Chamber and committees

Our priority is to ensure those people referred for suspected cancer or via screening programmes receive the appropriate diagnosis and treatment safely, based on their clinical urgency. To specifically support scope-based diagnostics, we have published a £70m Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan, including provision of additional endoscopy training places via the NHS Academy to future-proof the workforce and provide additional diagnostic capacity to reduce waiting times.

While the Scottish Government welcomes Channel 4’s progress to enhance its operations in Scotland, in particular with the creation of a creative hub in Glasgow in 2019, it has been our long-held view that Channel 4 should have a higher quota for network production commissioned from Scotland and our position remains that the quota should be based on population share, in terms of both hours and spend.

The Scottish Government’s view is that Ofcom’s current proposals to retain Channel 4’s 91% production quota for England and introduce a 65% London quota are unacceptable and we have made that clear in our response to Ofcom’s consultation. At a recent meeting with Ofcom’s Chief Executive, I restated that view and strongly urged a rethink of the current proposals. I also intend to meet with Channel 4 Chief Executive in the coming weeks to set out our expectation that Channel 4 makes considerable progress towards increasing its level of network production outside of London and from the nations, on a fairer basis.

The Scottish Government considers it vital that more productions are devised and produced in Scotland to support the creative economy and so that Scotland’s diverse communities see themselves reflected in its output. We strongly believe that broadcasting media should deliver for each part of the UK, with fair investment in our creative industries, and an appropriately authentic representation for Scottish audiences, and we will continue to make those views clear in our engagement with broadcasters, Ofcom and the UK Government.

I provided an update to the Scottish Parliament on this issue when I appeared before the Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee on 27 March 2024 to give evidence to the Committee on The Dangerous Dogs (Compensation and Exemption Schemes) (Scotland) Order 2024 .

The Scottish Government is continuing to engage with Police Scotland, local authorities and animal welfare organisations in relation to the new safeguards and this includes in relation to how XL Bully dogs can be identified.

The conformation standard guidance document XL Bully dogs: applying the conformation standard - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) on the Scottish Government website is intended to be used to assist all those involved in the operation of the safeguards relating to XL Bully dogs in Scotland. This includes law enforcement, local authorities, animal welfare organisations and owners of dogs that may be XL Bully dogs.

The conformation standard guidance document also includes a video from ‘Blue Cross UK’ to show how to measure a dogs height.

The Active Travel Budget is an annually set allocation from the overall Scottish Transport Budget. The Active Travel Programme contains a blend of Grants awarded in accordance with the Scottish public Finance Manual, contracts drawn down from Scottish Government procurement frameworks, and budget transfers to support investments managed in other areas of the portfolio. A breakdown of years 2020-21 to 2023-24 is set out in the following table;

The Active Travel Programme is a collection of interventions aimed at people and place, and Infrastructure investments to develop safe and accessible active travel routes. Each project is subject to a disciplined Governance approach that includes quarterly and annual reporting. It is a condition of each grant that an evaluation for each project is conducted on completion.

All interventions and investments reflect the Active Travel Framework and where related to cycling, the cycling framework for Active Travel. Both are accessible on the Transport Scotland website.

Progress against Active Travel Outcomes are measured and published through a number of sources, these include;

• The Walking and Cycling Index (WACI), published at a City level with Local Authorities.
• The Cycling Scotland monitoring report, which is published on an annual basis.
• The Scottish Household Survey, an annual cross-sectional survey.

The Active Travel Budget is an allocation set within the overall Transport Budget for Scotland. There has been an annual increase to the Active Travel budget each year from 2020 to 2023. This reflects our commitment to increase walking, cycling, or wheeling for everyday journeys.

Active Travel investments encounter challenges such as planning, geographical issues, and supply chain availability that can result in an underspend or a programme being adjusted midterm. Planning, forecasting, and grant management processes are utilised to mitigate the risk of underspend whenever possible. The Active Travel programme, as with many Government investments, was significantly impacted with restrictions under the COVID19 response, adaptations to projects has to be made to allow for continued delivery, and in some cases work was paused. The breakdown of allocations and spend for the years 2020-21 to 2022-23 is as follows;

As set out in the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP), the Scottish Government is committed to maximising the benefits flowing into our communities from a just energy transition. The final ESJTP will build on this commitment, as well as the successes of our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme, the Onshore Wind Sector Deal and our Good Practice Principles, to support sustainable and thriving communities as part of our renewables revolution.

I welcome this report and look forward to discussing it with Community Energy Scotland and partners to explore actions to further grow a thriving community energy sector in Scotland.

The powers to mandate community benefits are reserved to the UK Government.

The Onshore Wind Sector Deal, signed in September 2023, builds on the success of Scottish Government Good Practice Principles and commits the sector to updating the register of Community Benefit on an annual basis. This will ensure greater transparency and effective reporting on the benefits offered to Scotland’s communities.

The register, administered by Local Energy Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, indicates that 273 developments offered over £26 million worth of community benefits to Scottish communities in the past 12 months. The register can be accessed here: https://localenergy.scot/community-benefits-register/ .

We continue to call on the UK Government to explore mandating community benefits and shared ownership of onshore renewable energy projects alongside plans for electricity transmission networks.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to continue to grow a thriving community energy sector. The latest Community and Locally Owned Energy statistics show that, at the end of December 2023, there was an estimated 1,028 MW of community and locally owned renewable energy in Scotland. This is a progression of 51% towards the Scottish Government’s target of 2 GW of community and locally owned energy by 2030.

Our target includes different types of community and local ownership to reflect the different needs, requirements and opportunities available to communities across Scotland. It also recognises the role these projects play in making Scotland’s net zero transition more local, democratic and inclusive, with energy projects and solutions better tailored to local needs.