Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has awarded over £210 million of regeneration funding to Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company (URC) from 2007 for the purpose of supporting the delivery of its 20-year operating plan. This includes direct support through annual capital and resource funding to develop and regenerate key sites identified in the plan, support core running costs and other activities it delivers in support of local communities.

Grant awards were made in each financial year are provided in the following table:

There are no plans to expand the eligibility criteria for our No One Left Behind approach as it already delivers an all-age, place-based employability support system that tackles inequalities in Scotland’s labour market.

No One Left Behind is the approach to devolved employability support between Scottish and Local Government. It builds on the values established at the outset of devolution, and the principles that underpin our policy and delivery:

• provides flexible and person-centred support;

• is more straightforward for people to navigate;

• is better integrated and aligned with other services;

• provides pathways into sustainable and fair work;

• is driven by evidence, including data and the experience of participants; and

• supports more people – particularly those facing multiple barriers – to move into the right job, at the right time.

Given the range of barriers individuals may experience, and that these barriers are often intersectional, the eligibility criteria for individuals to receive employability support in relation to training for employment from No One Left Behind is purposefully broad to ensure local areas have the flexibility they need to respond to local demand.

Statutory consultees are key stakeholders in the consenting process.

The ‘Verity House Agreement’ and the ‘New Deal for Business’ have set out how the Scottish Government intends to work collaboratively with local authorities and others to deliver a just transition to net zero.

The reform process launched by this consultation creates an opportunity to re-set the expectations on the bodies providing essential support to the application process, taking account of their views, suggestions and their specific circumstances.

The proposed reforms include new standardised processes for developers to share information and consult with local communities and wider stakeholders on plans for new clean energy infrastructure before submitting an application.

This will help to involve communities at an earlier stage where they can most effectively influence outcomes, drive improvement in the quality of applications and speed up the determinations process, with new powers for Scottish Ministers to reject applications that do not meet requirements.

The Scottish Government recognises that high quality, accessible and affordable early learning and childcare is vital in rural areas to support children’s outcomes and to enable parents or carers to train, work or study. A full response to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee report, Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry, was sent on 18 November. The Scottish Government, in collaboration with the Centre for Workforce Supply and the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care will develop a sustained model of direct support that will provide rural and island employers with the help they need to improve recruitment success.

We recognise the provision of childcare is a key factor to support more people in rural and island communities to enter and sustain training, employment and starting a business. The Scottish Government continues to fully fund local authorities to deliver 1140 hours of Early Learning and Childcare to eligible children across Scotland, backed by almost £1 billion funding each year. In addition, at a national level, several work programmes are underway to support childcare access in rural and island communities. This includes –

• Funding a new national childminder recruitment and retention programme.
• Making grants available to local authorities via the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan Fund, two of which will contain a focus on addressing childcare issues in areas affected by acute population decline.
• Providing local authorities with an additional £16m in 2024-25 to support payment of the real Living Wage to staff delivering funded ELC in the private and third sectors.
• Investing £16 million over the next two years into our early adopter communities (EACs), including those in rural and island locations. We are extending the number of communities involved in this work in existing EACs in Dundee, Clackmannanshire Glasgow and Inverclyde – as well as further expanding into Fife and the Shetland Isles. This will allow us to test and understand particular challenges and opportunities in rural and island areas.

Scottish Government officials have worked closely with UK Government counterparts to demonstrate the challenges that are faced by all stakeholders in the process.

The proposals contained in the consultation are a result of the evidence gathered and set out current thinking, as we seek to gather views and evidence on the reform proposals.

The proposed reforms are about making the determination process more efficient, not less robust. Environmental assessment standards will remain unchanged. Scottish Ministers will continue to determine each proposal on a case-by-case basis, following review of the application information, consultation responses and representations made by members of the public.

It is disappointing that there had been no prior indication of this change to Inheritance Tax or engagement with the Scottish Government given that Scotland will be hit by the proposed changes brought in by the UK Government.

In my capacity as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, I can confirm that I have not met Hill of Fare Windfarm Information Group.

The Scottish Government supports the delivery of the highest standards of palliative care, and we will give this report and its recommendations careful consideration. Our palliative care strategy, currently out for public consultation, aims to ensure that people can access well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around dying, and bereavement support based on what matters to them.

High energy prices are the single most important driver of fuel poverty. Within our devolved powers we continue to support vulnerable households through our winter heating benefits, provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice and energy efficiency schemes. However the powers to make a real difference remain reserved to Westminster. That is why the UK Government must introduce a social tariff mechanism as a means of targeted support for those who need it most, including terminally ill people who are struggling with their energy bills. The Scottish Government is making progress on co-designing such a mechanism with industry and has agreed to report to the UK Government on this work as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government remains committed to its vision for an integrated and community-based hearing service in Scotland. However, in considering the future direction for the audiology sector, it is right that we move forward in step with the work of the Independent Review of audiology and this – together with the wider financial and strategic context in which we are currently operating – has necessitated the re-phasing of our commitment on community hearing. We are continuing to fund “RNID Near You”, a third sector after-care scheme offered to hearing aid users and delivered in partnership with the NHS within five Scottish health board areas.