Chamber and committees

Contractual monthly payments are made by Transport Scotland to the A74(M) concessionaire Autolink. The payments are based on a shadow toll. Provisional monthly payments are made based on historic traffic numbers using the A74(M) project road. A reconciliation is undertaken at the end of each year to adjust payments for actual traffic recorded. Monthly payments are also reduced to take into any account lane occupations by Autolink. The current provisional monthly payments are approximately £2.73m before VAT.

There are voluntary agreements in some parts of Scotland around the use of jet skis, including duration of use and timings. We are not aware of a specific agreement covering Wardie Bay. These agreements are not a statutory requirement.

Our natural geography brings the benefit of increased opportunity to access both freshwater and our unique coastline and we will continue to promote and ensure the safe enjoyment of Scotland’s diverse landscape.

The Scottish Government works closely with Water Safety Scotland (WSS) and other partners, including local councils, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire & Rescue Service to implement and support initiatives that can help raise awareness, this includes providing grant funding to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Scottish Community Safety Network to help promote a co-ordinated and preventative approach to water safety across the country.

WSS has produced a guide on Water Safety Policy in Scotland which is available online.

The Covid-19 test kits are home PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so we are unable to influence the cost of these.

Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries.

We are having on-going discussion with the UK government on using private test providers, particularly about the speed and reliability of the flow of data from private companies. We are keen to understand fully the key performance indicators (KPIs) that have been recently set for these companies and the process should these not be met.

a) Scottish Government set targets for forest creation and for native woodland creation within that. In the current year, 2021, the woodland creation target is 13500 ha and of this 4000 ha will be new native woodlands. Scottish government and its agency Scottish. , do not pre-determine the type of trees that will be planted by landowners that are supported by the Forestry Grant Scheme. There are a number of grant options provided for applicants and landowners in order to help achieve Scottish Government targets and policy priorities. For example, a grant option is provided to enable applicants to create new native woodlands in order to promote biodiversity and meet the targets under the Biodiversity Strategy.

The FGS does not guide applicant’s schemes based on carbon sequestration and species choice. Each scheme is guided by the principles of sustainable forest management as set out in the UK Forestry Standard.

The existing forestry grant scheme works to support the three principle objectives of Scotland’s Forestry Strategy. As of May 2021, conifer and diverse conifers accounted for 58% of the woodland creation programme, broadleaves and small farm woods, 4%, native broadleaf woodlands including native Scots pine, 32% and natural regeneration, 6%.

The Scottish Government is working with key business sectors, Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and other stakeholders to make sure water is used efficiently through conservation measures.

We continue to invest in the public network, reducing leakage and increasing water efficiency which helps conserve water in the environment, and we are working to develop technologies and other approaches to enhance resilience. Scottish Water encourages its customers to use water efficiently. In the last year alone, Scottish Water Business Stream has helped its business customers save over £14 million through water efficiency savings, and since 2008 it has saved £213 million and conserved more than 38 billion litres of water.

As previously set out in the Chamber, Scottish Government will take forward a comprehensive review of the arrangements in place for provision of financial support for patient travel. This review will take full account of the matters raised by Members.

Regrettably, this review has been delayed due to prioritisation of NHS recovery and remobilisation planning, and will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers.

Their specific responsibilities are as follows:

Fishing associations with members who are hand-dive operators regularly attend the SSSWG. Our national Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) network is also strongly represented at the SSSWG and we continue to welcome the involvement of the hand-dive sector through this network or the fishers’ relevant association.

In April 2020 the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) consulted on future support for low carbon heat, proposing the Green Gas Support and Clean Heat Grant schemes as successors. The Scottish Government responded to the consultation and has separately engaged with BEIS to press the need for replacement schemes to account for particular circumstances in Scotland.

BEIS published its response on the Green Gas Support scheme and associated levy in March 2021. BEIS is yet to issue a response on the Clean Heat Grant. These schemes will provide a reduced level of support to a narrower range of non-domestic heat decarbonisation projects.

The Scottish Government has allocated almost £1.6 billion over this parliament to heat and energy efficiency, including support for non-domestic projects. We already offer a loan and cashback grant offer for SME businesses via the Energy Efficiency Business Support Service and will invest up to £400 million over the next five years in large-scale heat decarbonisation infrastructure, as well as continuing to offer low interest unsecured loans for both district heating low carbon and renewable technology projects in Scotland.

Our commitment to tackling the climate emergency and transitioning to a net-zero society by 2045 is unwavering.

The Scottish Government is committed to review the role that incineration plays in Scotland’s waste hierarchy, and are considering options to take forward this review. Parliament will be updated on plans for this in September, when we will outline a timeline for the review.