The Energy Consents Unit consented 14 applications for Battery Energy Storage Systems between 2013 and 2023.

Women’s Aid groups that are not affiliated with Scottish Women’s Aid are funded in the same ways and with the same criteria as affiliated groups.

The main source of funding between 2021 and 2025 is the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) fund, the objectives for which are:

• Women and children affected by violence are identified (early)
• Women and children’s safety needs are met
• Women and children’s wider wellbeing needs are met
• Fewer people adhere to gender stereotypes
• People have increased understanding of all forms of VAWG (causes, consequences, and appropriate responses)
• Power, decision-making and material resources are distributed more equally between men and women.
• Tolerance of VAWG is reduced and people are more likely to recognise and challenge it
• Perpetrators are identified early
• Perpetrators are supported to change their behaviour
• Perpetrators are sanctioned / held to account
• Violence against women and girls is reduced / eradicated
• Negative impacts on women and children who have been affected by violence are reduced / eradicated.

In July 2021 all Women’s Aid groups received funding through the 100 Days (COVID emergency) funding. The objectives of the 100 days (COVID emergency) funding were:

• To fund additional staff to respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse for support services;
• To fund improvements to organisations’ IT and digital resource; and
• To fund additional training to allow services to be augmented so that people could quickly and easily access help.

An additional grant is being provided from April 2024 to all Women’s Aid groups.

A non-affiliated Women’s Aid group (in Fife) is included in the £500,000 Fund to Leave pilot which was launched in October 2023. This will help to reduce the financial burden of leaving an abusive partner by providing up to £1,000 to help to pay for the essentials women and children need, including rent and clothing. Fife, along with Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire were chosen for the pilot as the local authority areas where there are highest number of presentations to local authorities for homelessness assistance by women due to domestic abuse. The fund is being administered by Scottish Women’s Aid for the 4 affiliated groups with the grant being paid direct to Fife Women’s Aid.

The green jobs definition developed by the Universities of Warwick and Strathclyde, co-ordinated by Skills Development Scotland, does include occupations relevant to traditional building skills including stonemasonry and related trades. This information can be found here: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/w5ilqmef/soc-categories-for-website.pdf

Last November, the Scottish Government welcomed the net zero pathfinder report published by Skills Development Scotland which assessed demand and skills issues across a range of sectors including construction. This information can be found here: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do/skills-planning/green-skills-research-and-evidence/cesap-pathfinder-wp1-an-evidence-based-approach-to-supporting-the-transition-to-net-zero

We remain committed to improving mental health service provision in primary care settings, including early detection and care for those presenting with an eating disorder.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (2023) sets out our ambition to drive a shift in the balance of care across mental health to ensure a focus on prevention and early intervention in the community, including a focus on providing high quality mental health care in General Practice.

We are committed to supporting people to access the right care at the right time. That is why we have allocated £55.5 million to Health Boards this year to improve the quality and delivery of mental health services for all, including eating disorder services.

We have also provided Beat, the UK’s largest Eating Disorder charity, with over £600,000 to provide a range of support services for those impacted by an eating disorder. This includes the introduction of Beyond the Symptoms Training for GPs and Healthcare professionals to support them to identify when a patient has an eating disorder, and to confidently intervene early.

Additionally, the Scottish Government has recently developed a National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Scotland which will be published later this year. The National Specification outlines a national minimum level of service which will support local services to deliver person-centred, safe and effective care and covers all levels of treatment for eating disorders, from primary care all the way through to specialist inpatient care.

We are also establishing a National Eating Disorder Network which will look at improving specialist eating disorder services and links between primary and secondary services.

Progress has been made in establishing the National Eating Disorder Network which will meet formally for the first time later this Spring. In October 2023, Professor Cathy Richards was appointed to establish and chair the Network and work is underway to appoint clinical advisors with experience in eating disorders treatment for children and adults. The Network membership is being finalised and a Terms of Reference is being developed.

The Network will support delivery of the remaining long-term recommendations from the National Review of Eating Disorder Services in Scotland (2021). A key aim of the Network is to support the implementation of the National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorder Services in Scotland, which will be published later this year.

Additionally, we will work with NHS 24 to publish online information and self-help resources on NHS inform which will allow people to access free, evidence-based information and support.

Beat has reported that 29 GPs have completed “Beyond the Symptoms” training since 2022. Beat continues to promote this training with stakeholders, along with other training resources that are available on their website. Beat has engaged with GP practices across Scotland regarding this training and other resources, and have used the SPOT platform for schools professionals to offer the training to school nurses.

In addition, through Scottish Government funding, Beat continues to expand and maintain an extensive list of eating disorder and weight management services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Community Mental Health Teams across all 14 Health Boards. These stakeholders receive regular updates on available Beat services.

The EY Regional Economic Forecast for 2024 suggests that Scotland will have a similar annualised employment growth rate to several regions and nations of the UK between 2024-2027, including Wales, Northern Ireland, the North East of England and the West Midlands. EY also indicate that Scotland had lower economic inactivity than Northern Ireland, the North East of England, Wales, the North West of England and East Midlands in 2023.

Employment growth is influenced by many factors including job creation and labour supply, with the latter reflecting demographics, migration, and participation in the labour market. Of those factors, Scotland has near record levels of payrolled employees at 2.46 million in February 2024.

The EY report identifies the importance of reducing economic inactivity and supporting people into employment. The Scottish Government is undertaking a range of action to address Scotland’s labour market challenges. For example, the Scottish Government will invest up to £90 million in devolved employability services No One Left Behind in 2024/25, to support those facing structural barriers to entering employment, alongside investment in childcare and support for those experiencing ill-health to remain in the labour market. The Scottish Government will also launch Scotland’s Migration Service during the course of 2024 to support inward investors and Scottish employers to use the immigration system to meet their skills and labour needs.

A letter was issued by the Chief Planner regarding consents and variations to planning permission for energy generating ancillary uses on 27 August 2020. This letter confirmed that the Scottish Government considers a battery installation to generate electricity and should therefore be treated as a generating station.

No specific assessment on potential impacts to land value in rural areas has been undertaken.

Details of the external costs associated with the production and publication of all the Building a New Scotland papers published to date can be found on the Scottish Government’s website:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-a-new-scotland-papers-costs/