Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not presently provide funding specifically for Build to Rent developers and operators, and therefore there is no budget line allocated for this purpose.

Dates the Scottish Government has met with and currently plans to meet with airports are included in the following table.

The Scottish Government meets with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) routinely on a range of matters.

The last time Scottish Government Ministers met with DWP Ministers was at the last Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare on 16 December 2020, where the agenda covered a range of matters relating to the devolution of social security.

Transport Scotland and the Department for Transport (DfT) are continuing to engage regularly to align their work to enable a shared understanding of the cross border benefits and challenges of options to extend Borders Rail to Carlisle. As committed to within the £350 million Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, the Scottish Government, through Transport Scotland, is progressing the evidence base for extending the Borders Railway through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review. Alongside this, the UK Government’s Department for Transport is progressing complementary work with a wider UK perspective.

The amount spent by the Scottish Government on woodland creation in the years 2016-2021 is set out in the following table:

Since the outset of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has taken an evidence-based approach to our measures on overseas travel, informed by the latest data and evidence provided on a UK-wide basis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), as well as Scotland-specific data from Scotland’s Test and Protect system, and clinical advice from Scotland's Chief Medical Officer. 

The greatest risk of COVID-19 infection are passengers arriving from red list countries, who are required to enter managed isolation in a quarantine hotel. There is no exemption anywhere in the UK for oil and gas workers arriving from red list countries. 

There is an exemption for oil and gas workers arriving from amber list countries to undertake work on critical infrastructure in Scotland. They are still required to take a pre-departure test before travel, complete a passenger locator form before travelling to Scotland, book and take a testing package for days 2 and 8, self-isolate at home for 10 days when not at or travelling to and from a place where they are required to undertake the activities this exemption applies to and show a letter to Border Force from their employer outlining the work they will be doing.

To ask the Scottish Government how it will take into consideration (a) legally binding net-zero emissions targets and (b) the aspirations of its Biodiversity Strategy when deciding on national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4.The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 sets out six outcomes to which a future National Planning Framework (NPF) should work towards, including meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and securing positive effects for biodiversity. We are developing proposals for radical change to our national planning policies and spatial strategy to support a transition to net zero by 2045 and economic recovery, as well as adaptation to the long term impacts of climate change. Our spatial strategy will explore how we can promote nature-based solutions to climate change, including woodland expansion and peatland restoration, which protect and restore biodiversity and deliver wider benefits.

We published our criteria for analysing national developments in January 2020 and issued an open call for nominations during our early engagement programme. We are considering all nominations received. The draft National Planning Framework 4, including details of proposed national developments, will be laid in Parliament in autumn 2021. Extensive public engagement will run alongside Parliament’s consideration of the draft and will provide further opportunity for anyone to comment on proposed national developments, or alternatives to them.

In keeping with our statutory assessment obligations, work on a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Appraisal to inform the emerging National Planning Framework 4 is currently underway. We will also consider the likely health effects of proposed national developments as part of the SEA process. We have also commissioned consultants to undertake an independent assessment of the likely impact of each proposed national development’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions on achieving national greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets.

We issued an open call for nominations during our Call for Ideas early engagement programme in early 2020, and we are considering all those received. Our Position Statement published in November 2020 highlighted the importance of National Developments in delivering the strategy and invited further comments on the direction of travel. In autumn 2021, we will publicly consult on a draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) allowing a further opportunity to input before NPF4 is resubmitted for approval by Parliament in 2022.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of occasions police have responded to a call regarding a person experiencing a mental health crisis.