Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to engage with key skills stakeholders and Historic Environment Scotland on this matter to ensure that Scotland has the required traditional skills to meet the demands of the historic environment sector.

We deliver our support for the historic environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland which continues to champion traditional skills and is working with stakeholders to address heritage skills gaps to help ensure Scotland’s historic buildings can thrive as part of the country’s sustainable future.

The Scottish Government is also working with Skills Development Scotland to promote careers in construction and heritage skills as part of our Youth Employment Strategy, Developing the Young Workforce.

The refreshed Skills Investment Plan for Scotland’s historic environment sector is being led by Historic Environment Scotland in collaboration with key stakeholders within the sector and is expected to be published in Spring 2024.

The Scottish Government appreciates the contribution volunteers make to society. Volunteering at creative and cultural events offers unique opportunities to gain new skills, get experience and to be part of something special. While there are currently no plans to increase the provision of microgrants to support and promote volunteering via Creative Scotland, direct funding to national and local intermediaries supports the national and local volunteering infrastructure. For example, Creative Lives, a Creative Scotland Regularly Funded Organisation, supports volunteer-led and community-focused activity through microgrant schemes. They have worked closely with Creative Scotland to develop Cash for Culture, a fundraising guide for voluntary arts and community-led creative groups seeking funding for activity.

We provide Volunteer Scotland with a core grant of £832,000 (2023-24) and Third Sector Interfaces receive £8,481,200. In addition, the Volunteering Support Fund (£3.3m over 2021-24 period) delivered by Impact Funding Partners on behalf of the Scottish Government, is helping people overcome barriers to volunteering. The funding is for local community grass-roots organisations to support and promote volunteering among a variety of groups who experience disadvantage or barriers to volunteering.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the Skills Investment Plan for Scotland’s historic environment sector to support our workforce in developing the skills required to manage, protect and conserve our built heritage.

We acknowledge that action delivery from the 2019 plan was impacted by both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

The Scottish Government will continue to deliver support for Scotland’s historic environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, which is leading on developing the current Skills Investment Plan, building on the lessons learned from previous plans and increasing resource to maximise delivery.

Scotland’s National Parks support the communities living and working within them. They work with a wide range of local partners – including farmers, local businesses, third sector organisations, landowners and managers – to support a thriving local economy and maximise benefits for the environment, climate, economy and people. They can play a role in generating investment, creating new employment opportunities and bringing farmers, land managers and communities together.

Any nomination for a new National Park should be founded upon local community demand. We are asking groups to demonstrate evidence of local support and engagement with local communities and stakeholders in the development of their proposals.

To ensure the nomination and appraisal process for selecting a new National Park is open, fair and transparent, we consulted on an appraisal framework with broad criteria that will help us select the area or areas to be taken forward as a National Park proposal. In order to meet these criteria, nominating groups should demonstrate how designating their area as a National Park will help to meet the special needs of the area, including the social and economic needs. Groups also need to provide evidence of local community engagement and participation in the development of the proposal and they should provide details of support from local interest groups and communities. We have also asked groups to set out how their proposal will bring wider benefits to Scotland as a whole, for example by promoting nature-friendly farming and responsible investment in natural capital which will support the local economy.

Following the appraisal process, subject to at least one nomination being selected to proceed as a National Park proposal, we expect to appoint a reporter to undertake a more detailed investigation and report on the proposal. The reporter investigation will include extensive consultation and engagement with local communities, businesses, relevant local authorities and other interested parties – including those from the agricultural sector and farming and crofting community. The report and the outcome of these consultations will inform our final decision on Scotland’s next National Park.

In addition to these consultations, we are undertaking a range of impact assessments in order to assess the likely impacts of our policy to designate at least one new National Park by 2026. This will include a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23112 on 4 December 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 .

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide frameworks, policies, and resources to enable Scotland’s NHS Boards to deliver healthcare services. It is for NHS Boards to determine how they utilise the funding provided by the Scottish Government to meet the needs of their local populations.

It is important to note that the £19.6m funding for diabetes technology was in addition to, and not a replacement for, local budgets. We also provide baseline funding to NHS Boards and expect them to continue to fund provision locally to meet patients’ needs.

The numbers of teachers who have participated in the Teacher Induction Scheme since 2016 is provided in the following table:

In relation to the ARC Bill, these outcomes bear their ordinary meaning.

The Agriculture Reform Route Map published a glossary of terms including an understanding for regenerative agriculture in June this year.

The £19.6 million of additional funding for diabetes technology consisted of £5.1 million in 2020-21 and £14.5 million in 2021-22. It was allocated based on the percentage of patients with Type 1 diabetes within each given NHS Board area relative to the Scottish population. This data was taken from the Scottish Diabetes Survey 2020, which can be found here: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Diabetes-Scottish-Diabetes-Survey-2020.pdf .

The £5.1 million of additional funding in 2020-21 was allocated as per the breakdown below: