Chamber and committees

The Grangemouth Future Industry Board has representation from Petroineos and Unite the Union. My officials are currently working to secure membership of senior leaders from across the businesses located at the Grangemouth Industrial cluster.

Further to my answer to S6W-22701, there have now been five meetings of the Culture Conveners since the publication of our 2020 Culture Strategy. These took place in November 2020, March 2021, December 2021, January 2023 and September 2023.

The next Culture Conveners meeting will take place before the end of summer 2024.

The percentage increase cited above is taken to be from the latest National Statistics on the prison population published in December 2023. These state that “The (average daily) population serving index sentences of one year or less increased by around 6% from 921 in 2021-22 to 972 in 2022-23.”

Caution is advised when using this data to examine the sentence length. The National Statistics provide index sentence length only. Where an individual in custody is serving multiple custodial sentences, the index sentence is the single longest sentence to be served. The overall length of the sentence to be served may be longer than the index sentence length. Further information on why this measure is used in the National Statistics is available in the accompanying Technical Manual ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-prison-population-statistics/pages/cellwise-data-construction/#index-sentence-derivation ).

Overall sentence length is published in the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Monthly Data Report ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/justice-analytical-services-safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-reports/ ).

In relation to the extension to the presumption against short term sentences in 2019, we are continuing to monitor the ongoing effect. However, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the justice system has made it difficult to separate the impact of the pandemic from the effects of the extension to date.

There is however a clear longer term trend away from shorter sentences. The latest National Statistics on Criminal Proceedings in Scotland show that 83% of custodial sentences were 12 months or less in 2012-13, declining to 73% in 2021-22. The largest fall in the use of short term sentences was between 2018-19 and 2019-20, with a four percentage point reduction, which may be associated with the extension of the presumption to one year.

It should be noted, however, that the presumption is not a ban, and decisions in individual cases are a matter for the independent courts, taking into consideration all the relevant facts and circumstances.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

The following table gives the leakage levels as a proportion of the water put into supply since 2007. All values are expressed as Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) except for 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10; Scottish Water switched to MLE reporting in AR11 - AR08, AR09, and AR10 were top down estimates.

SEPA are responsible for prioritising actions to reduce flood risk in Scotland as part of the Flood Risk Management Planning process set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities through the general capital grant to support the implementation of these actions. The distribution of this funding is agreed by Ministers and COSLA Leaders based on the recommendations of a joint Scottish Government/COSLA Flood Risk Management Working Group.

This group is currently considering funding and governance arrangements for future programmes taking on board lessons learned from the first programme and current best practice. These arrangements will apply to measures put forward across Scotland including those put forward for Dundee. Recommendations will be put to Ministers and COSLA Leaders via the joint Scottish Government/COSLA officers’ Settlement Distribution Group throughout 2024.

We will continue to work with local authorities and COSLA to ensure value for money and that the schemes taken forward provide the maximum benefit for local communities.

The UK Government Apprenticeship Levy is a reserved tax on employers of which Scotland receives a proportionate share of tax revenues via the block grant as per the Fiscal Framework agreement with UK Treasury. Scottish Government do not receive a specific allocation of Apprenticeship Levy revenue.

While recognising the challenging budgetary pressures, Scottish Government have been clear that we will continue to invest significant funding in education, training and skills – including apprenticeships - to meet the needs of employers, the workforce, young people and Scotland’s economy. The overwhelming majority of funding, including investment in our apprenticeship programmes, is available to employers regardless of their size or whether they pay the Levy.

Scotland’s Market Framework for natural capital markets aims to guide the development of responsible, high-integrity and values led natural capital markets in Scotland by setting out a clear long-term vision, a policy framework and guidance for market participants.

The Cultural Value Summit will take place in 2024. We expect to announce the date shortly.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding towards the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF), administered by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), to enable libraries to undertake a wide range of pioneering initiatives within communities.

The following table provides a breakdown of the PLIF funding allocated to libraries since 2013-14.

The Grangemouth Future Industry Board has been established in acknowledgement of both the significant economic role that the wider Grangemouth industrial cluster plays today, and its potential to support Scotland’s Just Transition to net zero. The overarching remit of the Grangemouth Future Industry Board is therefore to support the delivery of the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan. This will help to ensure a that future low-carbon opportunities are realised, whilst ensuring that any transition puts equity and fairness at its heart for people who live and work there.