Chamber and committees

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.

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.

The analysis of the Scottish Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) consultation and the Scottish Government response were published on the Scot.gov website on Tuesday 7 November. These documents can be accessed via the following links:

Consultation Analysis Report: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214763

Scottish Government Response: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214756

Scottish Government and Education Scotland are currently developing options for a national digital academy. These will include an estimate of costs.

The Energy Saving Trust, an advice service funded by the Scottish Government, has gathered case study data from 85 pre-1919 properties across Scotland that have gone through various degrees of retrofit and the installation of modern energy efficiency measures and clean heating systems. These can be found at: Energy Saving Trust | Green Homes Network . Learning from these case studies will further help us develop policy and highlight areas where further research is required. The Scottish Government has also recently published research looking at different options for conducting whole building assessments in multi-owner and mixed-use buildings as current building assessment methods in Scotland are used for single dwellings and not at a whole building level. A proportion of these buildings will be of traditional construction. The research can be found at Whole Building Assessment for energy efficiency and zero direct emissions heating .

Officials will identify what further research may be required through engagement during the consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill.

We continue to work with partners to further delivery of this commitment. This includes consideration of the delivery and funding model.

We continue to work with partners to develop delivery plans, including phasing and funding options for this commitment. Details of timescales and funding allocations will be confirmed in due course.

The consultation on the Scottish Biodiversity Framework closes on 14 December 2023. We will consider the analysis of responses and publish the final Strategy and Delivery Plan in Spring 2024, and the Biodiversity Investment Plan will follow shortly thereafter. This follows a short delay in producing the consultation on the Delivery Plan.

The transfrontier shipments of waste is a reserved policy and details of waste exports outside of the UK are not published or held by Scottish Government, but are held by SEPA.

A total of 13,697 accused were reported to COPFS for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2023 with charge(s) which fall within the Scottish Government Classification of "Drugs – Supply, and where it can be identified that cannabis was the relevant controlled drug.

This can be broken down as follows: