Chamber and committees

The Ayrshire Growth Deal has faced significant challenges - including cost inflation, technical complexities and the COVID-19 pandemic - which have adversely affected project timelines and budgets. In addition, development of two key projects resulted in them no longer being deemed commercially viable. These challenges have largely been beyond the control of the Growth Deal,

Despite such challenges, partners across the three Ayrshire local authorities have been progressing substantive development work, including a reassessment of capital projects as part of a wider programme review aimed at accelerating progress.

Scottish Government officials continue to work closely with Deal partners to ensure projects are delivered within the remaining period of the Growth Deal and within budget.

The Scottish and UK Government jointly developed an evidence-led and objective place selection methodology for Investment Zones, adapting the approach taken by the UK Government in England when selecting Investment Zone regions.

As part of the place selection process, financial modelling was undertaken to assess the potential economic benefits of the proposed Investment Zones. This analysis considered a range of factors, including wellbeing economy need, employment growth, and the attraction of inward investment. The modelling also examined the anticipated fiscal impact, including potential revenue generation and cost implications for both governments. The place selection methodology was published on 18 August 2023.

In addition, the Scottish Government regularly engages with regional stakeholders including the North East Regional Economic Partnership to ensure that the Investment Zone continues to align with local economic priorities and maximises benefits for businesses and communities within the region. Further assessment and refinement of the financial modelling will continue as the Investment Zone proposals are developed through the Gateway process, to ensure its long-term success.

Investment Zones in Scotland are being jointly delivered by the Scottish and UK Governments. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the UK Government regarding the proposed Investment Zone for the North East region. Weekly progress meetings are held between officials from both Governments to discuss the development of proposals and implementation of the Investment Zone. Additionally, the Scottish and UK Government jointly participate in scheduled fortnightly meetings with the North East Regional Economic Partnership, and more often where required, to ensure continued collaboration.

The Scottish Government does not have management control over the land it owns that is under secure agricultural or crofting tenure. Therefore, any decisions on land use change would be for our tenants to make, and the Scottish Government as their landlord would not obstruct them considering carrying out changes, such as peatland restoration or woodland creation.

We assess the environmental impact of farming operations at Knocknagael through the use of Biodiversity and Carbon audits.

We do not hold information on the numbers of livestock owned and managed by our farm and croft tenants or assess any environmental impact of livestock farming on a tenant by tenant basis.

The most common type of schemes funded under Freight Facilities Grant since 2016 has been for the creation and expansion of rail terminals.

The information on potential job creation as a result of an award is unavailable to the Scottish Government as it does not form part of the criteria for an applicant to receive a grant under the scheme.

While the Scottish Government remains committed to its vision for an integrated and community-based hearing service in Scotland, re-phasing of funding has meant that not all the challenges we are facing will be addressed in a single budget and therefore there is no community hearing service in operation at this time.

While our response to the Independent Review of Audiology is implemented, we will continue to work with the NHS, Third Sector and private providers to identify and cost an appropriate model of community care for any future service reform, and ensure that the voices of those with lived experience inform this work.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on fish survival by calendar year. Each October, Scottish Government publishes a Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey which presents data on survival to harvest within a year class; that is, the fish grown to harvest within a production cycle.

The member may be interested to know that industry trade body Salmon Scotland publishes monthly mortality data. In recent correspondence to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee dated 3 February 2025, Salmon Scotland noted that their data indicated survival across all marine farms was 82.3% in 2024, up 10 percentage points from 72.3% in 2023.

NatureScot intends to have the report ready for external review by 31 March 2025 and will then send to Scottish Ministers for consideration once the external review has been completed.

The remit of the review includes assessing the potential to apply the principle of full cost recovery to species licensing and this will be included in the review report.