Chamber and committees

The following data relates to information held by the Scottish Government on Aquaculture Production Businesses (APB) and authorisation to operate under regulation 6 of the Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 for animal health purposes only.

How many finfish aquaculture sites have (a) been closed and (c) surrendered their licence since 1 January 2018:

• There have been 25 finfish aquaculture farm sites de-registered and no longer in operation;
• There have been 57 finfish aquaculture farm sites inactivated as they are either in long term fallow or there are no current plans to stock them, although the APB may still be in operation;
• There have been 15 finfish APBs de-registered, no longer in operation which have surrendered authorisation to operate;
• There have been 15 finfish APBs which are registered as non-producing businesses, and have no farm sites in operation, which have surrendered authorisation to operate.
• How many finfish aquaculture sites have (b) had their licence withdrawn since 1 January 2018 (withdrawn being interpreted by the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) as removal by the competent authority for enforcement purposes):
• There have been no finfish aquaculture farm sites which have been withdrawn from an APB’s authorisation to operate;
• There have been no finfish APBs which have had their authorisation to operate withdrawn.
• The reasons for any aquaculture site ceasing to operate are a decision made by the commercial company operating the site and are not available to the FHI.

The Finfish Aquaculture Advisory Panel is chaired by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and last met in May 2022. The recent focus of work of the parties involved in the panel has been on the development of the SEPA sea lice risk assessment framework and it will be for SEPA and the Panel members to determine when the Panel next meets.

Information held by the Scottish Government on fish farm escapes is available on Scotland’s Aquaculture Website at: Scotland's Aquaculture | Home .

I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade in November 2023 welcoming the UK Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan, and to offer the Scottish Government’s commitment to work collectively to deliver on the key elements of direct relevance to Scotland. The Advanced Manufacturing Plan will be supported by the Green Industries Growth Accelerator fund.

Details of the precise delivery of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan and Green Industries Growth Accelerator are yet to be finalised. The Scottish Government will continue to offer support to the UK Government at official and Ministerial level, ensuring that opportunities within Scotland are maximised.

The Small Vessel Replacement Programme is complex. Costs, delivery timescales and funding profiles evolve as details develop through the ongoing outline business case process. The re-profiling of budget from 2023-24 will not impact on the timelines for delivery as set out in recent public engagement events. The first vessel is currently expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2026 with further vessels at four to six month intervals thereafter until 2028.

Transport Scotland are working closely with specialist commercial and technical advisors, Turner and Townsend, to progress development of the next Clyde and Hebrides (CHFS) contract specification. Alongside other internal and external specialists, and together with ongoing community and other key stakeholder engagement, this work will continue throughout the due diligence exercise to confirm the most effective, efficient and affordable approach delivering the CHFS network.

The Multiple Supplier Framework Agreement for Maritime Consultancy Services was awarded to the following suppliers (1) Stantec UK Limited (2) Turner and Townsend Project Management Limited and (3) Fisher Advisory Ltd. Transport Scotland publishes the results of all regulated procurements via contract award notices on the Public Contracts Scotland website. The Contract Award Notice is available with the following link: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUN451348

There are currently seven members of staff in the Scottish Government subsidy control team.

Alongside a dedicated Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service 3 team and internal specialist support on Legal, Financial & Subsidy control, the Scottish Government have engaged with external specialist technical, legal and financial advisors and will continue to engage as required to complete the necessary due diligence on a potential “Teckal” direct award.

The British Transport Police advises that its operations in partnership with ScotRail, have seen a reduction in antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s rail network.

BTP continues to work in collaboration with ScotRail’s Travel Safe Team to reduce this number even further, and tackle any incidents of antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s Railways.