Chamber and committees

The consultation on the Heat in Buildings Bill included a range of proposals regarding the use of waste heat by heat networks. The final decision on the provisions of the Bill, to be introduced later this year, will be made collectively by Cabinet ahead of its introduction.

Heat networks have an important role to play in meeting the objectives set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Our Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme continues to support homeowners with an interest-free loan of up to £7,500 towards connecting to a district heating scheme.

For those in or at risk of fuel poverty, support to connect to a district heating scheme is also available through our national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland.

Households wanting to take action should contact HES who can help those interested to navigate the support available. HES can be contacted on 0808 808 2282 or via their online portal https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/

The Scottish Government is a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland Partnership, which is working to ensure that all school aged children in Scotland will be given the opportunity to be equipped with CPR skills.

This has included delivery of Restart a Heart Day Live last year. This was a live stream CPR training event targeted at school-age children. The Scottish Government has committed to working with Save a Life for Scotland to deliver Restart a Heart Day Live again in 2025.

The Save a Life for Scotland partnership have a range of resources available on their website for both adults and children to safely learn how to perform CPR.

There is no mechanism that exists currently for the Scottish Government to collect data centrally on the provision of CPR training in schools.

As a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland partnership, we continue to work closely with local authorities and schools to ensure that all school aged children in Scotland will be given the opportunity to be equipped with CPR skills.

Figures representing all rail expenditure for the years 2021-22 to 2023-24 can be found in Transport Scotland accounts:

Year 2022-23: Annual Accounts | Transport Scotland

Year 2023-24: Annual Accounts | Transport Scotland

The budget figures for the current and previous financial years are available at: Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026 - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government has committed through its 2024 Programme for Government to review the way the culture sector is supported. This ongoing culture sector support programme will, amongst other things, explore alternative and additional funding mechanisms to grow the overall funding pot for culture in Scotland. A Percentage for the Arts scheme is one of the mechanisms that will be considered as part of this programme.

The purpose of the meeting on 26 February 2025 was to update myself and the Minister for Climate Action on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, the reform options being considered by UK Government, and the potential impact of those options for Scotland.

The briefing paper for this meeting, and list of attendees, including ministers, have already been released under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). It is standard procedure for names of officials to be redacted in all FOIs under Section 38(1)(b), due to protections around the sharing of Third Party Data, whereby personal data is exempt from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR and in section 34(1) of the DPA 2018.

Upon review of the FOI, section 29(1)(a) was not cited as a redaction used. Information has been redacted under 30(b)(i), however, was redacted due to it relating to the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching a settled public position.

In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded.

We are working with the UK Government to consider options to potentially streamline Growth Deal governance whilst continuing to ensure a level of scrutiny appropriate to the £3.4 billion of public funding we are collectively investing in the programme. Any changes made to Growth Deal governance would require joint Government endorsement.

Prior to 1 September 2024, the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007 required all keepers with 50 or more poultry at any single premises to notify the Scottish Ministers (in writing) in relation to those premises. The information required by the legislation was held on the GB Poultry Register, and processes to support the enforcement of this legislation, which is the responsibility of local authorities, were long established.

The amendment of this legislation ((by The Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024), which extended this legal requirement to all bird keepers (with exceptions) and the introduction of the Scottish Kept Bird Register, has merely meant an extension to the enforcement process already in place. Since 1 September 2024 local authorities have continued to seek information regarding the registration status of keepers, using this data to enforce this legal requirement.

To further support this, Scottish Government, in consultation with Local Authorities has developed draft Local Authority Bird Registration Enforcement Guidance for all Scottish Local Authorities, and this guidance is currently being reviewed by The Scottish Local Authority Animal Health and Welfare Strategy Group.

The draft guidelines are based primarily on an educational approach to enforcement of the Scottish Kept Bird Register, particularly whilst keepers grow familiar with the system. However, prosecution for persistent offenders remains an option.

Supporting people with ME/CFS, long COVID and similar conditions is a priority for this government and this commitment is reiterated within the recent Programme for Government.

Funding has not yet been allocated to individual NHS health boards. We want this money to have maximum impact and are working closely and carefully with boards across Scotland to allocate it as quickly and effectively as possible.