Chamber and committees

Other than Brussels, Scottish Government international network offices outside the UK are based in the corresponding British Embassy or High Commission. Scottish Government staff in these locations regularly engage with their UK Government counterparts, sharing information to ensure opportunities for collaboration are maximised and to avoid any risk of duplication. All our offices prepare business plans setting out priorities and activity for the year. Where possible we seek to collaborate around key Scottish events in the diplomatic calendar including Burns Night and St Andrew’s Day. Similarly, our teams based in Scotland regularly engage with the FCDO’s devolution unit and with various operational teams and governance structures to ensure a good flow of information.

Developing a National Flood Advisory Service to improve Scotland’s flood resilience and embed best practice on a nationwide scale is one of the actions in Scotland’s first National Flood Resilience Strategy. The Service will provide support and advice on building flood resilience to delivery partners and communities and provide the governance framework for progressing high value flood actions such as flood protection schemes.

The implementation plan for the Strategy will focus on the six priority action areas, starting with the establishment of the Flood Advisory Service. That plan will be developed with partners over the coming months.

In addition to existing Scottish Government funding commitments to support Local Authorities with flood resilience, £15 million has been provided in the draft 2025-2026 Scottish Budget to support the delivery of the Strategy’s actions, wider flooding resilience and coastal adaptation work.

The Scottish Government’s international network offices do not have a role in developing policy on options for Scotland’s constitutional future. Nevertheless, it is the role of the Civil Service to support the elected government of the day in developing and implementing its policies. That is the case for work on independence as it is for the rest of the government’s work.

The Scottish Flooding Forum, funded by Scottish Government, already makes a broad range of resources available to individuals and households. These cover preparation and protection, what to do if flooding occurs, recovery and guidance on actions communities can take together. The SFF also have an online Property Protection Advisor tool.

If someone lives in an area that may flood they can also contact the Scottish Flooding Forum enquiry telephone line for advice, information and support to protect their property.

No.The Scottish Government’s international network delivers tangible benefits to our people, businesses and institutions, and accounts for less than 0.02% of the Scottish Government’s overall resource spending plans.

The Strategy will be delivered via an implementation plan that will focus on the six priority action areas, including a range of core deliverables and outcomes, starting with the establishment of the Flood Advisory Service. That implementation plan will be developed with partners over the coming months.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy does not make reference to ‘pilot programmes’.

There have been no comparative analyses undertaken of spending relative to similar devolved administrations.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy sets out our vision for working with partners to deliver shared outcomes for people and places and supporting a broader range of flood actions where evidence suggests they can provide a positive contribution to improving flood resilience.

This aligns with our National Planning Framework 4 whereby blue and green infrastructure are supported as an integral part of early design and development processes; designed to deliver multiple functions including climate mitigation, flood prevention and water management.

Scottish Government consulted on policy proposals regarding water, wastewater and drainage in early 2024, with respondents broadly agreeing with the proposals that Scotland’s drainage system should be a combination of grey and blue/green infrastructure, with significant support for blue/green infrastructure. Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) are already required in new developments, aligned with NPF4, and along with retrofitting blue/green infrastructure into urban spaces, can help make a positive contribution to flood resilient places.

In addition to contributing to our climate change targets and net zero ambitions by capturing and storing carbon, Scottish Government recognises that restoring Scotland’s peatlands will provide many additional benefits: including reducing risks of flooding and wildfires as well as supporting nature, biodiversity and improving water quality.

Scotland has a significant area of peatlands, and they are an important method of mitigating and adapting to the linked climate and nature emergencies. The Scottish Government has committed funding to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030.