Chamber and committees

New innovative technologies, including semi-closed containment systems, have the potential to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s aquaculture industry. Systems must be designed to operate in the conditions in the surrounding environment, meaning that there is no one size fits all approach.

Waste capture technologies can result in a significantly longer return on economic investment, however, they have the potential to reduce interactions with the environment and reduce some of the operational costs of fish farming, for example, by lowering the cost and number of fish health treatments required in a production cycle.

No assessment of the potential of semi-closed containment aquaculture to support jobs in rural Scotland has been made by the Scottish Government. Employment opportunities and benefits are considered as part of the statutory fish farm planning process.

The Scottish Government are aware of the severe pressures which rising energy and other inflation-related costs are putting on the sector. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has established a Ministerial Advisory Group to ensure we collaborate effectively to meet these challenges.

Many of the policy and economic levers that would help reduce the pressures on care homes 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 its existing remit, in August the Scottish Government increased its support for SMEs by investing £300,000 to expand the capacity of the Business Energy Scotland advice service, and doubled the energy efficiency cashback element of the SME Loan Cashback scheme to £20,000.

The consultation analysis report for the Mother and Baby Unit Capacity in Scotland consultation was published in August 2022. This report and other resources are being fed into an options appraisal which is setting out the next steps in improving specialist perinatal mental health care for women and their babies in Scotland. This will consider the geographical need and variation across Scotland. This options appraisal will be undertaken by NHS National Services Scotland and will commence in January 2023 with a view to being completed by the end of September 2023.

The Bathing Waters (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (“the Regulations”) aims to minimise the risks to public health at designated locations and during periods when large numbers of people bathe. For all 87 designated bathing waters in Scotland the bathing season runs from 1 June to 15 September each year, in accordance with the traditional period of peak usage. In comparison with the 3 ½ month bathing season in Scotland, across Europe the season length varies from 2 months in Sweden to 6 months in Cypress.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate level of water quality protection and improvement is provided for the designated bathing waters within the bathing season and outwith for nature and wildlife.

Scottish Water currently has UV treatment at nine Waste Water Treatment Works (WwTW) to meet microbiological standards during the bathing season as set out in its discharge authorisations issued by SEPA.

Maintaining the UV treatment at these WwTWs for the whole year would increase the use of energy and resources incurring financial and carbon costs at a time when these waters are not regularly used by large numbers of bathers. In line with the Bathing Waters Directive, the Regulations ensure that bathing water standards in Scotland are applied using a proportionate approach.

The number of bathing waters in Scotland has increased since last year and now stands at 87, with 98% achieving the bathing water quality standards and more rated excellent than ever before.

n September 2021, the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People which sets out seven standards for service providers to ensure that children and young people, who have neurodevelopmental profiles with support needs, receive the support that they require. The Neurodevelopmental Specification is purposefully inclusive and includes support for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as such there is no separate guidance for ASD and ADHD.

A neurodevelopmental diagnosis is not required in order for a child or young person to receive support that meets their needs. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community or school based, and should be quickly and easily accessible.

To support implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Specification, we have provided funding to NHS Boards to build capacity to provide access to specialist neurodevelopmental professionals.

In March 2022, funding was also provided to allow five local areas to take forward Tests of Change on the implementation of the Neurodevelopmental Service Specification, specifically to test and implement aspects of the Standards and Principles of Care outlined in the Specification. Learning and evidence will be shared from these Tests once concluded to support other local partners to implement the Specification successfully.

The standards outlined within the National Neurodevelopmental Specification will continue to be reviewed on a regular basis in light of any new research and recommendations made to Scottish Government, particularly in relation to learning emerging from the Neurodevelopmental Tests of Change.

The vast majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on maintenance of local roads and bridges, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional £570 million to local government in 2023-24, however it is for locally elected representatives to manage the allocation of resources and the level of services that are delivered to their local communities.

While there are not any plans to reopen the Local Bridge Maintenance Fund at this time, the Scottish Government will continue to meet with COSLA and individual local authorities on a regular basis to discuss the issues affecting local government.

The Scottish Government has increased funding to local government by over £570 million in 2023-24, including an additional £147 million of capital funding.

We are supportive of community wealth building, and the opportunities it presents to act as a conduit for supporting our Net Zero ambitions, in particular supporting a just transition. The land and property pillar of community wealth building is particularly relevant to land reform, and is very much in line with both existing land reform mechanisms (such as the Community Right to Buy) and our proposals for the next Land Reform Bill.

Measures put forward for inclusion in the Bill include a requirement for owners of large-scale landholdings to prepare and publish Land Management Plans. In the consultation we propose that one of the purposes of these plans should be to show how the management of the landholding contributes to relevant land use, economic and community development priorities and opportunities, as set out in community plans, regional land use strategies, and national policy. Management plans could be used to identify areas of land suitable for disposal to local community organisations seeking to develop projects that will meet local needs. We sought views in the consultation on whether people agree that the Plans should provide information on developments/activities that will contribute to local and inclusive economic development or community wealth building.

We received over 540 responses to the consultation, and will consider views submitted on how management plans could contribute to community wealth building, as we develop the measures that will be included in the Bill. In addition, to support the development of legislation we have established a CWB Steering Group chaired by the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth. Representatives across the public, private and third sectors have been invited to provide ideas and insight as we develop legislative proposals. This includes consideration of issues linked to the use of land and property assets in both rural and urban areas.

The Bathing Waters (Scotland) Regulations 2008 aims to minimise the risks to public health at designated locations and during periods when a large number of people bathe. However, it remains the personal responsibility of every individual to assess the risks before entering open water, whether at a designated bathing water within the bathing season or otherwise.

The globally accepted advice is to leave at least 48 hours after heavy rain before bathing whether within or outwith the bathing season. Further general advice on the health risks of open water swimming, which is also applicable to Scotland, is available from the UK Health Security Agency at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/swim-healthy-leaflet/swim-healthy .

The Scottish Government continuously works with SEPA, Scottish Water and other stakeholders on bathing water designations and to protect and improve bathing waters classifications. This has led to the number of bathing waters increasing since last year to 87, with 98% achieving the bathing water quality standards and more rated excellent than ever before.