Decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the SFRS Board and Chief Officer. Techniques for fighting fires are an operational matter for SFRS.

CMAL has taken further advice on this question. The financial institutions providing the bank refund guarantees for the Little Minch vessels are Yapi Kredi and Halk Bank respectively.

In the financial year 2022-23 no money was awarded to local authorities for the Road Safety Improvement Fund. The proposed allocation of funding was reallocated due to the cost of living crisis and other Scottish Government pressures.

Funding for 2023-24 financial year was distributed to local authorities and the figures are as follows:

The Scottish Government is committed to the principle that local communities should be involved in the decisions about land that affect them, including those relating to forestry.

Consultations are an essential part of the decision-making process in forestry, and last year Scottish Forestry updated guidance that sets out the Engagement and Consultation Processes for forestry plans and proposals in Scotland.

Where significant harvesting plans are proposed this will normally involve two stages, firstly applicants are expected to engage with communities and neighbours, providing them with an opportunity to input `before plans have been finalised, and secondly Scottish Forestry runs a formal public consultation exercise as part of decision making process for applications involving significant tree harvesting.

As of December 2023, Scotland’s operational onshore wind capacity is around 9.5 GW. Within the project pipeline there is additional 13.9 GW of potential onshore wind capacity in Scotland. This consists of:

• 1.7 GW under construction.
• 4.8 GW awaiting construction.
• 7.4 GW in planning.

Energy Trends: UK renewables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A key industry commitment from the Onshore Wind Sector Deal was to publish a pipeline report on how Scotland may achieve its ambition of 20 GW of onshore wind by 2030. Scottish Renewables have committed to updating the report on a biannual basis. Scottish Onshore Wind Project Pipeline Analysis Dec 23 FULL REPORT (scottishrenewables.com)

NHS Boards were informed of their individual baseline budget for 2024-25 on 19 December 2023, the same day as the 2024-25 Scottish Budget.

Their baseline budget is further supplemented by Scottish Government directorate funding allocations throughout the year, to arrive at their revenue resource limit for 2024-25. NHS Boards draw cash from the Scottish Government throughout the year as required.

NHS Lothian and Consort Healthcare are in an on-going discussion on areas that have been identified where maintenance and improvement is required. This process is continuing, and NHS Lothian regularly meet and discuss all aspects of their administration with Scottish Government officials to enable support to be offered.

Scotland’s woodland creation planting target is set out in the Climate Change Plan. The plan includes ambitious targets for woodland creation, aiming to increase woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032, with the planting target increasing to 18,000 hectares annually.

Although Scotland faces the most challenging budget settlement since devolution, the Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate emergency.

We fund woodland creation through the Forestry Grant Scheme, which has made £39.2 million available to support woodland creation in 2024-25.

Woodland creation projects, including both planting and natural regeneration schemes are being approved on an ongoing basis and whilst this funding will not allow us to reach this year’s target, it will help create over 9,000 hectares of new woodland. This will help maintain the level of planting close to the average achieved over the last 5 years and allow for increased planting in the future should funding from the UK Government be forthcoming. Putting this in context, it will still allow Scotland to create more woodland than the rest of the UK combined.

The project agreement for the RIE was signed in 1998 between NHSL and Consort Healthcare. Consort are responsible for the provision of facilities management and lifecycle maintenance works until the end of the Primary Period in December 2027. The Secondary Period begins automatically following the end of the Primary Period, the exact arrangements for the secondary period, which include the possibility of terminating the agreement, will be determined by the ongoing discussions and decisions taken by NHS Lothian and Consort Healthcare, which have not yet concluded.

Since its creation in 2015 to the end of March 2024, LAR Housing Trust has acquired/developed 740 homes for mid-market rent supported by a Scottish Government loan of £55 million. 175 of these were previously National Housing Trust units. Whilst LAR Housing Trust has brought valued diversity to the provision of mid-market rent housing in Scotland, we carefully consider all of our delivery routes to best achieve our objectives and meet our Scottish Public Finance Manual obligations. The Scottish Government has confirmed to LAR Housing Trust that there is no provision for a further low interest rate loan.

Over many years, the Scottish Government has encouraged LAR to leverage in alternative sources of capital. Building on what has been achieved to date, LAR Housing Trust is in an excellent position to innovate and pivot to new opportunities, including making progress on the sites acquired in Granton and elsewhere.