Chamber and committees

We are currently in the process of evaluating minimum unit pricing (MUP) as a whole over its first five years of operation. Public Health Scotland will be producing a final report on MUP in 2023, which will inform our evaluation report which will be laid in Parliament and published in 2023.

We will review the final evaluation report from Public Health Scotland before drawing overall conclusions on whether the policy has achieved its aims.

Regional marine plans are currently being developed for 3 out of the 11 Scottish Marine Regions (Orkney, Shetland and the Clyde) with preparatory work being undertaken by Local Coastal Partnerships in other regions.

The purpose of a National Marine Plan is to set out the strategic policies for the sustainable development of our marine resources. The current National Marine Plan identifies broad spatial areas for certain types of activity (e.g. RENEWABLES 1 and AQUACULTURE 1, 2 and 3).

NMP2 will be developed in accordance with the policies, including the National Spatial Strategy, set out in the fourth National Planning Framework (once adopted)

The Scottish Government has published a set of Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital, which set out our expectations of stakeholders in a high integrity, values-led market for responsible investment in natural capital. These principles highlight the importance of wider environmental, social and economic outcomes including maintaining the resilience of food supply and generating opportunities for agricultural tenants and crofters to benefit from new investments.

Any investment in woodlands for carbon credits should be both measurable and verifiable through the government-backed Woodland Carbon Code , the mechanism through which land owners and companies can purchase offsets in Scotland and the UK. The Code is backed by all the governments across the UK, and is a domestic standard for use by companies with UK operations to offset emissions in the UK.

This one off funding was allocated to organisations to help manage visitors in 2022 as we continue to recover from the Covid-19 Pandemic and manage increased domestic visitors to Scotland’s countryside. It has supported the following:

The Scottish Government are aware of the severe pressures that exist in our health and social care system and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has established the Ministerial Advisory Group to ensure that we collaborate effectively to meet the challenges. Scottish Care are represented on this group.

Many of the policy and economic levers that would alleviate pressures on care homes and other businesses are reserved to Westminster and the Cabinet Secretary recently wrote to the UK Government (and the other UK nations) to again raise these matters. Within our remit, we are increasing our support for SMEs by investing £300,000 to expand the capacity of the Business Energy Scotland advice service, and doubling the energy efficiency cashback element of the SME Loan Cashback scheme to £20,000. The Scottish Government has also set out £600 million of total investment to support winter resilience across our health and care system. This includes £144 million to support the December 2021 uplift to £10.02 per hour, as well as a further £200 million to increase the minimum rate of pay to £10.50 per hour for adult social care workers in commissioned services.

Delivering Scotland’s Blue Economy Approach is the first phase in how we will deliver our Vision and takes stock of how current, and forthcoming, actions across Marine Scotland and the wider Scottish Government will support the delivery of the six Blue Economy outcomes.

Ports and harbours are key Blue Economy infrastructure and Delivering Scotland’s Blue Economy Approach sets out action already underway that will support that infrastructure in progressing towards our outcomes. Action includes investment of £580 million over 5 years in vessels and ports supporting the lifeline ferry network through the Infrastructure Investment Plan; funding through Marine Fund Scotland to support projects focused on achieving an innovative and economically sustainable marine economy; and the Scottish National Investment Bank recently provided a £30 million loan to the Port of Aberdeen.

As part of our next steps, we will continue to engage with key stakeholders and our international neighbours to deliver a collaborative, inclusive approach to achieving our Vision and our joint ambitions for our shared marine space.

We are concerned by evidence about the financial strain some economically vulnerable groups are experiencing, such as those dependent on alcohol. We are working on a range of actions to make alcohol treatment services more accessible to those who need them, to support individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption.

Anyone worried about affording essentials like food or fuel should contact their local authority where they can be put in contact with local advice and support.

Our cost of living website provides information on the wide range of advice and financial support available.

Paragraph 48 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Policy Memorandum sets out the local decisions required. This can be accessed at: https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/national-care-service-scotland-bill/introduced

These local decisions will inform future discussions on any staff transfers. The length of time taken to transfer staff is directly related to these local level decisions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12831 on 15 December 2022. 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

An announcement on the appointment of the Women’s Health Champion will be made shortly.

The role holder will commence their duties as Champion to drive change and share best practice and innovation, following the announcement.