Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government consulted on proposals for reform of Legal Aid in Scotland between 27 June and 19 September 2019. The consultation sought views on developing a user centred, flexible and valued public service. Responses were received from across the legal profession, Scottish Women’s Aid and Victim Support Scotland. Analysis of the responses was published on 16 June 2020. There have been regular meetings with representatives of the legal profession; however, these have centred on support to the profession during the pandemic, issues connected to fees and attendant disruptive action. It is intended for more focused engagement to be undertaken, including with victims organisations to further develop the reform agenda.

The Public Library COVID Relief Fund was announced as part of the 2021 Programme for Government. The Fund was delivered by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC). 31 local authority library services in total submitted applications to the Fund, across two rounds of funding.

The first round of funding closed to applications in October 2021. 21 services received a total of £1,045,681 (in the first table).

In January 2022, the Fund reopened for a second round to unsuccessful services and those that did not apply during the first round. 7 services received a total of £215,870 (in the second table).

Across the two rounds, the following library services have been awarded funding:

The Scottish Government committed £750,000 to developing the Scotland on Tour Fund in response to the impacts felt by the sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In total, the fund received 270 applications from individual artists, musicians, bands, organisations and independent promoters. These were assessed by a panel of representatives from the music industry, as well as Creative Scotland. Of those, 217 applicants were successful. Work is ongoing throughout the year to convert these successful applications into concerts.

Currently Scotland on Tour is on track to deliver 360 performances and concerts in over 100 venues across Scotland during 2022 and into early 2023.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with representatives of the GFG Alliance at official and Ministerial level.

Officials hold quarterly meetings to monitor performance in respect of the Scottish Government guarantee and maintain regular engagement at local and group level on business operations. 

Four Ministerial meetings have been held with the GFG Alliance in 2022.  These meetings involving the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism & Enterprise took place on 24 January, 18 February, 29 March and 1 April. 

The Scottish Government will continue to publish details of all Ministerial engagements via its website (https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/).

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland and so provided £750,000 across 2021-22 and 2022-23 to enable Scotland on Tour to take place.

Scotland on Tour has facilitated new concerts in venues across Scotland at a time when the postponement of concerts, due to the pandemic, had left little room for new concerts to take place in 2022.

While there are no plans to reopen the fund, we will work with the culture sector to ensure our diverse and world class cultural scene continues to thrive.

The non-domestic rates income figures for each year, broken down by local authority, are available in Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics, at https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics . The figures can be found in the respective annual publications, in Table 1.15 for 2016-17 and 2017-18, Table 1.14a for 2018-19 and 2019-20, and Table 2.14 for 2020-21.

At the time of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government estimated that up to 30,000 properties would potentially be eligible to claim the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure relief in 2022-23, subject to a business-level cap on the value of relief.

The most recent figures, as of 1 June 2021, are available in Table 6 of the Non-Domestic Rates Relief Statistics 2021 publication, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2021/ .

Decisions on non-domestic rates reliefs are taken as part of the budget process, using Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts of the total revenues raised net of relief costs. At the 2022-23 Scottish Budget in December 2021, the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast that the reliefs package would save businesses £802 million. A breakdown of this figure is available in Figure S4.10, at https://www.fiscalcommission.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-and-fiscal-forecasts-december-2021/ .

It is for local authorities to administer non-domestic rates reliefs in accordance with the relevant legislation. Data on non-domestic rates income, including the values of reliefs, is released periodically at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-income-statistics/ .
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The most recent figures, as of 1 June 2021, are available in Table 2 of the Non-Domestic Rates Relief Statistics 2021 publication, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2021/ .