Chamber and committees

The First Minister constantly keeps the performance of cabinet under review and meets regularly with his Cabinet Secretaries to discuss objectives. Should it arise that a mandate letter objective has not been met, the First Minister will hold a discussion with the Cabinet Secretary in question to (a) understand the reasons for the objective not being met and (b) agree the most appropriate next steps.

Writing the national Good Food Nation Plan required an extensive internal drafting process, co-ordinating input from across multiple areas of government. This is the first iteration of the Plan and so there was a large amount of feedback on the initial draft, which we had to carefully consider and incorporate.

It is our intention to publish the draft national Good Food Nation Plan for consultation shortly.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The 2023-24 mandate letters (published in September) set out the First Minister’s intention to hold six monthly discussions on progress. The First Minister is currently in the process of meeting with each Cabinet Secretary to discuss progress against 2023-24 mandate letter objectives. These meetings are due to be concluded over the next month.

The Scottish Government has identified nine priority areas within our values-led Inward Investment Plan, including the decarbonisation of transport, and we would consider the Scottish aspect to an investment from Chery Automobile Co Ltd into the UK.

Engagement with individual companies is the remit of our economic development agencies collectively through Scottish Enterprise’s international arm, Scottish Development International (SDI), which has operational responsibility for attracting inward investment. The Scottish Government works with its enterprise agencies to ensure robust due diligence is undertaken on potential inward investments.

Scottish Government guidance on pupils changing their names and pronouns is contained within the Supporting Transgender Pupils In Schools Guidance. This is available from Supporting transgender young people in schools: guidance for Scottish schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS does not record this information.

Information has been shared in response to similar questions many times (at least annually) since Roseanna Cunningham answered on 15 August 2017, most recently in response to Willie Rennie MSP on 9 November 2023.

The following formal flood protection schemes are complete.

The Scottish Government has ambitious plans to make it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle for everyday journeys, with record levels of investment over this Parliament. Our biggest focus is on delivering physical infrastructure on the ground. But we also have important programmes to support people to change behaviours and choose active travel, and to access a range of bikes, including adapted bikes. To make sure that people in Scotland get maximum benefit from that investment, Transport Scotland is transforming the delivery model for active travel interventions across infrastructure, behaviour change and access to bikes. This will see the end of some long-standing programmes and a shift toward funding and control moving to local authorities, as the strategic transport authorities for their area, and regional transport partnerships.

Part of the Active Travel transformation process has involved the Smarter Choices Smarter Places programme closing from April 2024, including the Local Authority Fund which received funding through both the Sustainable Transport Budget and the Active Transport Budget.

We are developing a new approach to delivery and are actively engaging with Local Authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships, and Active Travel Delivery Partners. . Our greater emphasis on local authorities working alongside national delivery partners means a continuing focus on local transport solutions.

Whilst I welcome the outcome and the specific agreements secured at COP28, as global action is needed to reduce emissions and the impacts of climate change, Scotland’s own climate ambitions exceed those required by the Paris Agreement. I welcomed the COP text’s explicit reference to transitioning away from our current reliance on fossil fuels, in a manner which is just, alongside the specific target to triple renewables and to double energy efficiency by 2030. Scotland, as a world-leader on renewable energy, is prepared to continue to play its part in meeting these crucial targets.

Scotland remains absolutely committed to reaching net zero by 2045. Whilst this legal commitment goes faster than the rest of the UK, we have been clear that we will seek to work collaboratively with all administrations in the UK to implement mutually beneficial policies and we continue to call on the UK Government to match our ambition by acting on reserved matters that directly affect Scotland’s ability to reduce our carbon emissions.