Chamber and committees

The Agent of Change principle is enshrined in both the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (the Planning Act) and National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).

Section 41A of the Planning Act sets out that, if residents or occupiers of any proposed development are likely to be affected by significant noise from an existing activity, the planning authority must take account of whether the proposed development includes sufficient measures to minimise or manage the effect of noise between the development and any existing cultural venues or facilities (including in particular, but not limited to, live music venues). A planning authority may not, as a condition of granting planning permission for a noise-sensitive development, impose on a noise source additional costs relating to acoustic design measures to mitigate, minimise or manage the effects of noise.

Policy 31 (Culture and Creativity) of NPF4 states that development proposals within the vicinity of existing arts venues will fully reflect the Agent of Change principle and will only be supported where they can demonstrate that measures can be put in place to ensure that existing noise and disturbance impacts on the proposed development would be acceptable and that existing venues and facilities can continue without additional restrictions being placed on them as a result of the proposed new development.

It is the responsibility of planning authorities to ensure they comply with their statutory duties, including in relation to the determination of planning applications.

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of farmed fish very seriously and has already committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for farmed fish during production, as set out in its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee’s recommendations (13 March 2025) following its enquiry into salmon farming in Scotland.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Government's Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC) to conduct research into the economic value of live cattle and sheep movements cross-border from the extended England-Wide Bluetongue restricted zone. Representatives from the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers Scotland (IAAS) supplied livestock valuations based on the latest livestock trends to establish an estimated value of regular monthly trade which could be affected by the movement restrictions. EPIC have also undertaken a supplementary study aiming to understand the impacts on Scottish livestock movements in response to the extended England-wide bluetongue restricted zone.

The Scottish Government has hosted regular meetings with representatives of livestock markets and other key stakeholders since the first cases of Bluetongue Serotype 3 (BTV-3) were identified in England in autumn 2024. This is in addition to attending regular meetings with industry stakeholders hosted by Defra at least twice a week, which includes market representatives. Scottish market representatives were also invited to meetings to directly feed into reports conducted by the Scottish Government’s centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC), which analyse the levels and value of cross border trade and the impacts on Scottish livestock movements in response to an extended all England- restricted zone. The Scottish Government continue to closely with markets, particularly those on the Scotland-England border, to seek innovative solutions to the disruptions from BTV-3 restrictions.

The current Pollinator Strategy runs from 2017 to 2027 and has been a successful catalyst for local authorities, communities, and other organisations to come together to improve existing pollinator habitat and improve linkages between them. In 2026, NatureScot will begin discussion with a range of stakeholders over the successes of the current Strategy, the elements which need to be built on over the coming 10 years covered by the second Strategy, and new initiatives which may need to be taken forward.

NatureScot has recently published the annual Pollinator Strategy Progress Report which is available here: Pollinator Strategy - 2024 Progress Report | NatureScot. Evaluation of future Pollinator Strategies will be taken forward within the context of the wider Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which is being developed for the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy details of which are available here: Biodiversity strategy and delivery plan: governance, monitoring and evaluation - gov.scot.

We have undertaken a full policy development process in order to reach a finalised position of no support for coal extraction in Scotland, in line with statutory requirements. The policy position was subject to statutory and other assessments, including Strategic Environmental Assessment, before finalisation. This included in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP), and our National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).

We have undertaken a full policy development process in order to reach a finalised position of no support for onshore conventional oil and gas in Scotland, in line with statutory requirements. The first step in this process was the launch of a call for evidence which ran from 21 June to 2 August 2022, which invited stakeholders’ views and expanded our evidence base in this policy area.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is responsible for allocating funding to colleges, in line with Ministerial priorities, as set out in SFC’s Annual Letter of Guidance 2025–26. Colleges are responsible for determining their own operational decisions, including course provision.

To ensure that post school provision becomes more responsive to Scotland's strategic skills needs and priorities, the Scottish Government is working closely with partners, including SFC, to deliver on the Programme for Government’s commitment to introduce a new Scottish Government-led approach to national skills planning, and strengthen regional skills planning.

Hydrogen policy officials met recently with several of the academics from Manchester University to discuss the findings in the On Hydrogen report and we will take these papers into consideration as part of our ongoing studies of the broader research landscape in the hydrogen sector.

Our industrial clusters will play an important role in achieving our vision of a decarbonised, successful, industrial sector. In some cases, decarbonisation will mean adoption of a range of new technologies, including low carbon hydrogen.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38966 on 22 July 2025. 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