Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will publish its vision shortly.

The vision outlines our aim to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

The Scottish Government is required by statute to publish progress on our proposals for rural support no later than 31 December 2024 and we will do so well ahead of that deadline.

The draft of the next Climate Change Plan will set out how we will continue to reduce emissions from agriculture and include policies and proposals to ensure the agriculture sector plays its part in meeting our ambitious net zero national target.

This government has also committed to maintaining basic payments at their current level for the lifetime of this Parliament, to provide farmers and crofters with financial stability and certainty.

Renewable energy is a crucial element of our transition to deliver a net-zero economy and we are determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. We remain fully committed to using every lever within our devolved competence to support and grow the offshore wind supply chain here in Scotland.

To demonstrate this, applicants to the ScotWind leasing round were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) setting out the anticipated level and location of supply chain impact. Developers can update their Statements throughout the development phase. Failure to deliver the commitments laid out in the final SCDS can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to seabed lease.

The introduction of Supply Chain Development Statements demonstrates how serious the Scottish Government is about holding developers to account if they do not honour their supply chain commitments. We fully expect developers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to be engaging with the domestic supply chain from the outset and to work in collaboration with the public sector and with communities to ensure that those commitments come to fruition. We have also been calling for, and welcome, the additional conditionality required by the UK Government for supply chain commitments in Contracts for Difference (CfD) rounds.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a just transition to net zero and to meaningful involvement of the people of Scotland in decisions that affect them. We recognise the importance of individuals and communities being able to engage in shaping the society wide response needed to achieve a net zero future. We are exploring the most effective ways to do this at all levels across society. I’ve set out below a number of ways in which the Scottish Government is enabling this engagement:

Open Government Partnership (OGP)

As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to OGP values of transparency, accountability and participation, a working group was convened in summer 2021. Its remit is to develop options for embedding the use of a broad range of participation and democratic innovations, and using this system as a basis for routine Citizens’ Assemblies in Scotland.

The working group’s report is due to be published in early 2022. It will include recommendations on how to encourage the routine use of deliberative methods across all areas of public services working on complex issues, such as Climate Action. We are also in the process of developing a climate stakeholders network as part of our latest OGP Action Plan, which as a first step will create opportunities for deliberative engagement.

Green Participatory Budgeting (PB)

We committed, in our response to the Just Transition Commission’s recommendations, to exploring the use of Green Participatory Budgeting (PB). We have now dedicated resource within the Scottish Communities Development Centre to aid the development and adoption of Green PB activities and processes across Scotland in 2022, which will include working with local authorities to embed net zero commitments into wider participatory budgeting initiatives.

Place Standard tool

The Place Standard tool is a simple and effective tool to support communities’ and organisations’ engagement in holistic conversations around a place to inform positive action. A supplementary Climate Lens toolkit for the Place Standard tool is currently being developed and piloted in partnership with climate change organisations to further enhance the potential of the tool to contribute to net zero and climate action.

Local Place Plans

Local Place Plans provide communities with an opportunity to influence local planning policies through a community led, collaborative process, setting out a community’s proposals for the development and use of land. It is for the Community Body preparing the Local Place Plan to consider what is the most appropriate method of engaging with its wider community.

Community-led Climate Action

The Scottish Government is committed to empowering people to take action in their own communities and in their own lives. We are building a new model to support community climate action via a developing network of regional climate action hubs and climate action towns. In September 2021 we launched two pathfinder regional Community Climate Action hubs – one in the North Highlands and one in the Northeast of Scotland. These initiatives will provide a vehicle for communities to come together and engage in collective climate action.

The Climate Action Towns initiative is a place-based programme focussing on small towns with little historical engagement on climate action. Architecture and Design Scotland have been commissioned to work collaboratively with local people and organisations in seven towns to support communities to develop local plans focused on tackling the crisis. This will provide opportunities to deliver real change in a collaborative and coordinated approach, learnings from which can be applied in places across Scotland.

Scottish Government have increased the annual native woodland creation target from a minimum of 3000 to at least 4000 hectares and have committed to setting evidence-based targets for both native woodlands and natural regeneration as part of the 2022 Biodiversity Strategy.

Scottish Government have committed to a Natural Environment Bill aiming to introduce it in year three of this parliamentary session, which will follow on from the new biodiversity strategy. This will put in place key legislative changes to restore and protect nature, including an effective, statutory, target-setting monitoring, enforcing and reporting framework.

The Nature Restoration Fund, established this year following an agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party, will be expanded over the duration of this parliamentary session and encompass multi-year funding. It will make an important contribution to meeting our targets and restoring Scotland’s terrestrial and marine environments through, for example, restoring and expanding our Atlantic rainforests, and the establishment of nature networks across Scotland.

All woodland management will continue to be underpinned by the internationally recognised principles of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), as defined in The UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) the technical standard for sustainable forest management in the UK. The Scottish Government supports tree planting and woodland management through the Forestry Grant Scheme. This support is only provided where UKFS requirements are met, and where we are confident this helps to ensure our natural environment is both protected and enhanced.

The existing Franchise Agreement between the Scottish Ministers and Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited predates the implementation of the Fair Work Framework.

However, the opportunity has been taken under the current amended contractual arrangements for the pandemic period (Emergency Measures Agreements) to specify that Caledonian Sleeper should deliver against a set of Staff Engagement and Wellbeing Targets.

As contractual arrangements for the pandemic period draw to a close, Caledonian Sleeper has committed to engaging with the Scottish Government in adopting the Fair Work Framework under updated contractual arrangements.

There is no distinction between objectives and deliverables of the £500 million Just Transition Fund for year one, and the £20 million allocation for year one.

Detailed policy design work and implementation planning, supplemented by a programme of engagement, is underway ahead of the new financial year. This will inform the objectives and deliverables of the Just Transition Fund. Further updates will be shared as this engagement develops. We will work collaboratively, continuing to engage and co-design this Fund with partners in region throughout the lifetime of this ten-year £500 million commitment to the North East and Moray.

Legal aid applications are prepared by an applicant’s solicitor, who provides all the details of the case to the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). Solicitors have professional duties not only to their client, but to SLAB and to the court; therefore it would not be professionally appropriate for a solicitor to submit an application for legal aid if they were of the view that a client’s case was “spurious”.

Legal aid is granted only if the applicant meets the strict eligibility criteria set out in legislation, which apply to all civil cases, including family law matters. This includes the merits of a case. Applicants need to demonstrate that they have a sound legal basis for their case, and that it is reasonable for legal aid to be made available. When looking at the reasonableness test, The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) considers a range of factors including whether the application is premature and whether there are reasonable prospects of success. If the criteria are not met then legal aid will be refused.

Opponents will generally be notified when an application for legal aid is submitted and have the opportunity to make representations to SLAB prior to legal aid being granted. Opponents can also provide any additional information which may affect the merits of the case during its lifetime after legal aid has been granted and does not require legal representation.

The Scottish Government has committed to invest at least £1.8 billion in heat and energy efficiency over the course of this parliament. This funding is delivered via a range of support options, which are available to households across Scotland, including those in rural areas.

The priority for our delivery programmes is to reduce fuel poverty and accelerate progress with decarbonisation of heating. Rural areas of Scotland experience higher rates of fuel poverty and already benefit from additional investment in energy efficiency measures. In line with our Heat in Building Strategy, we have expanded our offer to provide more whole house retrofits and a wider range of support for fuel poor households in rural areas.

We continue to invest in our Warmer Homes Scotland and Area-Based Schemes (ABS). This year we have increased funding for both schemes to a record £50 million for Warmer Homes Scotland (an increase from £32 million in 2020-21) and maintained funding at £64 million for our local authority led Area Based Schemes (an additional £9 million compared with 20-21).

We also continue to fund Home Energy Scotland to provide free and impartial advice on how to reduce bills and make homes warmer and cheaper to heat.

Home Energy Scotland Loans are available to homeowners who live in the property they own and to self-builders. Loans are available for both energy efficiency measures and renewables measures with up to 40% and 75% cashback grants respectively.

The Scottish Government will consult on a draft Islands Energy Strategy in 2022, setting out its approach to supporting island residents and communities to develop renewable energy solutions that can promote resilience, enhance sustainability, and meet their energy needs now and in the future. As part of this work, we will review the evidence base and options for an "islands uplift" across our delivery programmes as part of our commitment to provide additional support for rural and island homes for heat and energy efficiency.

The ten-year £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray is a single initiative. The initial £20 million announced for the 2022-23 is a mixture of Capital and Financial Transactions, but should not be regarded as distinct ‘funding streams’ with separate objectives and deliverables.

As specified in the draft Shared Policy Programme, and as specified in this year’s draft Budget, the strategic objective of the Fund is to support and accelerate the development of a transformed and decarbonised economy in the North East and Moray and support the role of Aberdeen and the wider north east as one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy.

Detailed policy design work and implementation planning, informed by a programme of engagement with partners in the region, is underway ahead of the new financial year. This will inform the specific objectives and deliverables of the Just Transition Fund in a) year 1 and b) for the first tranche of £20 million of funding. Further updates will be shared as this engagement develops. We will work collaboratively, continuing to engage and co-design this Fund with partners in region throughout the lifetime of this ten-year £500 million commitment to the North East and Moray.

The vast majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on road maintenance, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

It is for locally elected representatives to manage the allocation of resources and the level of services that are delivered to their local communities.