Chamber and committees

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) are responsible for the Scottish Register of Tartans website.

NRS has no immediate plans to update the user interface of the Scottish Register of Tartans website but will be considering the Scottish Register of Tartans website provision along with other NRS website provision as they develop their digital strategy.

Police Scotland is a member of the multi stakeholder task group for 20 mph speed limits and work closely with road authorities in determining, or considering, any changes to speed limits, reflecting the function of the road and the impacts on the local community and the needs of vulnerable road users.

Roads that meet the place criteria with an appropriate speed limit of 20 mph should aim to be understood by the majority of motorists and therefore self-enforcing. However, roads authorities also have the option to install a number of speed reduction measures to support compliance of the reduced speed limit.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15841 on 24 March 2023. 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 .

The partnership will seek to deliver direct community benefit as a result of the investment, in line with the expectations of the Scottish Government’s Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital. This will include full consideration of community wealth building opportunities and exploring potential ways the investment could support more diverse land ownership, drawing on current and emerging advice from the Scottish Land Commission. No assessment has been completed at this stage as the project partners are in ongoing dialogue about how the investment model will work. However, assessments will be published after completion of the project design phase.

We will consult with stakeholders and the public this year to gather and consider their views on future changes to speed limit policies and speed management measures.

The Scottish Government will look to publish the findings and conclusions thereafter.

The Scottish Government’s new Hate Crime Strategy for Scotland has been published today. The strategy sets out our vision for a country where everyone lives free from hatred and prejudice and where our communities are empowered, inclusive and safe.

It has been developed in partnership with organisations with expertise in tackling prejudice, building cohesive communities and advancing human rights and sets out our strategic priorities including supporting the implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805253709

The Programme for Government 2022-2023 set out a commitment to introduce a Scottish Aggregates Levy Bill within this Parliamentary year. The Bill will set out key arrangements for a devolved tax on the commercial exploitation of aggregates in Scotland, including to provide for its administration by Revenue Scotland.

Consistent with the Framework for Tax, the Scottish Government is consulting and engaging with stakeholders to help inform development of the Bill.

Following public consultation and taking stakeholders’ views into account, the Scottish Government concluded that further work is needed to ensure that decisions on Bill provisions are based on optimal evidence. An advisory group has been formed to assist with this process.

Given this, the Bill will now not be introduced before the end of the current Parliamentary year.

Crown Estate Scotland will announce today (24 March 2022) the outcomes their evaluation of applications to the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas decarbonisation (INTOG) offshore wind leasing round.

In total 13 projects were successful and will be offered exclusive development rights over areas of seabed in Spring 2023.

Five new innovative wind projects (with a potential generation capacity of 449MW) were successful, providing opportunities for the new growth sector of hydrogen production, novel commercial solutions and stimulation of the supply chain.

To support secure energy supplies and the decarbonisation of fossil fuel production and extraction in Scottish waters, eight projects (totalling 4.96GW) providing green electricity directly to oil and gas platforms were also successful.

A full sustainability appraisal to support the INTOG planning process is underway and a public consultation later in 2023 will be carried out by Scottish Government, on a draft Sectoral Marine Plan. INTOG projects in the final adopted plan will be offered full Option Agreements by Crown Estate Scotland in 2024 and the consenting process can then proceed.

The Scottish Government has today launched a survey seeking views from anyone with an interest in Scotland's world-class event industry on the review of the national events strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage. The strategy was first published in response to Scotland's burgeoning potential to be a global leader in the events industry and was last updated in 2015. The event sector has recently experienced a period of unprecedented disruption, presenting a number of challenges and potential opportunities for the sector in Scotland. A refreshed strategy is needed to address these.

The survey seeks views on spreading economic benefits, a just transition to net zero, skilled workforce and fair work practices, the wellbeing benefits of events, and measurability and sharing good practice. Boosting equality, promoting diversity and showcasing Scotland on the international stage also sit at the heart of the strategy review. The review's priorities and the survey paper have been developed with representatives from the event sector, public bodies, local authorities and trade unions.

The survey will be open for 3 months, closing on 30 June 2023, and can be found at found at

https://consult.gov.scot/culture-tourism-and-major-events/national-event-strategy-review-and-refresh . In parallel, VisitScotland and the Scottish Government will be undertaking a number of engagement events with stakeholders around Scotland to explore emerging themes in more detail. It will be essential for this work to draw strongly on the knowledge, expertise and experience of those working in and taking part in events, and I would encourage engagement to the greatest extent possible.

We are aware that, currently nine Health and Social Care Partnerships have fully implemented the guidance on the provision of short-term wheelchair loans, with a further three in the early implementation stage.