Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of the increased production costs faced by independent publishers and their impact across the publishing sector. It is providing a range of business support through activities delivered by our enterprise and creative agencies. This includes: regular business surveys; support accessed through the FindBusinessSupport website; and XpoNorth, the year-round support programme for the Highlands and Islands.

Independent publishers may be eligible for financial support from Creative Scotland through the new Recovery Fund for Cultural Organisations; and Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. Further information about these funds can be found on Creative Scotland’s website.

The Full Business Case Stage 1 for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 8 May 2019 (pp36-37), considered the costs and benefits of including glass within the scheme and concluded that glass should be included due to the substantial environmental and economic benefits.

We do not consider that there will be extensive switching away from glass containers to other materials as a result of DRS. Format decisions are driven by a range of considerations including practicality, convenience, brand preference and presentation of the product. Indeed, the impact on material choice could be greater if glass were left outside the scope of DRS, creating an incentive to switch towards glass.

Our draft NPF4 gives spatial expression to a wide range of Scottish Government plans, programmes and strategies. It sets out a vision for how our places will change in the future and reflects priorities across Scottish Government portfolios, including how our approach to planning and development will achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045.

Draft NPF4 includes green energy policies which support renewable energy development other than in National Parks and National Scenic Areas, subject to an assessment of their impacts on a case by case basis. Through the draft NPF4, we are also proposing to designate a national development which would establish the need for a large increase in renewable energy generation and substantial reinforcement and expansion of grid infrastructure throughout Scotland.

We laid the draft NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament on 10 November 2021. Alongside Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft, we are running a public consultation, supported by an extensive engagement programme, and comments are invited by 31 March 2022. Following this period, we will consider the responses received and any appropriate amendments to the draft NPF4 before presenting a final draft to the Scottish Parliament for its approval, in advance of adoption by the Scottish Ministers.

We have reviewed the border health measures closely over the last 28 days and have assessed that there continues to be a requirement for the regulations to remain in place to reduce the risk of imported transmission and safeguard public health in Scotland. The regulations continue to be an important and proportionate part of the Scottish Government response to managing the pandemic. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue discussions with UK Government and the other devolved administrations and continue to seek to take a four-nations approach to future changes to regulations and the travel regime where possible.

The Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth met with representatives from Scottish Renewables on 21 July 2021 to discuss the renewable energy industry’s vision for NPF4.

The terms of reference for the Scottish Covid-19 Public Inquiry task it with considering the strategic elements relating to 12 distinct areas of investigation. They do not name specific groups affected by the pandemic, ensuring that no groups’ experiences are excluded from the Inquiry’s remit, provided the experiences relate directly to the impact of devolved areas within the Inquiry’s scope.

It is a matter for the Chair of the Inquiry to decide how to investigate specific issues.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy commits to introducing a Bill in the current session of the Scottish Parliament which, amongst a range of powers, will enable the application of minimum energy efficiency regulations in the private rented sector (PRS) from 2025. All PRS homes will be required to meet the standard, equivalent to EPC C, by 2028. We plan to hold a consultation on such regulations in the coming year, which will include how they will be enforced.

Scotland already has “Beyond the Glen – a strategy for the Scottish Venison Sector to 2030”. This industry-led strategy commits to a range of actions including development of the supply chain and marketing.

Scottish Government provides support to the sector in various ways including funding of £50,000 in March 2021 towards a venison promotional campaign.

Modelling undertaken using the National Household Model (NHM), and by applying a minimum cost approach to achieving EPC C, indicates that it could cost up to £1.7bn to retrofit the private rented sector housing (PRS) stock to an EPC C, or as near to this standard as is technically feasible. The modelling methodology is available here .

It should be noted that the Scottish Government is proposing that private-rented and owner-occupied homes will be required to reach a minimum energy standard equivalent to EPC C. Accurate estimated costs to the PRS sector will therefore depend on our final approach to regulation – including any cost-effectiveness and technical-feasibility, or exemptions that may apply. We will undertake a full range of impact assessments ahead of introducing any legislation.

We have committed to supporting property owners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and are encouraging property owners to contact Home Energy Scotland who offer free impartial energy efficiency advice, and may be able to offer tailored advice for stone built properties. They are also the route to Scottish Government funded loans, in Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan: overview - Home Energy Scotland . Home Energy Scotland can be contacted on Freephone 0808 808 2282 or through their website https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/home-energy-Scotland

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05935 on 7 February 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