Chamber and committees

How local authorities manage market driven budgets are a matter for individual local authorities who are autonomous bodies, responsible for managing their own day to day business and answerable to their electorates. In view of this it would not be appropriate for the Scottish government to interfere in that local democratic process. Local authorities must use their resources as efficiently as possible and deliver services effectively to ensure taxpayers get the best possible value.

However, the Scottish Government continue to meet with COSLA and local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of topics, including current and future budget pressures.

The Scottish Government has committed to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to kick-start market growth in zero emissions heat and energy efficiency, and to support those least able to pay. Households in or at risk of fuel poverty can receive support through Warmer Homes Scotland and our local authority-led Area Based Schemes. In addition, through Home Energy Scotland we offer low and zero interest loans and cashback grants for energy efficiency and zero emissions heating systems.

We are working to develop an appropriate market framework to support consumers, and to secure further private investment to help meet the costs of the transition. We are establishing a Green Heat Finance Taskforce. We continue to work with the UK Government and press for measures to address market disincentives to switching to zero emissions heat.

Home Energy Scotland provide free, impartial advice and can be contacted on 0800 808 2282.

All data collected associated with deer culled on National Forests and Land (NFL) is recorded in FLS Wildlife Management System (WMS) database. The following table is derived from this database. This is managed by robust supervision of cullers and checks to match the juvenile GPS data to the adult female GPS data; however there are many factors that may influence the ratio demonstrated in the following below.

The Pig Producers Hardship Support Scheme was set up to compensate pig producers who were paid £15 less per pig by Quality Pork Processors at Brechin, between 8 February and 31 March 2021. It opened for applications on 30 August and closed on 26 September, and eligible applicants will now have received their payments. We will not be extending the Scheme at this time.

Following the announcement from Defra on a Private Storage Aid scheme and positive ongoing discussions with our pig industry we are putting in place our own Private Storage Aid scheme in Scotland to further aid the industry. This will help to alleviate the backlog of pigs on farms, and reduce any potential welfare issues. In addition the levy bodies in Scotland and England are providing the pig sector with a levy holiday for the whole of November.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads with the local road authorities, including parking on local roads. In addition, Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic. As such this is not an issue where the Scottish Government would become involved.

However, Glasgow City Council will enforce car-exclusion zones around schools by way of Traffic Regulation Order which will prohibit any motor vehicle without a permit of valid exemption from using the School Streets zone whilst the scheme is in operation.

Further information on this can be found at the following link;

Spaces for People: Expansion of School Car Free Zones - Glasgow City Council

The Scottish Government has been engaging with Glasgow based businesses, both in terms of logistics and how they can get involved in COP.

In terms of logistics, we have communicated relevant travel information to our stakeholders through a variety of channels. This includes: 7 webinars to almost 40 organisations, 5 directed 1-2-1 sessions on business support for large businesses, 4 newsletters to almost 400 recipients, as well as a Scottish Government run travel campaign aimed at businesses, residents and commuters to and throughout Glasgow, to raise awareness of the changes to travel arrangements. Scottish Enterprise have also been working closely with Glasgow City Council relating to planning of COP26 events in Glasgow. With Glasgow City Council engaging extensively with businesses in Glasgow, particularly those impacted near venues, from large employers in the area to small 3 rd sector organisations.

Glasgow businesses are speaking at, and attending the Scotland’s Climate Ambition Zone COP26 programme of events and a number of Glasgow based businesses are booked into a virtual exhibition stand as part of the wider programme of activity around this. Additionally, we are supporting Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s Climate Chamber Mission and wider COP26 programme.

The Scottish Government believes that hosting COP26 will offer important economic opportunities for both Glasgow and Scotland, particularly for Glasgow’s accommodation and hospitality sectors. COP26 also offers potential additional trade and investment opportunities. Scotland has the ideal mix of political, regulatory and commercial factors that will allow investors, entrepreneurs and corporates to start and expand their activities that will help the world meet its climate change targets. We will be using COP26 to accelerate our work on delivering our commitment to Net Zero, as set out in Scotland’s Vision for Trade. Net Zero is at the heart of our global capital investment plan, Investing with Purpose, and our inward investment plan, Shaping Scotland's Economy.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a separate study of the economic impact of COP26 to date. We are engaging closely with the assessment of the economic benefits of COP26 commissioned by the UK Government, along with Glasgow City Council. This will consider the economic impacts of COP26 to Glasgow, Scotland and the UK.

The Scottish Government will be monitoring the success of our COP26 activities. This includes an evaluation of our programme of over 60 in-person or hybrid events comprising Scotland’s Climate Ambition Zone at the Lighthouse in Glasgow. This two week programme will showcase the opportunities for future business and investment presented by our commitment to delivering a just transition to a net zero economy in Scotland, and will be the start of longer term engagement with business on this issue.

The Scottish National Investment Bank only opened in November 2020 but has so far committed over £120 million to eight businesses and projects in line with its strategic missions. Details of the each of the Bank’s investments are published on the Bank’s ‘Our Portfolio’ page: https://www.thebank.scot/our-portfolio/ .

In 2020-21 it invested in two businesses and projects with a total commitment of £52.5 million and so far in 2021-22 the Bank has committed £68.4 million to a further six businesses. The Bank’s forward plans are set out in the business plan and investment strategy which can be found on the Bank’s ‘Publications’ page: https://www.thebank.scot/publications/ .

The Bank has been established to make investments independently of Government but in line with the strategic missions set for it by Ministers. The pace of investment and investment decisions are therefore matters for the Bank’s board. The Scottish Government is committed to providing the Bank with £1 billion of funding for investment during the course of this parliament.

Scotland has well established approaches and sources of funding which enable our communities to do things for themselves, as well as to make their voices heard in the planning and delivery of services.

We are targeting similar outcomes to those of the community booster share schemes in England with our Place-Based Investment Programme which is being backed by £325 million of capital funding over 5 years for a variety of place-based investment initiatives, including support for 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre action, community wealth building and community-led regeneration. We also have our £50 million Vacant and Derelict Land investment programme. These initiatives are complemented by our Empowering Communities Programme which supports community led projects and strategic partnerships, enabling communities to tackle poverty and disadvantage on their own terms. We also provide funding to Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS) totalling over £400,000 between 2021 and 2024 to continue their Community Shares Scotland programme.

The Scottish National Investment Bank has been established to invest in Scottish business, projects and communities with the objective of delivering positive environmental and social impacts, and positive financial returns for the people of Scotland. The Bank operates on a commercial basis, providing repayable debt and equity. This investment is available to Third Sector and community organisations for specific commercial projects.

Since the launch of the Young Person's Guarantee in November 2020, we have invested an additional £130 million which aims to provide at least 24,000 new and enhanced opportunities to support young people find and sustain employment.

The Guarantee is not a standalone programme and is building on our already significant investment into education, employability and skills. Therefore we are working with partners to produce a rigorous Measurement and Evaluation Framework that will support our understanding of the Guarantee's impact across a range of economic, education and equalities outcomes.

The framework will build upon a range of existing reporting mechanisms, including Skills Development Scotland's (SDS) Participation Measure, which recently reported a record annual participation measure figure , with 92.2% of 16-19 year olds participating in education, training or employment from 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021. Other sources of information underpinning the framework include the regular reporting of Apprenticeships statistics from SDS and work completed by the Scottish Funding Council on Further/Higher Education provision.

As part of this work, we published the Guarantee's Key Performance Indicators on 28 July 2021 alongside the Implementation Progress Report . We also expect to shortly restart publications of the Local Authority Youth Labour Market Dashboard and Snapshot Participation Measure.

We will be announcing more details on the framework in the coming weeks.