Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s public agencies are running promotional campaigns to support responsible enjoyment of the countryside, as part of the wider national visitor management strategy co-ordinated by VisitScotland. This includes messaging which relates to responsible lighting of fires, strongly emphasising for example the use of camping stoves. It also highlights the need to follow any relevant local guidance and promotes sensible behaviours. The campaigns are being taken forward through both traditional and social media, including work with online influencers to help reach audiences that are otherwise difficult to engage.

Figures show there has been widespread public engagement with these campaigns over the summer period.

£2.75 million has been allocated by Scottish Ministers this year for the Better Places Green Recovery Fund, administered by NatureScot, which partly provides for additional seasonal rangers to promote responsible behaviour. We are also providing our National Parks with an extra £3.6 million in 2021 which will support, among other things, seasonal rangers.

In addition, land managers have been advised to use time limited local signage or other communication methods to inform people when there are high risk conditions, working with local authorities and National Park Authorities.

All applicants to Scottish Forestry for woodland creation grants are expected to undertake pre-application due diligence to identify significant issues from the proposal.

Depending upon the agricultural land classification as defined by the James Hutton Institute, the applicant may be required to consult with Scottish Government Rural Payment and Inspectorate Division (SGRPID) to obtain feedback upon the likelihood of the proposal having a negative impact upon the agricultural sector and jobs in particular and then act on any issues identified with appropriate mitigation.

In addition, to support the development of increase woodland cover on existing farmland, Scottish Forestry has developed a Forestry Grant Scheme option called “Sheep and Trees”. This option was developed in partnership with the National Sheep Association Scotland, National Farmers Union Scotland and SGRPID, to better integrate forestry and farming practices, and provide new opportunities for farm enterprises; it is available to new tenant farmers with landlord or leasehold approval.

Scottish Government is also working on the “integrating trees on your land – farming for a better climate” 2 initiative. This initiative involves showcasing opportunities, through case studies, for farmers to integrate trees planting in the wider farm enterprise with a view to helping new entrant farmers to adopt a more holistic and diverse approach to their enterprise.

The Scottish Government has used a number of initiatives to promote regular testing using lateral flow devices. This includes:

• Running targeted campaigns to promote the importance of testing through platforms including TV, radio and social media.
• Promoting free access to lateral flow test kits that are delivered directly to a person’s home.
• Introducing Pharmacy Collect – a service that allows the collection of free lateral flow test kits from over 1000 pharmacies throughout Scotland

The Scottish Government has worked with NHS Inform to promote information on how to accurately take an LFD test. This included commissioning a video from Professor Jason Leitch with instructions on how to take the test. This has been translated into multiple languages including BSL, Arabic, Polish and Urdu. Information on NHS Inform pages , for example on where to get a test, has also been translated.

The Scottish Government continues to produce testing information and campaigns to help aid the use and promotion of testing and will continue to do so throughout the course of this pandemic.

The contribution of additional new planting towards Scotland’s net zero targets has been calculated by the Scottish Government using an economy-wide model that projects future CO ₂ emissions and removals to 2045.

The forestry element of the model uses data from the forestry part of the UK GHG projections for Scotland and from estimates of forest growth following planting. The model is responsive to different levels of woodland planting in future. The UK GHG projections show the forest estate in Scotland remaining a carbon sink throughout the period to 2045.

The total cost from April 2020 to date for Scottish Government to remove car parking charges at the PFI hospital car parks at Ninewells Hospital, the Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was £6.97million, inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

We are unable to provide the cost at each of the individual hospitals as disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the contracted PFI company’s business operations.

Snaring is reviewed every 5 years under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the next review is due to be completed by December 2021. The Scottish Government will consider any recommendations from the review and will take further action if necessary, including introducing further legislation.

The following table details the annual breakdown of estimated expenditure on new ferries and infrastructure improvements on the ferries network from 2021/22 to 2025/26.

The Scottish Land Fund supports urban and rural communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.

It has a two-stage application process. At Stage 1 groups are asked for basic information about their project and organisation. At Stage 2 groups are asked to complete a full application form for funding for the acquisition of the asset.

At both stages, groups can reapply if they are unsuccessful, so the numbers of 'unsuccessful' applications shown in the table below includes some groups who have applied several times. The 'unsuccessful' category could include multiple applications by the same applicant who may subsequently have submitted a successful application.

The following table sets out figures for applications received and awards made for both stages.

1. Stage 1 Applications received, and awards made

In recognition of the importance of monitoring our soils, the Scottish Government, through the Rural and Environment Science Analytical Services (RESAS), is evaluating proposals for a systematic soil monitoring framework for Scotland to begin April 2022.

The carrying capacity of vessels under physical distancing requirements is dependent upon the individual layout, including access and egress arrangements. The table below provides information on the normal passenger carrying capacity of the vessels used on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services and the Northern Isles Ferry Services as well as carrying capacity under 2m and 1m physical distancing requirements.