Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government to explore how the proposed New Homes Ombudsman scheme, within the UK Building Safety Bill, could operate in Scotland. The aims of the scheme are to provide better protection to consumers purchasing new build homes and to make access to remediation simpler and easier. The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work with the UK Government as the Bill moves through its amendments process, to try to achieve a UK-wide scheme that works for the people of Scotland and respects the devolution settlement.

We are developing a cross-government framework, the Wellbeing Economy Monitor, to be published later this year. This work is grounded in Scotland’s National Performance Framework, to track progress towards our outcomes beyond GDP. It includes developing the four capitals approach to ensure we take a longer-term view and are able to join up effectively across Government, noting the inter-dependencies across the social, economic, human and natural capitals.

The National Performance Framework also contains a diverse range of measures of success including a new biodiversity indicator.

We also need to take account of the impact of our economy on nature in other countries. Zero Waste Scotland’s material flow accounts ( https://zerowastescotland.org.uk/research-evaluation/material-flow-accounts-mfa ) is an example of this.

The Dasgupta Review is comprehensive and takes a global perspective, and we are not planning to undertake a Scotland specific review. The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing research into biodiversity, as set out in our ‘Environment, natural resources and agriculture research: strategy 2022 to 2027’. This includes plans to establish a Scottish Centre of Expertise in Biodiversity, which will advise policymakers across central and local government and public bodies, on how best to address biodiversity loss.

In the UK warranties for new-build residential homes typically consist of a two-year ‘developer warranty’, followed by a further eight years of structural cover. A warranty on a new build property is a type of insurance policy, meaning that any changes to the existing time periods for which such a warranty would apply falls within the remit of the UK Government as a reserved matter in line with Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998.

The findings of the Dasgupta Review will inform the development of our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, to be published later this year, and our new biodiversity strategy, to be published in 2022.

Close contact and retail premises and other sectors were aggregated from December 2020 in the context of payments of the Strategic Framework Business Fund and thereafter for top-up payments, and that was carried forward to the restart grants paid in April 2021, not least because close contact services tend to operate from adapted retail premises.

It is not possible to provide a definitive costing of the financial implications of increasing the levels of restart grants for close contact businesses. Initial analysis of potential costs was based on estimates of the numbers of close contact services premises developed by Scottish Government analysts, supplemented by further information on close contact service business numbers provided by individual Local Authorities. This analysis suggested that the costs of increasing grant rates for close contact services to those paid to leisure and hospitality premises could have been of the approximate order of an additional £20 million, over and above the package of financial support provided as part of the broader set of restart grants. However, this cost is an estimate, influenced by eligibility criteria, assumptions on uptake, and by information held by individual Local Authorities on the characteristics of the broader retail sector recipients of business support administered by them.

Restart grants were paid in April only.

A public consultation exercise, Building standards (fire safety) - a consultation on external wall systems - Scottish Government - Citizen Space , is currently being undertaken which includes options on the role of BS 8414 (and associated BR 135).

Responses to the consultation will be used to inform the Building Standards (Fire Safety) Review Panel 2020-21 work and final policy that will be prepared in support of any legislative changes. Any legislative changes may have an effect on ‘building standards verifier requirements’. The consultation closes in October 2021.

As an interim measure, the Scottish Government Building Standards Division have requested notification from local authority verifiers under S34 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 where BS 8414 / BR 135 and BS 9414 extended field of application assessments have been used to demonstrate compliance with the mandatory building standards. These interim measure decisions to remove reference to BS 8414 and BR 135 were taken and implemented, respectively, as follows:

(a) March 2021

(b) March/ April 2021

Additionally, pending the outcome of the review, advice on avoiding the use of MCM (category 3) was introduced into Section 2 (fire) of the Technical Handbooks in April 2021 .

Deployment of 5G in Scotland is being commercially led by the four main mobile network operators.

To support that rollout and accelerate adoption and use of 5G, we published a strategy in 2019 (available at 5G: strategy for Scotland - gov.scot ).

This states our commitment to embracing the possibilities of 5G and establishes what steps are needed to ensure Scotland seizes this social and economic opportunity.

As a core part of implementation of this strategy, in 2019 we established the Scotland 5G Centre to be a visible national platform supporting the development, deployment and commercialisation of 5G in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s expectations of Scottish Enterprise are set out in a framework document which expands on the agency’s responsibilities and statutory functions under the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990.

Scottish Enterprise has service level agreements in place with partners which require it to respond to customer enquiries within 5 working days, with more than 90% of enquiries in a normal year receiving a response within 2 working days.

Although no specific standards are in place in relation to the provision of advisory and grant support services, Scottish Enterprise monitors this and seeks regular feedback from businesses accessing the services.

COP26 will put Scotland on the global stage when leaders from around the world come together this November to take collective action in tackling the climate emergency. The opportunity to inspire and galvanise action with people across Scotland is clear. But COP 26 also presents a significant opportunity to showcase Scotland as a global leader in sustainable and inclusive economic development and to showcase our expertise in climate change solutions.

In the run up to COP26, Scottish Government, together with its enterprise agencies and VisitScotland, will be taking every opportunity to showcase the best of our business and tourism landscape. Our communication efforts will maximise the opportunity of COP in Scotland to enhance our progress to Net Zero through a Just Transition, and attract the innovation, investment and partnerships that will help us achieve this.

Across all of the venues during the conference, we will ensure that participating nations can see the best that Scotland has to offer. Clear branding and targeted marketing campaigns will show delegates, visitors and businesses what is distinctive about Scotland, whilst also demonstrating our climate leadership. Our Brand Scotland marketing platform will be central to the delivery of all marketing activity ahead of and during COP26.

We are also developing a number of partner toolkits to share with the media, our international network, external stakeholders and brand partners, all of which will seek to extend reach, awareness and advocacy around the event.

COP26 represents an opportunity for Scotland to showcase its green tourism credentials. With around 30,000 delegates projected for Scotland over the period VisitScotland are ensuring that people arriving in Glasgow will receive a warm welcome. COP26 also gives us an opportunity to enhance Scotland’s reputation in the longer term. We will use this opportunity to attract climate conscious tourists to enjoy Scotland’s amazing tourism offer.

During the event, our trade and investment focus will be on an exhibition and programme of events at our 1,750sqm Scottish Innovation and Investment Zone on Glasgow’s Cessnock Quay, adjacent to the UN Blue Zone and the UK Green Zone. Innovation and investment will drive the transition to Net Zero in Scotland, and globally. Our vision for the zone is of participation and conversations, on how we can collaborate to take action, with Scotland and our businesses at the forefront of that transition.

We will showcase Scotland’s businesses leading the way, demonstrating Scotland’s ambition and innovation. We aim to create an immersive experience where everyone can see a vision of a net zero future and real progress being made, with the promise of more to come. An outline programme will be published in the early autumn.

As well as delivering our own activities, Scottish Government is supporting UKG to ensure the successful delivery of COP26 in Glasgow and working closely with UKG partners to maximise our opportunities to promote Scottish solutions to the climate crisis. For example, the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise will be attending a Global Investment Summit, Building A Green Future Together , hosted by UK Government in London and Windsor in the autumn. This event in the run up to COP26 will showcase the pick of investment ready environmental businesses from across the UK, including several key Scottish companies, to a high profile audience of international investors. In developing our Scottish programme, we are looking as far as possible to align with the UK’s announced programme of theme days to produce a coherent experience for delegates and visitors. We will continue to look for areas where we can align with and enhance the UKG programme.

COP26 is not an end in itself. From a trade and investment perspective, we will use this event 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 . By grasping this opportunity to showcase Scotland’s strengths and the economic opportunity presented by a just transition, the Scottish Government will further invigorate the transformation of our economy to address the global climate emergency.