Chamber and committees

Scotland faces the most challenging budget settlement since devolution. Despite this Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate emergency. Unfortunately, with the available funding it will not be possible to achieve this year’s Climate Change Plan planting target of 18,000 hectares.

Woodland creation is funded through the Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) which has made £39.4 million available to support woodland creation in 2024/25 and earlier this year Scottish Forestry introduced new measures to increase the area of woodland creation supported. These include:-

• working with applicants and landowners to maximise planting over multiple years, including bringing forward planting from 2024 into 2023, in order to fully utilise the available funding in 2023-24 and approve as much tree planting as possible in 2024-25;
• approving projects for future years, to maintain momentum and ensure we utilise all the available funding in 2024-25. This involves creating a bank of projects that are ready to implement and can be brought forward in the event that other projects are delayed or more funding becomes available;
• reducing grant payments where woodland creation projects have alternative sources of funding. By reducing grant rates for some projects, FGS funds will support a greater area of planting in 2024-25.

The above measures will allow Scotland to create 10,000 ha of new woodland this year. Putting this in context, we would expect this to make up the majority of tree planting across the UK and it will maintain the level tree planting close to the average achieved over the last 5 years.

The previous UK Government consulted on further development of the non-domestic minimum energy efficiency standard scheme for England and Wales but their response was not published before the UK General Election. We look forward to understanding what the new UK Government’s policy will be in this area in due course.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill including new energy efficiency and heating standards for all buildings. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation.

The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy has regular meetings with SEPA which cover a wide range of topics related to SEPA functions. Most recently, Miri McAllan MSP met SEPA Chair, Lisa Tennant and Nicole Paterson, Chief Executive Officer on 13 June 2024.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a voluntary code of practice on dismissing and replacing land-owning land maintenance companies (“the Code”).

Whilst work on the development of the Code continues, other work pressures have impacted the rate of progress.

The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones)(Scotland) Act was granted Royal Assent on 22 July 2024.

Commencement of the Act is subject to parliamentary procedure which requires a Scottish Statutory Instrument to be laid. The Scottish Government is therefore currently undertaking work to commence the provisions as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government published a response to Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury - Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy, the first report from the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy in June 2022 and set out some key actions in response to the full recommendations.

This response can be found here: Independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The consultation on our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map set out a range of actions with associated timelines, including the development of an indicative capacity cap as part of our Residual Waste Plan, due for publication in 2025/26, to meet these recommendations which can be found here: Circular economy and waste route map to 2030: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Residential Rehabilitation Development Working Group’s 2020 report noted that there was some evidence that rehabilitation programmes of 12 weeks had led to more successful treatment outcomes. However, the recommendations were also clear that further research was required on the length of rehabilitation programmes and their correlation to outcomes across Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s current position is that all placements for residential rehabilitation should be assessed on an individual needs basis, and it is ultimately for professionals and clinicians to make the decision locally as to whether a shorter or longer programme is effective for the individuals involved.

As part of our work on developing the residential rehabilitation evidence base, the Scottish Government published a literature review in 2022 which looked at existing evidence and research gaps. As noted in Page 14, residential rehabilitation encompasses a diverse range of treatment models, and there is no one programme which has proven to produce routinely better outcomes for individuals.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland have worked collaboratively with stakeholders to establish a core minimum dataset to support the monitoring and evaluation of residential rehabilitation. It is expected that the first extracts will be published in December, where a greater level of insight and data will be available, including average treatment length and associated outcomes, as the dataset continues to develop and mature.

Publication of the 20% car use reduction route map is planned in autumn this year. It is being produced in partnership with CoSLA.

On 25 April 2024 planning guidance on local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods was published, setting out a framework and information on how the concepts of local living and 20 minute neighbourhood can be applied in a Scottish context, as set out in the fourth National Planning Framework.

The above-mentioned route map does not commit to delivering 20 minute neighbourhoods, although both policies mutually support each other.

Funding allocated to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) is for both alcohol and drug treatment services. In 2024-25, £112.9 million is being made available to ADPs. This funding is used to ensure that local services meet the needs of people who experience alcohol and drugs harms.

On 7 September 2023, the previous Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy supported a Member’s Debate Motion calling for investment in alcohol services, outlining the Government’s plan to reduce harm from alcohol misuse.

We have asked Public Health Scotland to investigate the apparent decline in alcohol treatment numbers. This is underway and is expected to be completed in 2024. In 2023-2024, the number of statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements increased to 938, the majority of which included alcohol use or co-dependency.

We are working with partners and stakeholders to develop a national specification for alcohol and drug treatment in Scotland. The national specification will build on the forthcoming UK Alcohol Treatment Guidelines which will support the improvement of alcohol treatment in Scotland, mirroring the use of the Orange Book Guidelines for drug treatment.

The Scottish Government is not responsible for taking action against any land occupiers who have received multiple Section 59 notices. It would be for SEPA or the local authority responsible for issuing the notices to determine whether or not any further action or investigation would be appropriate in relation to any ongoing activity on the land.