Chamber and committees

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 .

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 Scottish Government is aware that Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is dealing with a significant cyber incident. The Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre are working together to provide advice and support to the Council as they manage this incident.

It is the responsibility of every organisation to ensure they have their own cyber resilience arrangements in place. The Scottish Government works closely with the public sector to help improve its cyber security and resilience.

The Public Sector Action Plan associated with the Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilience Scotland has recently been refreshed and sets out how the Scottish Government will continue to work with the sector to improve its cyber resilience standards and best practice.

We have established the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) to improve national incident response coordination, early warning and threat intelligence. Police Scotland, the Scottish Government and the National Cyber Security Centre are lead members. SC3 shares threat intelligence with the Scottish public sector, including early warning of critical software vulnerabilities which could be exploited to conduct a cyber attack. This helps the wider sector proactively defend their networks and systems from similar attacks.

In addition, the Scottish Government, through its delivery partners is providing:

• incident response training events aimed at preparing public sector organisations for responding to cyber incidents and attack
• upskilling funding to help bolster cyber security skills within public bodies, and
• cyber awareness training for public sector board members to improve knowledge and understanding at the highest levels within organisations.

This information is being compiled by Creative Scotland. I will write to the member with the requested information as soon as it is received.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘An independent Scotland in the EU’, are set out in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22478 on 9 November 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

Firework control zones are a discretionary power for local authorities. The Scottish Government provides support to local authorities in respect of firework control zones, such as by providing funding for consulting on and designating zones.

No changes to the legislative framework concerning firework control zones are proposed at this time. However, the Scottish Government keeps the effectiveness of the relevant provisions under continuous review. For example, as local authorities take up available funding for consulting on and implementing zones, feedback is sought on the effectiveness of the legislative provisions. Statutory guidance for local authorities also makes clear that review of firework control zones is required once introduced.

As the Member is aware, the Scottish Government has committed to invest £4.2 billion in the Scottish rail infrastructure which investments will focus on climate change adaptation and resilience of the rail network. Network Rail is leading on the delivery of the Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaption strategy and advises that it has a clear plan to deliver its objectives and is confident in doing so.

The Scottish Government values the important role our third sector plays in communities across Scotland, working to tackle tough social issues at source. We continue to invest widely in the third sector and have committed to increasing multiyear funding wherever possible.

We recognise the impact of rising operating costs across society, including on charity run venues.

While the Scottish Government does not provide any targeted funds that specifically address operational or energy costs of charity-run art venues during the winter season, we support Creative Scotland, who administer funding that focusses on the creation of cultural activity, from which a proportion of operating costs or energy costs can be included in the project budget that support applications for grants.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Migration to Scotland after independence’, are set out in the following table: