The Scottish Government has developed guidance to ensure that Bills can operate effectively in the wider policy and regulatory framework into which they will be introduced. As part of the development of the Bill this may (where relevant) require formal impact assessments to be carried out. These are:

• Business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA)
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA)
• Data Protection Impact Assessment
• Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)
• Fairer Scotland Duty assessment
• Future proofing legislation
• Human rights in policy making
• Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)
• Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA)

Where appropriate, issues raised in relation to housing, jobs, food production and rural depopulation will be addressed through these formal impact assessments.

We set out in our consultation document, Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation , ( Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space ), our proposals for measures to be included in the next Land Reform Bill, and sought views on their impact in the areas listed above. In addition to taking account of the responses to this, and other questions in the consultation, officials continue to engage with internal and external stakeholders with interests in housing, jobs, food production and rural depopulation.

We established the Scottish Land Commission on 1 April 2017, after the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force. Its remit is to review the effectiveness and impact of our laws and policies relating to land, and to make recommendations to Scottish Ministers on future land reform.

As part of the development of their discussion paper, Legislative Proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s Concentration of Land Ownership, (published February 2021), and their ongoing work on land reform, the SLC has published a series of reports reviewing international experience of interventions in land ownership, to inform fresh thinking for Scotland. They may be found here: International Experience - Governance & Ownership - Our work - Scottish Land Commission .

The proposals put forward in our consultation on the Bill were based on the Commission's discussion paper, which in turn were(where relevant) informed by the findings and lessons of these reports.

Border security and the movement of goods is a reserved matter for the UK government; however, the Scottish Government provides grant funding to the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support law enforcement activity undertaken by local authorities against the sale of illicit fireworks in Scotland. This work extends to work concerning imported fireworks at ports and fast parcel outlets in cooperation with Border Force, as well as online sales from outwith Scotland.

Infrastructure on the UK rail network, including lines speed and capacity, is a matter for Network Rail, therefore Network Rail would be best placed to provide this information.

Network Rail advises it is currently looking to understand the implications of the Prime Minister’s HS2 announcement made in October and how this might affect journey times in the medium to long term.

As with the current Rail services Decarbonisation Action Plan, the refreshed plan will consider the decarbonisation of all rail routes in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the hospitality and night-time industry, having been the hardest hit of all sectors from the Covid-19 pandemic and cost crises.

The Scottish Budget 2023-24 ensures the lowest poundage in the UK for the fifth year in a row and supports a package of rates relief worth an estimated £749 million, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme. Around half of properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are eligible for 100% relief this financial year. Decisions on non-domestic rates for 2024-25 will be made as part of the Scottish Budget, which will be published on 19 December.

The Scottish Government is also supporting the sector through the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Leadership Group and through the New Deal for Business Group. In addition, the Town Centre Action Plan aims to revitalise our towns and town centres, which contributes to supporting the night-time economy.

Our recent request of the UK Government for a reduced rate of VAT for the hospitality sector was rejected.

No payments have been made to Lombard, Hampdens or Palladium from Forestry and Land Scotland or Scottish Water over the last two years. Both Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority have made payments to Palladium during this period.

Your question regarding what contracts are in place, their value, duration and procurement processes is on operational matters so I have asked the Chief Executives of the National Park Authorities to write to you addressing these points .

Scottish Government officials raised this question with INEOS on 29 November 2023 and have since received confirmation that the refinery does not currently process significant volumes of FPS derived crude, with the majority of the asset’s feedstock being imported. The business noted that, given the historical throughput of the FPS, there is sufficient capacity to process any additional volumes in the future.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23191 on 7 December 2023. 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

Following consultation with each of Scotland five medical schools most students receive taught modules on mental health and psychiatry in years three and four of their medical degrees with the opportunity to specialist mental health units on clinical placements from year four onwards. There are significant core learning requirements in relation to mental health set out by the GMC and each University ensures these are fulfilled.

The GMC also require all medical schools to provide support for the consideration of postgraduate careers and each school has their own way of doing this. For example, the University of Aberdeen hold careers fairs across the whole curriculum wherein Mental Health is always included, and the psychiatric education team engaged. Furthermore each of the medical schools have a ‘PsychSoc’ attached to them. These societies are funded by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and work with the medical schools to encourage and support medical students into a career within the psychiatric fields.