Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not carried out analysis on any association between local authority budgets and delivering waste collection and recycling services.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional £793 million to local government in 2023-24, which is a real terms increase of £376 million or 3 per cent. 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, taking account of local needs and priorities.

Scottish Government continues to engage and support local authorities with waste and recycling operations. This includes our £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, to support local authorities in improving recycling infrastructure and deliver modernised services.

No civil servants have been redeployed as part of my appointment.

In 2022-23, the Croft House Grant budget was £1.9m, with £1,675,837 distributed to successful applicants.

As a result of a high proportion of house builds being delayed due to material and labour supply issues, officials invited successful applicants to submit their grant claims earlier in the build in order to help crofters complete the work. No CHG application has been refused due to a lack of budget.

Funding under the Croft House Grant is provided retrospectively in up to three stages. Funding committed in any financial year can be claimed by applicants over a three year period.

The Scottish Government has been investigating the potential impacts of AI on our economy and labour market for over five years.

In 2018 , Technological Change and the Scottish Labour Market , a joint Scottish Government and Scottish Trades Union Congress report, already considered AI.

Between 2019 and 2021, evidence on this topic was generated as part of the development of Scotland’s AI Strategy , which included impact assessments, an online public consultation, a citizen engagement programme and expert working groups, including one on the skills of the workforce.

The 2021 Digital Economy Business Survey highlighted key challenges faced by businesses and the importance of supporting a strong technical infrastructure for Scotland.

The 2022 Digital Economy Skills Action Plan details how we intend to ensure all sectors work together to support the people of Scotland in our move to a digital and AI-enabled economy.

Recent press coverage has made Generative Artificial Intelligence a focus of debate on economic and labour market impact. The Scottish Government also follows other strands of AI research which might be expected to have similar levels of impact – like Computer Vision and Causal AI. The impacts of any of these innovations may have many common considerations.

Experts from the Scottish AI Alliance’s Leadership Group will continue to inform and challenge our actions in this area in the coming years, in the face of accelerating technological innovation including generative AI specifically.

Whilst there are currently no supertrawlers in the Scottish fishing fleet, a number of other fleets operate within Scottish waters, including a small number of EU supertrawlers. As well as vessels from the rest of the UK, the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement allows EU vessels full access to fish shared stocks within UK waters.

It is important to note that all vessels authorised to operate in Scottish waters do so under the appropriate licenses, and are obliged to follow Scottish domestic management rules, including mesh size restrictions and closed areas. These vessels also operate within agreed quotas. The majority of commercial stocks fished are managed by the use of Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits. TAC levels are informed by the best available independent scientific advice, and are used with an aim to ensure sustainable fishing levels in the long term. Vessels, regardless of size or gear, are only permitted to fish the quotas that they have been allocated, in line with TACs set for each stock.

Sustainability, support for biodiversity, and consideration of the wider ecosystem is at the heart of how we manage Scotland’s fisheries and protect our marine environment. This is reflected in the 12 point action plan contained within Scotland Fisheries Management Strategy, and in the Blue Economy Vision for Scotland, which sets out our ambition for the sustainable management and shared stewardship of Scotland’s sea and coasts.

I previously wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee setting out my current thinking on earnings arrestments. A copy of the letter addressed to the Convenor of the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 15 March 2023 can be found on the Scottish Parliament website.

The Key Performance Indicators (KPI) used in monitoring the performance of VoiceAbility are provided below:

Over the last year, the Managed Service Network for children and young people with cancer (MSN), reviewed the Psychology, Physiotherapy and Dietetic Resource. As a result, we agreed to make the existing provision of psychological service permanent to provide certainty and ensure young people have access to psychological support.

In addition, the Scottish Cancer Network, alongside the MSN, is currently undertaking a broader workforce mapping exercise and have established a short life working group to support this. The MSN’s review will be considered by the short life working group. This group, who will complete their mapping exercise this year, will specifically look at how we can upskill our current workforce as well as looking at wider service needs within this population group.

The Scottish Government does not seek to replicate the work of the Cass Review. However, as we have previously stated, the interim findings of that Review continue to be closely considered by both Scottish Government and NHS Scotland, alongside broader national and international evidence. As part of this, officials and senior clinicians from the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland have also met with Dr Cass and members of the Cass Review team to discuss respective approaches.

Our Strategic Action Framework for NHS gender identity service improvement includes a commitment to support the establishment of nationally commissioned Young Person’s Gender Identity Service. Discussions and scoping with NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to consider current and future national provision, are ongoing.

Following discussions with the operator, Serco NorthLink Ferries, it was clear that the associated works required in order to change the date mid-contract would have a cost and impact to all customers.

We will however seek to revert to the previous date that would open the bookings from October, noting that the previous delays were to allow funding to be found to freeze the fares due to the cost of living crisis.