Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will confirm the final position for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 23/24 in the coming weeks.

List of Scottish Government Ministers and Senior Civil Servants attending at COP28

Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland

Mairi McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition

Colin McAllister, Chief of Staff to the First Minister, Co-ordination of the Special Advisers (SpAds) team

Leanne Dobson, Special Adviser Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition

Emily Mackintosh, Senior Communications Special Adviser

Richard Rollison, Director for International Trade and Investment

Jemima Gordon-Duff, Deputy Director International Climate Change

Junior officials are also attending but names are redacted due to the FOI protocol.

In early 2024, the Scottish Government will proactively release a report on COP28 setting out what was achieved, who went, what they did and how much it cost.

Our aim is to introduce a Bill that strikes an appropriate balance in applying to significant landholdings whilst not disproportionately impacting smaller businesses and farms. A suite of impact assessments is being developed for Bill introduction, which will further help to inform final policy proposals. Final decisions on the Bill’s contents will be made in due course by Ministers and the Bill will be published on the Scottish Parliament website following its introduction in line with the established legislative process for Bills.

This is a matter for individual local authorities. The information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government provides funding through the Fruit & Vegetable Aid Scheme which promotes innovation and collaboration with a focus on environmentally sound cultivation practice and production techniques. Measures aimed at reducing the environmental impact of water usage including for example high flow storage reservoirs are eligible for funding in the scheme.

The Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) also offers support for the establishment of irrigation lagoons, which aims to improve water-use efficiency through collecting and storing water. This support is targeted to areas within a catchment that are significantly impacted by agricultural abstraction.

Additionally, up to £1000 in funding is available through Scotland's Farm Advisory Service for specialist face to face advice on water pollution, prevention, and control.

The Scottish Government recognises the wide range of careers available in the horticultural sector and the importance of educational pathways to deliver graduates equipped with the skills and expertise demanded by the sector. Officials are therefore currently giving careful consideration to the eight ‘Asks of Government’ included in the Horticultural Trades Association’s (HTA) Scottish Environmental Horticulture Growth Strategy. In regard to the ‘ask’ to raise the presence of horticultural opportunities in careers guidance, officials have been working closely with universities and colleges across Scotland, and Lantra who are the leading provider of training, qualifications and career guidance for land-based industries across the UK. These discussions were recently outlined to sector stakeholders and MSPs at the Gardening and Horticulture cross party group at Holyrood.

Encouraging horticultural skills across the workforce aligns with government ambitions to address current environmental challenges, such as the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The Scottish Government is committed to respond this year to the 22 recommendations in the Land-based Learning Review. The recommendations we accept will inform our actions to attract more people to work in Scotland’s land-based and aquaculture sectors and to improve learning pathways to equip them with the skills and knowledge needed.

Work to encourage people into horticultural careers and develop apprenticeships and higher education programmes designed to create highly skilled horticultural graduates for a range of careers is continuing.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23022 on 28 November 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

Product safety is a reserved matter; however, the Scottish Government provides grant funding to the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to undertake a program of enforcement against the sale of illicit fireworks in Scotland. This work extends to ports and fast parcel outlets, as well as online sales from outwith Scotland. The Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 also includes a proxy purchase and supply offence, to prevent the illegal supply of fireworks to those under the age of 18.

The Scottish Government has not explored potential applications for artificial intelligence (AI) specifically focused on the development and delivery of services for the Armed Forces and veterans community. However, Scotland’s AI Strategy , published in 2021, set out a clear vision for Scotland to become a leader in the development and use of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI and to do this in a way which offers benefits across all Scottish communities.

The Strategy was written with a desire to look behind the technology and to consider the role and impact which AI has on our people. We want the public to be assured that the products, services and decisions enabled by AI are safe and secure and protect their rights. It is important that we ensure that Scotland is well prepared to maximise the potential economic and social benefits of AI, but will do this in a way which protects and benefits our citizens.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.