responses to show what people have said, before publishing the final National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has a number of options in its enforcement toolkit, ranging from informal advice and guidance to the use of formal enforcement measures including final warning letters, statutory notices, monetary penalties, and reports to the Procurator Fiscal recommending prosecution.

SEPA’s licences set out actions operators are required to take and SEPA’s enforcement action is designed to secure compliance using the most appropriate and effective method. Scottish Water has received one fine in the last five years for a sewage spill.