Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government, recognising these exceptionally challenging times, has declared a national Housing Emergency and called on the UK Government to reverse the almost 9% cut to Scotland’s capital budget. We continue to work closely with partners to address levels of homelessness and improve the supply of social and affordable housing.

For the current financial year, the City of Edinburgh Council will benefit from £34.2 million for the provision of more social and affordable homes. We do not currently have confirmation of Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget levels beyond 2024-25 but we are working within agreed funding parameters to allow projects to continue to be approved with future year spend implications.

Our intention is to publish a refresh of the Infrastructure Investment Plan pipeline this year which will focus on maximising the impact of our capital investment towards spend that delivers on the outcomes of this government. In the meantime, efforts to boost affordable housing supply by acquiring properties to bring into use for affordable housing and help reduce homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation have been given an £80 million uplift over the next two years. Decisions on the allocation of the additional £40 million for 2024-25 will be made shortly.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) met it’s 900ha woodland creation target in 2023-24 by planting 454ha of new trees and delivering 447ha of trees through naturally seeded regeneration, principally around Loch Katrine.

As we expect to see more extreme weather events, and further warming in Scotland, the Scottish Government recognises how important it is to adapt and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

Our land managers and local communities have a vital role in mitigating and responding to wildfires. In line with the Fire and Rescue Service Wildfire Operational Guidance Fire and Rescue Service Wildfire Operational Guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) t he Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) continues to encourage and support the formation of local fire groups such as those operating in North and South Grampian as well as Badenoch and Speyside.

At recent significant wildfires, the involvement of partners has been instrumental in successfully managing the incidents. SFRS have, and will continue to, learn from these experiences as well as consider where improvements can be made.

Wildfire mitigation is an important part of land management, and the Scottish Government will continue to engage with communities to ensure we are able to respond to wildfire risks.

The following table shows the number of attendances and those waiting eight hours or more and 12 hours or more aged 65-74, 75-84, 85-94, and 95+ at A&E in Scotland in 2023-24.

NHS Boards are responsible for their own spending decisions. Scottish Government regularly review NHS Board financial positions to ensure value for money is being achieved for resources allocated. There will be examples where PR spend is required to communicate essential public health messages, or consultancy spend is required for specialised skills.

One of the major contributors to the increase in wildfire risk comes as a result of climate change. The 2022 Fire and Rescue Framework sets out seven strategic priorities for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Strategic Priority 4 is focused on climate change, and ensuring that SFRS is suitably equipped to respond to the realities of our changing climate, including wildfires.

On a practical level, planning for and taking action to prevent wildfire is the responsibility of the land owner, with SFRS as Category 1 Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

While we know that the majority of wildfires in Scotland are related to grassland and moorland, rather than forest land, wildfires can move into woodland once established. That is why guidance on Building wildfire resilence into forest management planning (forestresearch.gov.uk) Practice Guide 22) was published in 2014 to support the UK Forestry Standard, and help reduce the likelihood and severity of wildfires in forests and woodlands, especially given the increased risk of fire due to climate change.

The Scottish Forestry - Wildfire prevention published by Scottish Forestry in 2023, supports forest owners, planners, and managers in Scotland to implement Practice Guide 22 in a Scottish context, to understand the wildfire risk to the forests they manage, and how to reduce this risk through good practice in forest design and planning.

As we continue to work to meet the challenge of changing climates we will continue to assess the suitability of our climate plans and strategies.

The operation of e-gates at the UK Border is the responsibility of the UK Government. There is no role for the Scottish Government in the operational or policy matters relating to the UK Border.

Wildfires are costly to fight and can cause significant damage to woodland as well as water catchments and other ecosystem services. We know that wildfires can not only result in substantial carbon loss but also cause damage to our wildlife and require costly restoration in the aftermath.

Where a wildfire has occurred on land managed by Forestry and Land Scotland, FLS monitors the area damaged by fire, it’s cause if known, and an estimate of the SFRS resource used. Last year the burnt area of the FLS estate increased from over 250 hectares in 2022 to over 340 hectares in 2023. The scale of the impact of a wildfire will depend on the severity and in some cases that recovery will be quicker than others, but research has shown that even relatively small peat carbon losses from combustion take 10 to 30 years to reaccumulate post-fire.

In March of this year we published a Fire Danger Assessment of Scottish Habitat Types Deliverable-D2_3b-Fire-Danger-Fuels-Final-6-3-23.pdf (hutton.ac.uk) as part of our Strategic Research Programme for Climate Change Impacts on Natural Capital. That report, carried out by the James Hutton Institute, includes consideration of wildfires in Scotland. However we have not undertaken any research into the economic impact of wildfires more specifically.

The Scottish Government’s public agencies are running promotional campaigns to support responsible enjoyment of the countryside, as part of the wider national visitor management strategy co-ordinated by VisitScotland. This includes messaging which relates to responsible lighting of fires, strongly emphasising for example the use of camping stoves. It also highlights the need to follow any relevant local guidance and promotes sensible behaviours. The campaigns are being taken forward through both traditional and social media, including work with online influencers to help reach audiences that are otherwise difficult to engage.

Figures show there has been widespread public engagement with these campaigns over previous summer periods. For example, in 2023 NatureScot's social media influencer videos on responsible camping and fires had over 82,000 plays, and media campaigns by Forestry and Land Scotland and Cairngorms National Park Authority had a combined readership of over 3.1 million. It seems likely that the presence of rangers at key hotspots is important in allowing regular face to face interaction with visitors.

In addition, land managers have been advised to use time limited local signage or other communication methods to inform people when there are high risk conditions, working with local authorities and National Park Authorities. The fires messaging framework has recently been refreshed.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of modal shift to help achieve transport emission reduction targets. The Freight Facilities Grant scheme is designed to provide assistance to companies who wish to move freight by rail or water instead of by road. The scheme required State Aid clearance and under the terms of the approval rail and water haulage equipment, including rail wagons, was prohibited from support.