Chamber and committees

Flood risk management implementation reports are available on the Scottish Government's website. Some reports have been completed for single years and some for multiple years.

Relevant links are provided below:

• Report for years 2015-2018: Implementation of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009: report to the Scottish Parliament - gov.scot
• Report for 2019: Implementation of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009: report to the Scottish Parliament - 2019 - gov.scot
• Report for 2020: Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 implementation: report to the Scottish Parliament - 2020 - gov.scot

A report covering the period 2021 to 2024 is under development.

Local authorities also produce regular mid cycle and end of cycle reports on the delivery of actions in the Flood Risk Management Plans.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-30798 on 7 November, since 2016, the Scottish Government has allocated £570 million to local authorities for flood protection schemes and flood resilience. In this period, the estimated costs of cycle one schemes eligible for funding has risen.

A joint Scottish Government/ COSLA Funding Working Group was established to make recommendations to Ministers and COSLA Leaders on how to improve the affordability of the remaining cycle one schemes. This has resulted in the removal of 6 schemes that failed to meet key progress deadlines from the funding programme.

The Funding Working Group are considering whether further recommendations are required to ensure the programme remains affordable.

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

This information is not published, however is available on request from SEPA.

The £570 million referenced in the answer to question S6W-30798 on 7 November 2024 is provided by Scottish Government to local authorities to support a range of flood resilience actions, including cycle 1 Flood Protection Schemes. The development and delivery of Flood Protection Schemes is a local authority responsibility.

Cost estimates for completion of cycle one flood protection schemes are updated annually by local authorities in November so estimated costs have increased since question S6W-30798 was answered.

The Scottish Government/ COSLA Funding Working Group are considering new recommendations to put to Ministers and COSLA Leaders to improve certainty around the remaining cycle 1 flood protection schemes. This is necessary before commitment to new schemes outside cycle one.

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 standard of fitness required for firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The Scottish Government’s budget for 2025-26 includes £412.2 million for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) which is an increase of £18.8 million. This will enable SFRS to continue to deliver the high standard of services required to keep communities safe. This includes an increase from £43 million to £47 million in capital funding which will allow the service to invest more in property, fleet and equipment. The allocation of resources is a matter for the SFRS Board.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with SFRS to ensure continuing priority is given to the implementation of its wildfire strategy. The Service’s planned spend is circa £1.6 million over the course of the 3 year roll-out of its strategy. New equipment, vehicles and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) continues to be rolled out and SFRS will fully implement its wildfire strategy during the course of 2025. As part of its strategy SFRS is adopting ‘burn suppression’ techniques such as those in use in the new Mediterranean-style specialist wildfire units. Due to extensive training and the use of new techniques, SFRS’s ability to tackle wildfires has never been so advanced.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with all our partners to call for a long-term return to tariff free trading that has been mutually beneficial for the Scottish and US spirits sectors, as part of a wider UK-US negotiated solution. I met with the UK Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security on 2 April to discuss this. The Deputy First Minister met with the US Chamber of Commerce on 3 April and the First Minister met with senior figures in the whisky sector in New York on 7 April to hear directly from the business leaders involved and hosted a business round table which included the Scotch Whisky Association and the Food and Drink Federation on 16 April. The First Minister also met with the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, on the 11 April to discuss tariffs amongst other topics.

Portfolio responsibility for fire and rescue sits with myself and therefore the majority of meetings with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its trade unions are undertaken by myself rather than the Cabinet Secretary. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs joined myself in a meeting with the Fire Brigades Union on 22 November 2023 to discuss the FBU’s Firestorm report.

We are acutely aware of the risk tariffs on the UK and globally pose on Scottish businesses.

We have carried out initial analysis of trade statistics to understand Scottish exposure to US trade across key products and where that may differ from the UK economy.

The First Minister discussed the matter with the Prime Minister on 11 April and made clear urgent action should be taken to protect Scotland’s economic interests.

We expect Health Boards to write to patients when the patient is added to a waiting list for treatment to provide an estimation of their treatment date. In circumstances in which this cannot be provided, Boards are expected to signpost patients to an online platform where the patient can access further information about the waiting time for their agreed treatment in the responsible Health Board.

The revised Waiting Times Guidance, published in December 2023, includes a standard package of communications that all Health Boards should be providing. This ensures that patients are provided with clear communications throughout their care journey setting out what they should expect and their responsibilities while they are waiting for their appointment, test or treatment.

The guidance also makes clear that communications can be in any form that the patient has consented to, including via telephone, electronically or by post. It is important that patients are asked to confirm their needs at the beginning of their journey and their preferred format when receiving communication from the Health Board.