Chamber and committees

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out year-round avian influenza surveillance of dead wild birds on behalf of the Scottish Government to inform the disease risk for domestic poultry and captive birds.

Reports of dead wild birds are triaged and not all birds will be collected. The triage process allows the Scottish Government to understand the levels of risk to poultry, other captive birds and public health and what relevant mitigation measures may be adopted commensurate to the level of risk. It was not designed to help understand how the disease impacted wild bird populations from a conservation perspective.

The Scottish Government have consulted with NatureScot and they are not aware of any resource constraints affecting HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) testing of dead wild birds in Moray. Since 16 November 2021, a total of 46 wild birds of nine species have tested positive for HPAI in Moray. Nearly all of these birds have been collected under APHA’s contract with UK Farmcare. NatureScot staff have only swabbed two birds in Moray, a pink-footed goose which was in a relatively inaccessible location and a cormorant, which NatureScot prioritised for testing and the test came back negative.

Wild bird surveillance is under review as part of the development of a Scottish HPAI wild bird response plan by NatureScot.

The Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture is in the final stages of development in advance of publication and the contents will be available for all to consider when it is published. The Vision is intended to describe the long term ambitions that the Scottish Government has for aquaculture, with enhanced emphasis on environmental protection and community benefit. The Vision will be compatible with the planning policies on aquaculture contained in Scotland’s National Marine Plan and National Planning Framework 4.

As the first mission orientated investment bank in the UK, the Scottish National Investment Bank was established to respond to the need for long term ‘patient’ capital investment in Scotland. This means support for innovation and the creation of new markets where private investors are not yet ready to act.

The Missions, which were agreed across Parliament, are designed to steer the activity of the Bank into areas facing considerable challenge. The missions for the Bank are:

• Achieving a Just Transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2045
• Extending equality of opportunity through improving places by 2040
• Harnessing innovation to enable our people to flourish by 2040

As the Bank operates independently, how they set out their investment strategy in order to achieve these missions is a matter for the Bank to decide.

To highlight an individual investment as an example, in January 2022 the Bank invested £35 million into the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour. This expansion allowed greater land and water access for offshore wind developers. The increased capacity will also play a vital role delivering the supply chain benefits of the ScotWind leasing round, supporting the Bank’s mission to achieve a just transition to net zero.

(a) The current outbreak season started on 1 October 2022. As of 17 February 2023, 12 wild birds in Moray were tested for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) under the GB dead wild bird surveillance scheme. Of these, 10 were positive and consisted of one Pink footed goose, four Herring gulls and five gulls for which the species could not be specified. The two birds that tested negative were a Kestrel and a Cormorant.

(b) HPAI was confirmed at a premises in Forres, Moray, on 14 December 2022. Within the Protection Zone around the infected premises near Forres two veterinary surveillance visits were made. Both were to the same premises and sampling was carried out. On each occasion, 14 ducks were sampled, giving a total of 28 samples which all tested negative for HPAI.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14634 on 28 February 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 consultation on the eligibility criteria for the mobility component of Adult Disability Payment opened on 31 January 2023 and will close on 25 April 2023.

The consultation can be accessed via https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/adult-disability-payment-review .

People can also engage with the consultation through a series of consultation events during February and March 2023.

Registration for consultation events can be accessed via https://www.tickettailor.com/events/adpreviewevents .

The regulation of product standards and of consumer protection are reserved to the UK Government. Certification of PAS 2030 is carried out by independent certification bodies, therefore the information requested is not held centrally. PAS 2035 is currently a standard that installers can work to and is not a certification. Therefore installers cannot obtain PAS 2035 certification.

A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been completed for the domestic quality assurance standards of the Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings programme. It can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/domestic-quality-assurance-heat-buildings-programme-bria/

The regulation of product standards and of consumer protection are reserved to the UK Government. Certification of PAS 2030 is carried out by independent certification bodies, therefore the information requested is not held centrally. PAS 2035 is currently a standard that installers can work to and is not a certification. Therefore installers cannot obtain PAS 2035 certification.

The PAS 2030 standard is a requirement for Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS). Warmworks, the managing agent for WHS, are responsible for ensuring their staff and sub-contractors are adequately trained. However, the Scottish Government also has a Quality Assurance and Audit (QAA) contract for WHS. This contract is managed by Pennington Choices who carry out audits on Warmworks sub-contractors to make sure that they have the appropriate accreditations.

WHS is due to end in 2023, and procurement is currently underway for a successor. The successor will adopt PAS 2035 standards. As the contract has not yet been awarded, the details of how this will be achieved are not yet available. A new QAA contract will also be procured for the successor.

The capacity and capabilities of the retrofit supply chain in Scotland are generally sufficient to meet the needs of our Area Based Schemes (ABS). Local councils have access to a framework of specialist contractors through Scotland Excel. Often these contractors have been PAS compliant for many years with longstanding training and apprenticeship programmes.

Inevitably some ABS individual projects are delayed due to a wide range of factors. The Scottish Government is working with councils and the supply chain to increase local delivery capacity and expand existing capabilities. This will help to reduce the risk and impact of unexpected project delays.