Chamber and committees

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update published in December 2020, a route-map will be produced by the end of 2021, assuming the pandemic has moved to a phase to allow this.

The combined sewer network is designed to spill during heavy rainfall to protect homes from flooding. The reported 40% increase in sewage spills in the last five years is primarily due to increases in total annual rainfall and rainfall intensity which are related to climate change. The Scottish Government is committed to reducing sewage spills into rivers and seas across Scotland.

We have introduced legislation through the Urban Waste Water Treatment (Scotland) Regulations 1994 and the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 to minimise the impact of sewage discharges on the water environment.

We are working closely with Scottish Water and SEPA to prioritise investment to reduce sewage spill frequency and impact on the water environment. As part of a long-term strategy, Scottish Water is aiming to transform its waste water services to meet the challenges presented by the impacts of climate change and population growth.

In line with our economic strategy, our aim for the Scottish tourism sector is to enable sustainable and inclusive growth. Whilst there has been no recent research into the effects of windfarm development on tourism in Scotland, VisitScotland research does however indicate that visitors are seeking to be more responsible, both in terms of their personal and environmental impact. VisitScotland's Trends 2020 Paper identified that travellers are now seeking to consciously off-set the carbon impact of their travel. The use of sustainable energy by local businesses may therefore appeal to this type of traveller and promote Scotland as an environmentally friendly and climate conscious country to visit.

The issue of the legal protection of crofts from local authority care charges was the subject of a petition for consideration by the Public Petitions Committee. In response to this petition the Scottish Government has stated that consideration on how best to apply the regulations lies with local authorities.

The National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 and associated Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidance (CRAG), provide the framework for local authorities to charge for the residential care that they provide or arrange. It is for local authorities to interpret the Regulations in applying their policies.

There were two specific reasons for the £4.1 million reduction. The 2021-22 budget maintained all existing funding commitments. The Other Arts budget continues to maintain support for important ongoing commitments such as Scottish Screen, the Youth Music Initiative, and our major Festivals.

The first reason was that no provision was made for loans under the Financial Transactions (FT) mechanism as there was no requirement for FTs to be administered by Creative Scotland in 2021-22. This has resulted in a £1.09m decrease.

The second change was in relation to the ‘Other Arts’ line where revenue funding fell by £3.17m year on year. The decrease of £3.1 million was due to a technical change agreed with Creative Scotland, whereby Scottish Government moved £3.1 million of grant funding for Regularly Funded Organisations into 2020-21 from 2021-22. This enabled Creative Scotland to carry over the National Lottery funding in to 2021-22, therefore over the two years Scottish Government is maintaining funding. Creative Scotland confirmed in a statement on 28 January 2021 that they would honour their Regularly Funded Organisations commitment to 2021-22.

As we have done in previous years, the Scottish Government flew the Red Ensign from its main buildings on 3 September as a sign of respect and recognition of the sacrifices made by our Merchant Navy Seafarers. In addition, we issued social media via the Scottish Government’s Veterans account to raise awareness of the key role played by the men and women of the Merchant Navy both today and throughout its illustrious history.

As part of the development of the refreshed National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, we will commission research on the scale and cost of litter and flytipping in Scotland shortly. This research will provide an update on the cost of litter and flytipping to public bodies and will be published before the final National Litter and Flytipping Strategy is published.

The first six-monthly update report on the progress of the pipeline of projects and programmes within the new five-year Infrastructure Investment Plan will be provided to Parliament in autumn 2021. The first full annual progress report of the Plan will be provided to Parliament in spring 2022.

Our regulatory proposals will give local authorities powers to strike a balance between the needs and concerns of their local communities, with the wider economic and tourism benefits of short-term lets. In certain areas, achieving this balance may require a reduction in numbers of whole homes offered for short-term lets and local authorities have been given powers through the planning control area regulations to help manage activity in their area. The consultation draft Licensing Order also includes powers to manage overprovision, and licensing requirements should mean that some unsuitable operators and accommodation will also leave the market. We do not have an estimate of how many short-term lets will return to the long-term housing market as this depends on how local authorities use the powers they are being given.

The Scottish Government do not hold the information requested. The delivery of training by Police Scotland, in Sri Lanka, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.