Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government engages fully in the audit process and the related scrutiny. The Action Plan at Appendix 1 of the Annual Audit Report 2021-22 sets out the audit recommendations and the Scottish Government responses and agreed actions. It is the nature and timing of the audit process that there are aspects where action has already been taken and where action is in progress. The Public Audit Committee has considered the Auditor General’s report and the Permanent Secretary and relevant officials have attended a session with the Committee and responded to Committee questions.

The annual local government finance settlement consists of both revenue and capital grants and local authorities also receive additional ring-fenced funding outside the annual settlement.

In 2022-23 the General Revenue Grant funding within the annual local government finance settlement was paid in equal instalments every Wednesday throughout the year with the General Capital Grant payments being made monthly, in or around the middle of each month. All other ring-fenced funds are paid as and when required throughout the financial year.

Details of the final 2022-23 local government finance settlement are set out in the Local Government Finance Circular 3/2023 - Local government finance circular 3/2023: settlement for 2023-24 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the provisional funding out-with the settlement was set out in the 2022-23 Scottish Budget document Table 5.17 - Scottish Budget 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government continues to meet with Advice Direct Scotland on a regular basis. The purpose of these meetings are to discuss the key issues affecting Scottish consumers and agree how we can work together to ensure we are delivering support and advice to as many people who need it as possible.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Officials also engage with stakeholder organisations as part of the policy development process. Officials work closely with Scottish Women’s Aid as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to our Equally Safe Strategy, Scotland’s strategy to eradicate and prevent violence against women and girls. A representative from Scottish Women’s Aid also sits on at least one working group within the Scottish Government, the Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board (ES JSB) and further detail on this can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government supports transparency and responds positively to suggestions for the inclusion of information in the range of reports that the Scottish Government produces. Since the publication of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts 2021-22 and the related audit reporting, the Scottish Government has updated the reporting on the financial position in the recent Finance Update and Spring Budget Revision, will shortly lay in Parliament the Final Outturn report for 2021-22, which will update the outturn reporting from the Provisional Outturn statement and in the suite of annual accounts and will continue to engage with Audit Scotland on how transparency can be further improved in the next round of financial reporting. Finance and Public Administration Committee: finance update and Spring Budget Revision 2022 to 2023 guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

The approach to performance reporting is developing; Audit Scotland reported in its Annual Audit Report on the 2021-22 Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts that improvements had been made in 2021-22 to the performance report in the Consolidated Accounts. The Scottish Government is committed to build on those improvements in 2022-23 and we will continue to enhance our approach across the organisation, with a particular focus on outcomes.

Scottish Government officials are in exploratory discussion with the UK Government on their evolving proposals for Investment Zones and how they could work in Scotland. They have emphasised that any zones in Scotland must be developed in partnership between the Scottish and UK Governments; must be tailored to Scotland’s economic strengths and opportunities, and our policy and governance landscape; and must seek to build on existing activity in a way that works for business and supports innovation across sectors. Further information is awaited from the UK Government on a number of key issues, but we hope to make progress in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government meets with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) regularly to discuss a range of topics, including decarbonisation matters.

The Scottish Government Industrial Decarbonisation Team is due to meet the SWA by mid April 2023 to discuss their implementation of the NetZero/Sustainability Strategy and opportunities for decarbonisation by fuel switching or shifting to more energy-efficient technologies.

The Scottish Government recognises the role that the Scotch Whisky industry has in moving towards net zero and welcomes the work carried out by the sector in this area.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency. To help incentivise this shift, Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have since 2011 invested over £65 million to support a range of organisations – including local authorities, other public bodies, businesses and third sector organisations – to install public charge points across Scotland. These organisations own the charge point infrastructure, and many of them use back-office services provided by ChargePlace Scotland, which is funded by Scottish Ministers.

A shift towards a public charging network largely financed and operated by the commercial sector is necessary to grow the network at pace and improve the consumer experience overall. To support that, the Scottish Government recognises that it’s vital that the public charging network has tariffs which are fair, sustainable and which enable the growth and maintenance of the network.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and overstay charges on ChargePlace Scotland lies with charge point owners. In considering whether to set a tariff, owners may consider a range of factors including local circumstances, utilisation levels and running costs. ChargePlace Scotland routinely provides charge point owners with data relating to the utilisation of their assets. ChargePlace Scotland do not advise charge point owners on tariff levels or overstay fees, however, they may signpost owners to the EV Association of Scotland (an independent group who represent the interests of EV users) website where tariff guidance can be found.

The Scottish Government recognises that overstay fees have a role to play in ensuring the public charging network is used efficiently and that bays are not occupied by a single user, and therefore unavailable to others, for extended periods of time.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and overstay charges lies with charge point owners. A shift towards a public charging network largely financed and operated by the commercial sector is necessary to grow the network at pace and improve the customer experience overall. To support that, it’s vital that the public charging network has tariffs and fees which are fair, sustainable and which enable the growth and maintenance of the network. There are 680 public charge points out of 2475 on the ChargePlace Scotland network where an overstay fee applies.

Evidence over the last 6 months shows a continued growth in usage across the ChargePlace Scotland network with increases of approximately 25% in new driver account registrations, 8% in charge sessions and 13% increase in Kwh being drawn. Statistics published by the Committee on Climate Change in 2022 highlight that the share of total new car sales in Scotland which are electric rose from approximately 8% in 2020 to 12% in 2021.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland to undertake a programme of lived experience engagement and information sharing, that supports the implementation of the Women’s Health Plan: 2021 - 2024 over the lifetime of the plan.

An update on the delivery of this work since the publication of the Plan can be found in our recently published Women’s Health Plan: A Report on Progress .

The jointly funded £250,000 endometriosis research project with Wellbeing of women covers a period of 3 years, and began in the financial year 2022-23.

The findings from the research will be published in an open access journal after the research completion in 2025. The results will also be presented at national and international endometriosis conferences.