Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not made any assessment of the potential implications of buildings within the heritage sector containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Assessment for the presence of RAAC and for putting in place appropriate measures is a matter for individual building owners, informed by guidance such as that available from the Institution of Structural Engineers and Historic Environment Scotland.

Efficient and effective dissemination of wildfire prevention information to the public is key to preventing wildfires. Before igniting any flames in a rural or outdoor setting, the SFRS encourage everyone to check which area of Scotland may be at threat of wildfires. If a threat is in place, the key prevention advice from the SFRS is that people should refrain from igniting any flames. People can check the current threat levels in their area by visiting the following SFRS website:

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/outdoors/wildfires/wildfire-danger-assessments/

When Scotland is at a high threat of wildfires, the SFRS work in partnership with the Scottish Wildfire Forum (SWF), to alert the public and partners to the threat of wildfires by issuing “Wildfire Danger Assessments”. SFRS issue alerts through their social media channels, their website and local media outlets, and request assistance from Local Authorities across Scotland to share safety messaging to seek engagement with as many members of public as possible. These warnings detail which areas across Scotland are most likely to be affected. The SFRS also alert the Scottish Government who pro-actively re-issue these warnings across digital and social media platforms.

We remain committed to the current regulation of short-term let accommodation. Over the last decade the sector has both grown significantly and changed in nature. That has brought economic benefits but also raised concerns about consistency of quality and the impact on neighbourhoods. The introduction of licensing brings short-term lets in line with other accommodation such as hotels and caravan parks, providing assurance to guests on safety and quality such as gas and electrical safety compliance and the suitability of hosts.

I am currently preparing an update for Parliament on the implementation of short-term let licensing. This will outline findings from our monitoring and ongoing engagement with stakeholders.

Since 2017-18 there have been substantial year on year increases in funding to support SFRS to create a modern and effective fire and rescue service. The 2024-25 budget for SFRS, at £393.3 million, is over £78m higher that the 2017-18 equivalent figure. All firefighters carry out a variety of prevention and response related roles and the Scottish Government does not allocate funding to SFRS for specific types of incidents. Decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the SFRS Board and Chief Officer.

Decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the SFRS Board and Chief Officer.

In the financial year 2022-23 no money was awarded to local authorities for the Road Safety Improvement Fund. The proposed allocation of funding was reallocated due to the cost of living crisis and other Scottish Government pressures.

Funding for 2023-24 financial year was distributed to local authorities and the figures are as follows:

CMAL has taken further advice on this question. The financial institutions providing the bank refund guarantees for the Little Minch vessels are Yapi Kredi and Halk Bank respectively.

The Scottish Government is committed to the principle that local communities should be involved in the decisions about land that affect them, including those relating to forestry.

Consultations are an essential part of the decision-making process in forestry, and last year Scottish Forestry updated guidance that sets out the Engagement and Consultation Processes for forestry plans and proposals in Scotland.

Where significant harvesting plans are proposed this will normally involve two stages, firstly applicants are expected to engage with communities and neighbours, providing them with an opportunity to input `before plans have been finalised, and secondly Scottish Forestry runs a formal public consultation exercise as part of decision making process for applications involving significant tree harvesting.

Scotland’s woodland creation planting target is set out in the Climate Change Plan. The plan includes ambitious targets for woodland creation, aiming to increase woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032, with the planting target increasing to 18,000 hectares annually.

Although Scotland faces the most challenging budget settlement since devolution, the Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate emergency.

We fund woodland creation through the Forestry Grant Scheme, which has made £39.2 million available to support woodland creation in 2024-25.

Woodland creation projects, including both planting and natural regeneration schemes are being approved on an ongoing basis and whilst this funding will not allow us to reach this year’s target, it will help create over 9,000 hectares of new woodland. This will help maintain the level of planting close to the average achieved over the last 5 years and allow for increased planting in the future should funding from the UK Government be forthcoming. Putting this in context, it will still allow Scotland to create more woodland than the rest of the UK combined.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the A96. This is despite stark challenges we face as a result of the severe budgetary restrictions imposed by the UK Government including an almost 9% cut in our capital budget.

The current plan is to fully dual the route and as part of this process we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, which includes a climate compatibility assessment and other statutory assessments.

The significant interest in the review’s initial consultation, with nearly 4,600 responses, generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor. It is only right that appropriate time has been taken in order to properly examine and fully appraise these.

It is expected that the draft outcomes from the Review, including the climate compatibility assessment, will be consulted on in the coming months, before a final decision can be reached.