In 2023, Scottish Forestry published refreshed guidance on Forestry Engagement and Consultation Processes, which reflects the principles of the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement and provides greater clarity on expectations, requirements and roles and responsibilities around community engagement and consultation on forestry plans and proposals.

The criteria for assessing all woodland creation schemes are set under stage 3 of this guidance and includes taking into account whether the proposal has considered all the issues raised in the consultation and made changes where appropriate.

There is no ban on woodland planting in close proximity to communities however in such cases any planting proposal would be expected to demonstrate that community feedback had been taken into account and that significant efforts made to address concerns. Communities can raise objections and where there do so there is a requirement for these to be considered and addressed.

Many rural communities exist in close proximity to forest land and forests normally deliver a range of opportunities and benefits for local people.

Scottish Government is striving to ensure that more people and communities have the opportunity to engage with our expanding forests and woodland, and that more people and communities benefit from forestry.

We want to ensure that the woodland expansion needed to tackle the twin climate and biodiversity crises takes place in a just and sustainable way, with positive impacts for everybody, including future generations to come.

The Scottish Government launched a call for applications for the What you can apply for - Pathways Fund: form and guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) between 19th July 2024 and 30th August 2024.

We welcomed bids from organisations registered in the UK, who are providing support to pre-start entrepreneurs and/or early stage businesses in Scotland.

We are currently processing the applications received and successful applicants will be announced in due course.

At the end of August 2024 Scottish Water had installed over 900 new CSO monitors, and is on track to deliver on its commitment.

The loss of agricultural land, including the cumulative loss with other recent forestry projects, is considered as part of the formal assessment of significant woodland creation applications.

An agricultural assessment is also normally carried out as part of any woodland creation application. These assessments are prepared by independent agricultural specialists and incorporate feedback with the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division.

Indicative analysis of schemes under development indicates that over 95% of planting is being proposed on LCA classes 5 and 6.

Neither Scottish Government or Scottish Forestry have had recent discussions with Scottish Woodlands regarding community opposition to the Warblaw planting scheme.

The project developer has recently been seeking feedback on their draft planting proposals and planting scheme may change in response to community views.

The Warblaw proposal is currently going through the due diligence (development) stage of the woodland creation application process. This stage is led by the landowner’s forestry agent, Scottish Woodlands. Public consultation events, focussed on this project, were held in April 2023 and August 2024.

Scottish Forestry officials attended these public consultation events, have been copied into community feedback provided to Scottish Woodlands and are aware of the concerns about the project.

Scottish Forestry hasn’t received a formal planting application. When a formal planting application is submitted Scottish Forestry will assess the proposal including carefully considering how community concerns have been addressed, and there will be a further public consultation exercise to inform this assessment.

Latest devolved employability statistics show that over 61,000 people have started receiving support through our No One Left Behind approach, with over 19,000 people moving into work.

Today we have published the No One Left Behind Employability Strategic Plan 2024-2027, which outlines the key priorities for No One Left Behind over the next three years and identifies the actions we will take to deliver on these priorities, reaffirming our commitment to continuous improvement.

www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836017738

This includes a commitment to introduce a local, flexible model of Specialist Employability Support across all 32 Local Authorities from Summer 2025. This approach will adhere to the principles of No One Left Behind whilst ensuring a dedicated service offer for disabled people and those with long term health conditions.

As with any grant agreement, in providing funds to Sistema Scotland, the Scottish Government and Sistema Scotland agree how funds will be used and when payments will be made. In 2024-25 the Scottish Government will provide £2.6m to Sistema Scotland from the culture budget to sustain and develop the Big Noise programmes which give almost 4,000 children and young people the opportunity to realise their potential through music education. This will be paid in three equal tranches. The first tranche was paid in August 2024. The next 2 payments will be made in November 2024 and February 2025.

Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) is a ten-year strategy, and we stand by its vision to grow a sustainable and inclusive wellbeing economy. Two and a half years into that ten-year strategy, significant progress has already been made in driving us towards that vision of a fairer, greener wellbeing economy.

In the last five financial years Scottish Government has provided the following funding to South of Scotland Enterprise:

South of Scotland Enterprise – Budget Allocations 2020-2025

We are committed to working constructively with landlords, tenants and investors in policy development and implementation. The Private Rented Sector (PRS) stakeholder group, established in March 2023 and the Housing Investment taskforce, established in April 2024 are two forums that are in place to support this engagement.