Chamber and committees

The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) is subject to a programme of regular updates. Specifically, sections are updated as and when amendments are required, due to changes in policy of Scottish Ministers, with the guide also being subject to an annual review. To achieve this SG Financial Management Directorate lead on and liaise annually with policy owners to identify any planned changes to the guide ensuring guidance is updated in real time throughout the year. Significant updates to the guide are communicated to public bodies and to SG via Finance Guidance notes published on the SPFM and provided to Public Bodies via information notices.

The SG is currently undertaking a strategic review of the SPFM during 2023-24. This review will seek to enhance existing processes and frameworks ensuring the SPFM remains up to date, aligned with best practice and accessible to key stakeholders, continuing to promote economy efficiency, effectiveness and high standards of propriety, regularity, and value for money.

INTOG provides significant support to the delivery of the oil and gas sector’s decarbonisation targets in the North Sea Transition Deal and offers the opportunity for the transfer of skills from one sector to the other.

With INTOG projects, we are supporting growth in the supply chain to service ScotWind and promoting the transfer of knowledge and skills across the energy sectors. We are working with the energy sector to plan for a multi-skilled workforce, one that can benefit from opportunities across the energy system.

Our £500m Just Transition Fund is providing financial support to help energy workers reskill and find good jobs and to build confidence in the potential for a just transition. Funding from the Just Transition Fund has already been allocated to support development of the energy skills passport; to create an advanced manufacturing skills hub in Aberdeen and a pilot scheme with the National Energy Skills Accelerator to determine the skills required for an energy transition.

Our National Strategy for Economic Transformation makes clear that we will launch new skills guarantee for workers in carbon intensive industries and together with Skills Development Scotland, we launched the Green Jobs Workforce Academy, a national long term programme to support the retraining and upskilling needed for the transition to net zero.

INTOG will further support the transfer of skills between renewables and oil and gas sectors, with the 2021 Robert Gordon University's Workforce Review suggesting that more than 90% of the UK’s oil and gas workforces have medium to high skills transferability and are well positioned to work in adjacent energy sectors, and that a majority of offshore workers could be delivering low carbon energy by 2030.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Officials across the Scottish Government regularly engage with gender equality stakeholders as part of the policy development process. Officials work closely with the Scottish Women’s Convention as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to advancing gender equality. The Scottish Women’s Convention engage with Scottish Government officials as part of their work to ensure women’s voices from across Scotland are heard on a number of key issues.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the Scottish Refugee Council to discuss a range of issues as part of our commitment to work in partnership. This includes meetings in relation to the New Scots refugee integration strategy for which Scottish Refugee Council is a key partner.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information, including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Officials regularly engage with stakeholder organisations, including Scottish Refugee Council, as part of policy development processes.

The Scottish Government plans to present the draft guidance on the guiding principles on the environment, under the provisions of section 17 of the Continuity Act, before the summer recess.

As a key stakeholder for the Scottish Government on Climate Change Policy, officials in the Scottish Government regularly meet with 2050 Climate Group.

Ministers have also met with 2050 Climate Group during that period. The Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, and the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights participated in 2050 Climate Groups Young Leaders Development Programme in February 2022 and February 2023 respectively to showcase how working in politics can help shape climate action in Scotland. In addition, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity visited 2050 Climate Group in August 2022 to discuss 2050 Climate Groups work in more detail, particularly linked to developing green skills in the political sphere. There were no recorded outcomes to these meetings. Participants welcomed the engagement with Ministers and officials remain committed to working with young people including on green skills and the 2050 Climate Group are part of the CESAP (Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan) Implementation Steering Group.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency. To help incentivise this shift, Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have since 2011 invested over £65 million to support a range of organisations to install public charge points across Scotland.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and determining the terms of when tariffs and overstay charges are levied lies with these charge point owners. In considering whether to set a tariff, owners will consider a range of factors including local circumstances, utilisation and cost. ChargePlace Scotland implements the tariff set by the owner and manages the reimbursement of tariffs from the driver to the owner, including any overstay fees incurred.

The table below sets out the number of charge sessions where an overstay fee has been applied over the last 6 months, and the total value of such fees. If the member wishes more historic data, I would ask him to specify the time period and my officials will be happy to provide this.

The Covid Recovery Strategy, published in October 2021, set out a joint vision between the Scottish Government and Local Government for Scotland’s recovery which focused on reducing systemic inequalities, tackling poverty and supporting people and communities most affected during the pandemic. The strategy set out three priority outcomes: to increase financial security for low income households; to enhance the wellbeing of children and young people; and to create good, green jobs and fair work. The Covid Recovery Strategy also set out an overarching ambition to reform public services, in line with the principles of the Christie Commission, so that they are person-centred and outcome-focused.

The Covid Recovery Strategy included over 70 actions which were funded through existing portfolios and the Scottish Government has made progress towards our Covid Recovery outcomes by, for example: increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per week; doubling the Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million; providing local authorities with additional funding for Discretionary Housing Payments; investing at least £50 million in 2023/24 in a Whole Family Wellbeing Programme; and investing in the Green Jobs Fund and Green Jobs Workforce Academy.

The Covid Recovery Strategy Programme Board met for the first time in January 2022 and was co-chaired by the former Deputy First Minister and the COSLA President. The Board includes representatives from Local Government, business organisations and the third sector and has overseen the collaborative and joint delivery of the Covid Recovery Strategy. It has ensured progress towards the three Covid Recovery outcomes and overarching ambition of public service reform. The Board met most recently in January 2023 and minutes are available on the Scottish Government website .

The Covid Recovery Strategy programme is due to conclude in the summer of 2023, although the Scottish Government will build on this programme to continue to deliver for people across Scotland. The priorities of the Covid Recovery Strategy align with the 2023/24 Scottish Budget which focuses on tackling child poverty, transforming the economy to deliver a just transition to net zero, and achieving fiscally sustainable public services.

Scottish Ministers have no plans to undertake a formal review of the trunk road network on Skye. The statutory duty to manage, maintain and improve the trunk road network is set out in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and places an obligation on Ministers to keep the network under continual review.

In the United Kingdom, trunk roads were first defined in the Trunk Roads Act 1936. There have been two national reviews of the Scottish road network since the Act was introduced. The first was in 1946 and the second in 1994/95. The latter was prompted by the reorganisation of local government in Scotland.

A comprehensive review of the trunk road network on Skye would only be required in response to matters of national significance. We therefore currently have no plans to undertake a formal review of the trunk road network on Skye.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), published on 8 December 2022, will inform the Scottish Government’s investment programme over the next 20 years (2022 to 2042). STPR2 has been undertaken in line with the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy, which aims to reduce the need to travel unsustainably and prioritises making best use of and enhancing existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity.

The STPR2 recommendations include progressing safety improvements across the trunk road and motorway network (recommendation no. 30) with a primary but not exclusive focus on rural sections where accident rates and severities are typically higher. Measures are likely to include one or a combination of junction improvements, carriageway widening, route realignment and provision of overtaking opportunities. At this stage, potential example locations forming part of this recommendation include the A87 Invergarry to Uig with the location and type of improvements on specific routes requiring further detailed investigation.

In addition, climate change adaptation and resilience of the trunk road and motorway network forms STPR2 recommendation 31 and sea wall improvements, strengthening or replacement is a possible intervention in relation to the A87. Furthermore, recommendation 32 is focused on continued investment in the maintenance of a safe, reliable and efficient trunk road and motorway network. It should be noted that the STPR2 recommendations are not funded and will be subject to prioritisation that takes into consideration the fiscal context and availability of funding.

Details of Scottish Government funding for Historic Scotland, from 2007-08 until it became part of Historic Environment Scotland, can be found in the following table. These figures come from the annual Scottish Budget publication.