Chamber and committees

The minutes of the meetings of the Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction are not currently published but information on previous meetings can be made available on request.

In the last ten years, the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office has provided £889,000 in funding towards Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research.

The report of the study on goosander and cormorant diet on four Scottish rivers is being finalised and will be published shortly.

The juvenile grey seal Spearmint was released on the Farne Islands, Northumberland on 30 June 2022.

Grey seals are regularly found injured or sick along the UK coastline. In most cases these animals are taken to rescue centres where, following a period of rehabilitation, are released back to the wild at the locations where they are found. The Scottish Government is not aware of any monitoring that takes place with regards to the release of rehabilitated seals from these centres.

Grey seals are widely distributed around the Scottish coast and in some limited cases, individual animals may enter river systems. The Scottish Government recognises that seal predation is one of several pressures affecting wild salmon in rivers, which is why it continues to work with the sector, stakeholders and scientific community to explore practical ways to address these interactions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09221 on 28 June 2022. 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 

The Scottish Government has supported businesses with more than £4.7bn since the start of the pandemic. All funds have been allocated and no payments remain to be paid out by the Scottish Government. All Covid-19 business support funds have now closed.

The Scottish Government has supported businesses with more than £4.7bn since the start of the pandemic. All Covid-19 business support funds have closed. No funds remain to be allocated from either the Business Ventilation Fund or other Covid 19 related funds.

Progress on implementing the summary case reform pilot has been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and it is intended that the package of reforms will now be taken forward on a pilot basis recommencing in September 2022. The impact of the reforms will be closely monitored and reported on with a view to informing future rollout of the agreed reform arrangements.

Scottish Ministers received the Public Inquiry Report on 18 February 2022 and are currently considering the terms of the report. The timeframe for considering reports, in addition to considering all other material considerations and application documents is very much site specific. The determination for Fetteresso is currently progressing in line with the most recent average timescales. 10 determinations, where a Public Inquiry was held, have been issued since January 2021. The average time taken, between receipt of the Public Inquiry Report from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (the “DPEA”) and the issue of these determinations, is around 6 months within a range of 2 to 15 months.

The Scottish Government has supported businesses with more than £4.7bn since the start of the pandemic. All funds have been allocated and no payments remain to be paid out by the Scottish Government. All Covid-19 business support funds have now closed.