Through the work of the Scottish Government funded Scotland Food & Drink Export plan, Scottish Development International (SDI) will be organising a learning journey to Saudi Arabia & Qatar for Scottish food & drink companies later in 2025, including those in the seafood sector, who are looking to enter or grow their business in the Middle East region.

The purpose of the mission will be to raise the ambition of the companies and their awareness of the opportunities in these emerging markets, as well as help them to identify routes to market. SDI will be arranging a programme of activity that will include attending in-market events, stakeholder/meet-the-buyer meetings and receptions that will allow companies to showcase their products.

More generally, SDI and Seafood Scotland will continue to work with key partners to monitor any potential emerging opportunities for Scottish Seafood companies in the Middle East.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with COSLA and local authorities to discuss areas of shared interest. The Scottish Government has focussed efforts on supporting families to make informed choices about reusable nappies by raising awareness of their benefits on the Parent Club website. Our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map commits to facilitating the sharing of best practice examples on reusable items, such as North Ayrshire Council's Real Nappy Incentive Scheme, to encourage uptake in other areas.

During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence for 2024, a webpage was launched on the Transport Scotland website that brings together information on the research undertaken by Transport Scotland's programme on women and girls’ safety on public transport. It also references broader work being undertaken in this area by Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The ‘launch’ of the website was timed to coincide with an event organised by White Ribbon Scotland at Waverley Station in Edinburgh to raise awareness of the 16 Days of Activism, which was attended by the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity and received media coverage.

As part of the 16 Days of Activism, Transport Scotland officials have presented at events to promote the research and website, including a cross party meeting on women’s safety on public transport at the Scottish Parliament; and a workshop organised by the UK Government's Department for Transport and the Bus Centre for Excellence in London. Material from these presentations including details of the website have been shared online by the relevant organisations involved.

Since then, Transport Scotland officials have shared details of the website directly with relevant contacts from British Transport Police and Scotrail as well as internally via the Violence Against Women and Girls Policy Forum, attended by over 100 policy colleagues across the Scottish Government. The website will also feature in the latest Equally Safe monthly Bulletin, which is distributed to a wide range of stakeholders from national and local government and third sector, who have an interest in Violence Against Women and Girls and Equally Safe policy. Officials have also shared the website with colleagues in Public Health Scotland with a remit around violence prevention.

Transport Scotland officials will continue to take every opportunity to promote the website via relevant channels.

The 'open call’ process referred to in the answer to question S6W-32849 remains under development. Further information will be set out in the renewed plan of action to be published in March.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We are aware that two registered social landlords have approached the Scottish Government for financial support for the assessment and if needed remediation of potentially unsafe cladding.

The legal powers governing Health and Safety, Employment and Equality laws are reserved to the UK Government, and it is their responsibility to promote and enforce legislation in this area. However, taking action to prevent sexual harassment at work is an issue that the Scottish Government takes very seriously. We have made employers aware of their duty to protect their workers' health, safety and welfare by promoting fair work practices. For example, we notified employers and stakeholders of the Act in October’s edition of our monthly Equally Safe bulletin.

Scottish Government’s sustained policy and regulatory interventions on sea lice have focused industry action on sea lice management and have resulted in a downward trend in sea lice numbers at a national level, with 2024 levels being the lowest since 2018.

Scottish Government has also delivered funding into fish health research and innovation through the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC), which resulted in total investment from SAIC, industry and other funding partners of £62.7 million on projects including those on gill health, rapid diagnostic technologies and Harmful Algal Blooms. In May 2024 a further £1.5m was provided to support the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre until March 2026 and we are now considering options to help facilitate aquaculture innovation into the future.

On behalf of Scottish Ministers, the Fish Health Inspectorate continues to undertake a listed disease surveillance programme to prevent the introduction and spread of listed and emerging fish diseases in Scotland which includes statutory inspections, sampling programmes, and the provision of advice to stakeholders.

As part of the Scottish Government’s work with HMRC to develop the evidence base analysis on intra-UK migration has been published by HMRC, showing movements by tax band and age band. This is available at:

Intra-UK migration of individuals: movements in numbers and income - GOV.UK

Both the National Records of Scotland (NRS) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish official statistics on migration between Scotland and the rest of the UK. However, these aim to measure total migration (where the HMRC analysis considers only the subset of people who were taxpayers before and after moving). As these figures are not concerned with taxpayers specifically they do not contain information about incomes or tax bands.

The Scottish Government has provided £8.25m to Seafood Scotland since 2021 in their role as Scotland’s national trade and marketing organisation for the seafood industry. This includes funding to help Seafood Scotland facilitate projects which support export market development. We are also providing £672k in 2024-25 towards the Scotland Food & Drink Export Plan, which is helping the food and drink industry exploit the most significant opportunities for Scotland with a team of Scottish Development International (SDI) food and drink in-market specialists situated in key countries around the globe.

SDI has a dedicated food and drink specialist based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who works to promote and support Scottish food and drink companies, including the seafood sector, to unlock new opportunities and increase their exports to the UAE and the wider Middle East. Seafood Scotland, alongside SDI’s in-market specialist, has also worked with Scottish seafood companies to expand opportunities in the UAE. Examples of upcoming activity include:

• SDI hosting a pavilion at the Gulfood Trade show from 17-21 February 2025, collaborating with Seafood Scotland to showcase and promote Scottish seafood to international delegates.
• SDI hosting a showcasing & tasting networking event at Gulfood for international buyers which will include Scottish seafood, shellfish & salmon.
• Coordination of a learning journey experience to look at specific opportunities for Scottish seafood sales within a group of high end UAE based restaurants.

The SDI in-market specialist is also working with Emirates’ catering and in-flight shopping experience buying teams to promote Scottish products, influence and educate them on the breadth and quality of Scotland’s food and drink offering. Activity is underway to ensure that Scottish suppliers are fully aware of any relevant tenders and opportunities with the airline.

Scottish Enterprise have confirmed there are 8 Scottish Development International (SDI) staff based in the UAE, that operate out of FCDO offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.