Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is co-operating fully with the work of the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry, this will include participating, as required, in public hearings. It is a matter for the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry as to who they call to give evidence and when.

Delivery of medium-term improvements along with a permanent and resilient solution to the landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is a priority and we continue to seek ways to achieve these as quickly as possible, noting that all of the options require complex civil engineering. Budget has been allocated for the 2023-24 financial year, through the annual Scottish Budget exercise, and this will fund commencing the delivery of the medium-term improvements, which are expected to start later this year in a phased manner, along with taking forward preparatory work on the long-term solution.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations report for 2022 – published on 15th December – indicates that over 99% of all properties across Scotland can access a reliable broadband connection.

Original plans for the R100 contracts were expected to see over 112,000 properties connected to superfast broadband speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps). However, in August 2022, we announced additional investment of £36 million to extend build to a further 2,637 properties – taking the total expected to receive connections to over 114,000.

As of 28 February 2023, the contracts had delivered 20,277 connections, with the vast majority being full-fibre and gigabit-capable – up to 30 times faster than our original superfast commitment.

Our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) also continues to support those not included within contract build or commercial coverage plans. As of 1 April 2023, 3,076 connections have been delivered through the use of vouchers.

Danuta Hübner MEP and I held a positive meeting in May last year, in which we spoke about the Scottish Government's EU alignment and Energy policies.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions, however Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

During 2022 Cabinet met 41 times. A Law Officer attended 27 of these meetings: the Lord Advocate on 18 occasions and the Solicitor General on behalf of the Lord Advocate on nine occasions.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted on 13 February 2023, signals a turning point for planning, placing climate and nature at the centre of planning and supporting all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The first iteration of the NPF4 Delivery Programme outlines the steps that are being taken to monitor and evaluate the impact of NPF4 and its policies to ensure its intentions are realised, supported and integrated with the Scottish Government’s wider programme of planning reform.

The Delivery Programme sets out actions that are relevant to addressing the planning process of major renewable proposals and other net-zero projects. This includes the work of the High Level Group on Planning Performance, co-chaired by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), which has a remit to improve the performance of the planning system and has recently been reflecting on the impact of planning fee increases in 2022 on authorities’ resources. In December 2022 an increase in fees for applications made under the Electricity Act was also implemented, and the Scottish Government is continuing to work with stakeholders to improve timescales for determination.

The Scottish Government is also working with Partners in Planning ( https://www.partnersinplanning.scot/ ) to develop a skills strategy which will identify the specialist skills required to address the requirements of NPF4, and the wider skills required to ensure we have planners with the expertise to deliver the developments we will need in the future. Additionally, recruitment of a National Planning Improvement Champion, whose focus will be on supporting improvement in the Scottish planning system, is underway.

In February, an Applicant Stakeholder Group was established to provide stakeholders with a forum to highlight key issues affecting the performance of the planning system and to help identify priority areas for action. The work of this group will in turn assist in shaping the work of the High Level Group on Planning Performance.

Beyond NPF4 delivery, the Scottish Government is undertaking a phased review of permitted development rights (PDR). We have committed to use the third phase of the review to consider new and extended PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewables equipment, as well as electricity network infrastructure. Our intention is to publish the Phase 3 consultation this Spring. This will support capacity in the system by removing the need for planning permission for some types of development.

Following the devolution of the Debt Advice Levy to Scottish Ministers in 2019, the Scottish Government commissioned the Improvement Service to undertake research into different potential funding models for debt advice. This work has only recently been completed and we will now carefully consider these findings alongside wider evidence, to determine whether any changes are required to future funding arrangements.

The Bank is guided by the missions set for it by Scottish Ministers and makes independent decisions in line with their Investment Strategy. The Scottish Government is not currently considering mandating the creation of any refund guarantee products by the Scottish National Investment Bank at this time.

The latest report highlights the continuing significance of Scotland’s contribution to the UK space industry, making up 18% of the total workforce.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting our burgeoning space sector identified as a priority in both our Inward Investment Plan and the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

And it is that commitment that helped Mangata Networks choose to locate its state-of-the-art engineering and operations hub for satellite manufacturing and over 500 high skilled jobs in Scotland.

The Minister and I had a constructive meeting last year during which we discussed the progress on Scottish-Irish Bilateral Review and how we support displaced people from Ukraine.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.