Chamber and committees

The Ambassador and I had a constructive meeting last year during which we discussed renewable energy and trade, and UK-France relations.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

The review of the expressive arts curricular area is part of the ongoing National Discussion on Education as well as the Hayward review into qualifications and assessment. In the immediate term, Screen Scotland, in partnership with the education community, are piloting, in selected schools, a new Film and Screen curriculum for Scotland as part of the expressive arts curricular area. This pilot programme is being delivered across early years, primary and secondary settings.

The draft Film and Screen curriculum has been created to meet the needs of a shifting economy, employment landscape and learner demographic. A full evaluation of this will be made at the end of the pilot programme.

During 2022 Cabinet met 41 times. A Law Officer attended 27 of these meetings: the Lord Advocate on 18 occasions and the Solicitor General on behalf of the Lord Advocate on nine occasions.

Following their meeting on 14 December 2022, the National Partnership for Culture met on 15 February 2023 to support the development of the Culture Strategy Action Plan Refresh. The partnership will meet again in the coming months to discuss its remit, structure and future work plans.

The R100 contracts, which are delivering full fibre, gigabit capable connections across the length and breadth of Scotland, are currently expected to conclude during 2027-28.

For those properties beyond the reach of the R100 contract build or commercial coverage plans, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 – remains available to help secure a superfast broadband connection.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted on 13 February 2023, signals a turning point for planning, placing climate and nature at the centre of planning and supporting all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The first iteration of the NPF4 Delivery Programme outlines the steps that are being taken to monitor and evaluate the impact of NPF4 and its policies to ensure its intentions are realised, supported and integrated with the Scottish Government’s wider programme of planning reform.

The Delivery Programme sets out actions that are relevant to addressing the planning process of major renewable proposals and other net-zero projects. This includes the work of the High Level Group on Planning Performance, co-chaired by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), which has a remit to improve the performance of the planning system and has recently been reflecting on the impact of planning fee increases in 2022 on authorities’ resources. In December 2022 an increase in fees for applications made under the Electricity Act was also implemented, and the Scottish Government is continuing to work with stakeholders to improve timescales for determination.

The Scottish Government is also working with Partners in Planning ( https://www.partnersinplanning.scot/ ) to develop a skills strategy which will identify the specialist skills required to address the requirements of NPF4, and the wider skills required to ensure we have planners with the expertise to deliver the developments we will need in the future. Additionally, recruitment of a National Planning Improvement Champion, whose focus will be on supporting improvement in the Scottish planning system, is underway.

In February, an Applicant Stakeholder Group was established to provide stakeholders with a forum to highlight key issues affecting the performance of the planning system and to help identify priority areas for action. The work of this group will in turn assist in shaping the work of the High Level Group on Planning Performance.

Beyond NPF4 delivery, the Scottish Government is undertaking a phased review of permitted development rights (PDR). We have committed to use the third phase of the review to consider new and extended PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewables equipment, as well as electricity network infrastructure. Our intention is to publish the Phase 3 consultation this Spring. This will support capacity in the system by removing the need for planning permission for some types of development.

Following the devolution of the Debt Advice Levy to Scottish Ministers in 2019, the Scottish Government commissioned the Improvement Service to undertake research into different potential funding models for debt advice. This work has only recently been completed and we will now carefully consider these findings alongside wider evidence, to determine whether any changes are required to future funding arrangements.

In addition to the health and care information services that are already available to the public, we are currently in the process of developing a Digital Front Door. Digital Front Door acts as a direct response to Scottish National Party’s commitment to develop a ‘’MyNHS’’ App.

A key deliverable within the 2021 Digital Health & Care Strategy, the Digital Front Door will provide a way for people to access health and care information and control their data. It will also help people to conduct more health and care transactions online, including communicating with their health and care providers and managing their appointments.

Key workstreams are in place to develop changes to services, communications and engagement approach, undertake impact assessments and scope requirements for key areas such as identity verification. We have also considered the approaches taken internationally and within other parts of the UK.

Scottish Government has commissioned NHS Education Scotland (NES) as main delivery partner and initial planning, design and development is underway. The current commitment is to have the first version of the Digital Front Door in place by the end of this Parliament.

More information will be made available on this development here - https://www.digihealthcare.scot/our-work/digital-front-door/.

The Head of the UK Mission to the EU and I held a positive meeting in May last year, in which we spoke about issues such as the Scottish Government's Retained EU Law and Horizon Europe.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions, however Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

The Canadian Ambassador to the EU and I held a positive meeting in May last year, in which we spoke about trade and cultural links between Scotland and Canada, as well as both countries' energy and climate change priorities.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions, however Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.