Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will consult on the next Climate Change Plan, a draft of which will be published in November 2023. Plans for consultation are still in development.

To enable Ministers to reach a decision on the next steps for the Deposit Return Scheme, a number of discussions were held with those involved in the scheme in the weeks prior to the announcement including Circularity Scotland and business groups. The First Minister then met with Circularity Scotland on 20 April 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the impacts of climate change as part of Scotland's just transition to a net-zero economy and society.

Alongside continuing to deliver over 170 policies and proposals in the current Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, the Scottish Government is also now developing the next programme. Public consultation is anticipated for the start of 2024 with the aim of publishing a final statutory programme in Autumn 2024.

This third five-year Adaptation Programme will respond to the full range of current and future climate risks for Scotland, as independently identified by the Climate Change Committee in its evidence base for the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022. The Scottish Government is also looking for additional, early actions we can take to address the highest priority risk areas identified by the Climate Change Committee.

While progress is being made, we acknowledge that more needs to be done. Adaptation to the locked in impacts of climate change is a global challenge and we are not alone in needing to accelerate progress.

As set out at Section 2.38 of the Ministerial code Ministers must not divulge either who provided the advice or its contents (whether it is from the Law Officers or from anyone else). This applies to all forms of legal advice, including advice on a particular subject or advice associated with clearance of a document.

Scotland's ambitious emissions reduction targets, including targets for reducing emissions every year until reaching net zero by 2045, are set under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. The level of these targets are kept under regular review to ensure they are in line with the latest climate science and advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), our independent statutory advisers. We have recently laid draft regulations to modify annual targets for 2021-2029 for technical reasons, to reflect updates to international standards for carbon accounting and in line with the latest advice received from the CCC.

The Scottish Government has promised a laser like focus on delivery, and we will ensure this happens, by directing energy and resources towards achieving the three missions and supporting the outcomes set out in Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start . Our ambition for an improving, consistent and transparent focus on performance and delivery is shared by Ministers and the Executive Team.

The Scottish Government has promised a laser like focus on delivery, and we will ensure this happens, by directing energy and resources towards achieving the three missions and supporting the outcomes set out in Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start . Our ambition for an improving, consistent and transparent focus on performance and delivery is shared by Ministers and the Executive Team and work is in hand to strengthen the existing, evidence-based approach to delivery, performance and assurance that currently exists across the organisation.

Ministers will continue to meet COSLA and individual local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of issues, including adaptation to the impact of climate change.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with COSLA and SOLACE to agree a New Deal for Local Government in Scotland with the aim of providing greater flexibility over local funding, with clear accountability for delivery on shared priorities and outcomes, such as climate change.

In February, I wrote to COSLA setting out my view that tackling flooding remains a top priority for the Scottish Government and developing a level of resilience to our future flood exposure is one of our greatest climate challenges. The Scottish Government remains committed to improving flood resilience in Scotland, and it is imperative that we make best use of the resources already allocated for this. I have also encouraged COSLA to play an active part in consultation on new a flooding strategy for Scotland recognising how we can build community flood resilience and engage a broader range of delivery partners to deliver more diverse flood management actions faster. A joint Scottish Government/COSLA Flood Risk Management Working Group is considering funding arrangements for flood risk management actions going forward. Managing our exposure to floods and their impacts is a significant and growing challenge as climate change brings more severe and frequent flood events.

We are in discussion with COSLA and the Scottish Cities Alliance about the development of a framework between national and local government to agree shared actions and approaches to delivering climate change action, enabling better alignment between national and local targets and to jointly address the challenges and barriers to delivery.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Scottish House Condition Survey, 2019 is the latest year for which we have National Statistics for this. From Table 5 of the latest Scottish House Condition Survey (published 1 December 2020), there were 312,000 domestic properties using low or zero greenhouse gas emissions heating systems.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17263 on 4 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .