Chamber and committees

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities. It is up to each local authority how it manages its day-to-day business and decision making processes, including the allocation of staff resources and the level of services that are provided.

Addressing the biodiversity crisis needs action across the whole of government and wider society. Through the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plan we are working with local authorities to ensure they have the right tools and guidance for nature restoration, and to empower the development of partnerships that include the right skills and knowledge to deliver local nature restoration projects.

Since 2021-22, we have directly allocated £17 million to Local Authorities through the Nature Restoration Fund for them to deliver such projects in partnership with other organisations. In 2023-24, we allocated an additional £5 million to support initial work to develop local nature networks.

The Scottish Government is committed to adopting fairer funding principles within its management of third sector grants. This approach aims to provide security and certainty, allowing organisations to build resilience, capacity and effective relationships across the public, third and private sectors. The application of these Fairer Funding principles include a commitment to embed a multi-year grant approach on all third sector grants by 2026, and the First Minister committed to increasing the number of two-year grants at The Gathering in 2023.

Additionally, we are reviewing grant management practice across the Scottish Government with a view to ensure proportional and consistent reporting methods across Scottish Government third sector grant management, and are committed to ensuring early notification of funding arrangements by the end of the financial year.

Building on the recent passage of the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, the Scottish Government has committed to work with the third sector and partners to develop the scope for a wider review of charity regulation.

No decisions have yet been taken on how the review will be conducted. The approach will depend on the agreed scope, timescales and outcomes and all options, including an independent review, will be considered.

My officials are currently working on proposals for engaging stakeholders which will ensure that all interested parties have the opportunity to contribute their views on the purpose and scope of the review. I will update parliament on our plans in due course.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S6W-21426 on 2 October 2023. 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

The Draft Budget continues to recognise the critical role that the third sector plays in supporting the delivery of key services in Scotland’s communities. We are keenly aware of the pressures on the third sector at this time. The financial environment is extremely difficult while demand for services is increasing. Additionally, Fairer Funding is part of a series of steps to address this difficult financial environment within Scottish Government funding for third sector organisations.

(a) Regarding Fair Work First conditionality, the Scottish Government has sought to implement these principles across all government portfolios, updating grant obligations to meet the new conditionality requirements from July 2023. Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where exceptions to the mandatory grant requirements are applied, grant managers are asked to record these. This information will be requested and collated at the end of the financial year.

(b) It is for individual grant-makers and funders to determine the value of individual grants within their overall budget limitations. Real Living Wage conditionality is concerned with uplifting low pay workers to at least the real Living Wage. Any further pay increases an employer wishes to introduce above and beyond this will be a matter for the employer concerned.

We are aiming to publish the International Culture Strategy in March 2024.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including the cost of repair work on its closed assets and facilities, are best answered by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

To support work with refugees, people seeking asylum and local communities, the Scottish Government provides funding to organisations such as the Scottish Refugee Council to ensure that all people seeking refugee protection in Scotland are welcome, where women, children and men are protected, find safety and support, have their human rights and dignity respected and are able to achieve their full potential.

The following table contains a list of funding and objectives provided to the SRC since 2019.

As confirmed to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on 26 January 2024, Edel Harris OBE has been appointed as Chair of the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment, following the conclusion of an open competition recruitment campaign in December 2023.

This appointment marks the beginning of the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment, which delivers on a 2023-2024 Programme for Government commitment.

I refer the member to the nswer to questions S6W-23003 on‎ 4 December 2023 and S6W-12484 on 8 December 2022. Please note that in S6W-23003 we advised the next statistical publication would be early 2024, however, we now anticipate this will be published in April 2024. We will announce the publication in the official statistics forthcoming publications calendar at least 28 days prior to publication: https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/

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 .