Chamber and committees

The reasons for not approving the four most recent late applications are detailed in the decision notice for each. These can be found in the Register of Community Interest in Land (RCIL), which is held on the Registers of Scotland website. It is free to access. The four cases were:

Broomhill Community Trust Hub Limited (Ref:CB00263) – September 2023

Kinlochard (Cottages) Residents Association Ltd (Ref: CB00248) – January 2021

Kinlochard (Cottages) Residents Association Ltd (Ref: CB00247) – November 2020

Carty Port Community Company (Ref: CB00234) - April 2018

At present, there are no license requests for seabed mining in Scotland’s inshore or offshore waters.

Deep sea mining refers to the exploration for - or extraction of - minerals from the seabed at depths greater than 200 metres. Most of Scotland’s waters of this depth or greater fall within existing MPAs. Existing Conservation and Management Advice for the West of Scotland Marine Protected Area from Joint Nature Conservation Committee: West of Scotland MPA | JNCC - Adviser to Government on Nature Conservation, which covers the majority or our deep waters and seamounts, advises against seabed mining in such waters.

Any licensing request relating to seabed mining within Scotland’s seas would be subject to the licensing requirements set out in the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 for inshore waters (between 0 and 12 nautical miles), and the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 for offshore waters (between 12 and 200nm), as well as statutory environmental assessment requirements and the policies set out in Scotland’s National Marine Plan, which covers both inshore and offshore waters. Consideration of any licence application would be based on best available evidence.

Scotland’s National Marine Plan 2015 sets policies for the sustainable development of our seas and marine resources. Aggregates Policy 2 states that decision makers should ensure all the necessary environmental issues are considered and safeguards are in place when determining whether any proposed marine aggregate dredging is considered to be environmentally acceptable. Any licensing request relating to seabed mining in Scotland’s seas would be subject to this policy.

The National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2), which is currently being developed, will support sustainable development of our seas, protect our marine environment, and deliver for our coastal communities. NMP2 is considering our marine economy, local communities, and the environment together by adopting a Blue Economy: A Blue Economy Vision for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). This will help get the right planning framework in place to balance the need for protection and enhancement of the marine environment, and sustainable development of existing and emerging sectors.

The Scottish Government recognises the serious erosion issues to the sand dunes in Montrose and the impact this could have on flood risk for residents.

Through our Dynamic Coast project, we have worked closely with local authorities to help them plan for coastal adaptation and in our Programme for Government 2020 we announced a new £11.7 million capital budget over four years for coastal change adaptation, starting in 2022-23.

In 2024-25, funding of £2.7m will be distributed to local authorities in two ways. £1.65m in direct allocation to coastal local authorities and £1.05m will be made available for local authorities to bit for to undertake case studies. Angus Council, where Montrose sits in, will receive £56,375 for coastal change adaptation in 2024-25.

In addition, Angus Council submitted a proposal to fund a case study and an additional £440k will be distributed for this, which is the largest allocation for any local authority to undertake a case study.

Local authorities can choose to additionally fund coastal protection work from their general capital grant allocation.

Scottish Government officials have attended two Four Nations meetings regarding the ban on single-use vapes within this time period, during which implementation was discussed - on 14 August and 24 July. We have corresponded with the UK Government regarding the implementation of a ban on 9 August, 26 July, 18 July, 16 July, 15 July and 11 July. These discussions have focused on our respective legislative timelines, and on preparing guidance for Business.

Officials last met with COSLA to discuss the free school meal expansion programme in July 2024.

I met with the employers and EIS-FELA on Monday 19 August 2024 and welcome the significant efforts of both sides that day to provisionally agree a revised pay deal.

I also welcome EIS-FELA suspending planned strike action whilst it ballots members on the revised pay deal.

The duty to prepare and publish guidance under section 23 of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 falls on VisitScotland. We anticipate they will send a draft of the guidance to Scottish Ministers in the next few weeks.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

NRS are currently publishing topic data from Scotland’s Census 2022. Later in 2024, we will publish multivariate data. This means we will publish tables which include more than one census topic variable.

An evaluation of Scotland’s Census 2022, with a focus on lessons learned for any future census and other complex programmes, will be laid before the Scottish Parliament by the end of 2024.

The Investing in Communities Fund (ICF) is a multiyear communities fund that targets our most disadvantaged communities to deliver projects, services and activities that address poverty and disadvantage on their own terms. The second round of the fund invited applications addressing four areas of action:

• tackling poverty and inequality, including child poverty#x200f
• developing and sustaining place based approaches#x200f
• community-led regeneration#x200f
• ensuring a just transition to net zero#x200f

One hundred and five community projects are currently in receipt of ICF round 2 support (2023-2026), receiving a total of £27 million funding.

Link to the projects being supported https://www.gov.scot/publications/investing-in-communities-fund-round-2-approved-awards-2023-2026

The Scottish Budget set out the considerable financial challenges faced for 2024-25. The Scottish Government is committed to delivering vital public services and supporting households, but also has an obligation to balance the budget each year. This requires some difficult decisions and robust spending control.

Ministers made the difficult decision to reduce the ICF budget by 5% on 8 July 2024 and stakeholders were informed on 10 July 2024.