Chamber and committees

We have been following the development of the Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) with interest. As well as the paper which was published in November, we also have regular discussions with the other UK nations, including Wales, regarding future agriculture policy proposals as part of the provisional Agricultural Support Common Framework. Whilst each nation has its own unique situation, and tailors their support accordingly, we also have shared challenges and goals. These discussions under the Framework enable all four nations to collaborate, coordinate, and cooperate regarding plans for future agricultural support.

While our proposals for future support are set out as a framework, as opposed to a single scheme, there are a number of similarities with the Welsh proposals. The Welsh “Sustainable Land Management” objectives, which the SFS is based on, are similar to our overarching objectives for future Scottish agriculture policy, which are set out in the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 and include the adoption and use of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices and high quality food production.

A number of the “Universal Actions” proposed as part of the SFS, such as on soil health planning, Integrated Pest Management and habitat maintenance, also echo our proposals for future support. For example, as set out in our Agricultural Reform Route Map, the requirements we are putting in place under the Whole Farm Plan include soil analysis, a biodiversity audit, and an Integrated Pest Management plan. These are intended to help farmers and crofters prepare for the fact that from 2026 at least half of all funding for farming and crofting will be targeted towards outcomes for biodiversity gain and climate mitigation and adaption.

We recognise that reaching net zero will require all our farmers, crofters, and land managers to be ambitious and continue to help address climate change, alongside other outcomes including sustainable food production, enhancing biodiversity and supporting our rural communities. This will build on the good work that is already being done though adoption of low carbon farming practices, planting trees and hedges and restoring peatlands.

We firmly believe there is no contradiction between high quality food production and producing it in a way that delivers for the climate and nature and it is important that we do not offshore our emissions as we work towards net zero.

Importantly, the Whole Farm Plan will help farmers and crofters measure their businesses’ impact and find ways to become more efficient and to cut emissions. We continue to explore new, innovative ways to help mitigate emissions from agriculture, measure and build carbon sequestration, while continuing to produce high quality food and improve biodiversity.

We will bring forward a draft Climate Change Plan in the coming year that will set out policies and proposals for how the agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry sectors will continue to play their part in meeting our ambitious net zero national target by 2045.

The use of GWP100 is set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

The Highlands and Islands Veterinary Services Scheme (HIVSS) is crucial support to ensure that crofters and small farmers in remote areas of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland have access to veterinary care to protect the health and welfare of their animals, and to ensure veterinary surveillance for notifiable diseases in these areas. HIVSS subsidises the travel costs of veterinary practices serving eligible clients to remove the significant financial disadvantage such clients would otherwise have relative to similar clients closer to urban areas.

Scheme funding is demand-led rather than inflation led. It is based on the number of visits made by veterinary practices to eligible clients over the last 3 years and the mileage covered doing so, along with the payment of receipted travel expenses and time spent waiting during journeys.

A number of factors affect the calculation of both grant and expenses payments. These are currently under review. However, the mileage and supplementary travel rates are based rates dictated by HMRC; the waiting time rate is based on the payment rate for Official Veterinarians; the standard visit fees payable by clients is based on the average rate of fee charges as per the salary survey by the Society for Practicing Veterinary Surgeons; and overnight accommodation payment is based on average B&B prices in the Highlands and Islands. These are all kept under review to ensure that the payments made reflect the actual travel costs faced by veterinary practices as closely as possible.

The Campbeltown service operated on 146 days between June 2021 and September 2022. There were no services beyond this date due to the need to withdraw the route since that time.

The Scottish Education Exchange Programme Test and Learn Project (SEEP) has been developed in partnership with colleges and universities and over the first 2 years has supported 56 projects focusing on closing the shortfall between the UK Government Turing Scheme and Erasmus+.

Applications for the SEEP must be submitted by a Scottish college or university. The amount of funding for each institution is capped at £25,000. Each applicant has the opportunity to apply for an additional (up to) £10,000 to partner with a recognised Scottish youth work organisation.

Whilst the first year of SEEP focused on staff mobility, criteria in year 2 was extended to include short-term mobility opportunities for Scottish students, addressing a gap in the Turing Scheme. These projects are live, institutions will provide student participation data once the projects conclude in March 2025.

An evaluation of the programme has been commissioned and will be published this summer.

Officials spoke with Glasgow City Council on 27 February 2025 following the decision to retract the proposal to close the Glasgow School of Sport. The Scottish Government understands that the proposal is no longer under active consideration.

We are carefully considering the recommendations in the UK Farm Animal Welfare Committee report from 2014 and its updated opinion of February 2023, in conjunction with the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee’s follow-up inquiry report into fish farming that was published on
17 January 2025.

The welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter is assured by Article 3.1 of retained Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 and as such we have no immediate plans to introduce further legislation. However, once engagement with the industry and other stakeholders is complete, the guidance we intend to publish will provide flexibility for the industry to quickly adopt new technology and management techniques to improve fish welfare at time of slaughter.

To drive progress towards our circular economy goals, Scotland had a set of waste and recycling targets in place over the past decade running to 2025, and spanning the waste hierarchy.

As our Circular Economy & Waste Route Map set out, while these previous 2025 targets have provided a good platform for progress over the past decade, they are not universally the best indicators to deliver our circular economy, emissions and nature objectives.

By 2027, we will set new statutory circular economy targets, using powers from the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024. These targets will follow the development of a monitoring and indicator framework to allow for more holistic tracking of Scotland's consumption levels and wider measures of circularity, and will take into account the waste hierarchy.

We did not expect to consider a change of ownership as part of the business case work, and this alternative approach has not been taken lightly. Transport Scotland and CMAL were formally advised to take forward initial discussions with Peel Ports Group in November 2024.

These initial discussions had progressed to a more advanced stage which allowed for the recent update to Parliament. Intensive commercial negotiations are ongoing.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all students with a disability, long term medical condition or additional support needs are able to access further and higher education and are fully supported throughout their studies.

It is for institutions to make decisions on their intake but they are required under the Equality Act (Scotland) 2010 to provide equal opportunities and prevent discrimination.

It is worth noting that the retention rate for this group of students, which in the last four years has been above the sector average, is currently (in AY 2021-22 into AY 2022-23) 91.8% for FTFD Scottish Domiciled Entrants.

PERSISTENT INEQUALITIES

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are currently working together to enhance the SFC’s leadership and oversight role in tackling persistent inequalities in the tertiary system.

Through this, SFC and EHRC have established a set of National Equality Outcomes (NEOs) for the tertiary education sector through their Persistent Inequalities work. Disability, as a protected characteristic, is included as part of this work, and the following National Equality Outcomes related to disabled students:

• Disabled students report feeling satisfied with the overall support and reasonable adjustments received, including from teaching staff, while on their course.
• Disabled staff and students report feeling safe in the tertiary system.
• Where representation is not proportionate to the relevant population, increase the representation of disabled staff in the workforce and on college Boards and university Courts.

SFC will be reviewing progress made by the sector through the upcoming Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) reports as part of SFC’s Outcome Framework and Assurance Model.

DSA

The Scottish Government (via the Scottish Funding Council and the Student Awards Agency Scotland) provides various funding mechanisms in the form of the Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance, the Access and Inclusion Fund, and the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA).

This vital support ensures that those with a disability or additional support needs are able to access further and higher education and continue to be well supported throughout their studies.

In 2023-24 the number of full-time students with disabilities or additional support needs who were supported by DSA increased to 5,855. This totals £14.1 million in support, an 18.4% increase.

Data also shows that we now have a record number of students at university with a recorded disability or additional support need (6,765).