Seòmar agus comataidhean

Our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture sets out the Scottish Government’s long-term aspirations to 2045 for the finfish, shellfish and seaweed farming sectors, and the wider aquaculture supply chain, with the aim of ensuring that aquaculture is sustainable and diverse, and economically viable.

We are committed to improving the efficiency and the coordination of the aquaculture consenting process, while maintaining high environmental standards. We have made progress since Scottish Ministers accepted in principle the findings from the independent review of aquaculture consenting, led by Professor Griggs, and we continue to do so.

As a priority, we established a Consenting Task Group that is focussing its work to identify, pilot and review new measures to streamline the administration of the fish farm consenting processes. This will be subject to an evaluation process and lessons learned may be applicable to processes within other aquaculture sectors, i.e., shellfish and seaweed cultivation.

In addition, Scottish Government has commenced development of a new National Marine Plan, applicable to all sectors and, following the Scottish Government commissioned review of seaweed cultivation, we are funding a Scottish Seaweed Industry Association business development post to consider the sector’s development needs which will help to inform consideration of policy in the longer-term.

In 2022-23 the Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) provided £370,000 to support processing and innovation in the seaweed industry. The MFS for 2023-24 is focused on supporting projects that deliver outcomes relating to Scotland's Blue Economy Vision , published in 2022. The funding supports eligible individuals, businesses, organisations and communities to deliver projects contributing to an innovative and sustainable marine economy, reducing carbon emissions and supporting coastal communities. The outcome of the second round of applications to support the aquaculture industry, including the seaweed sector, will be announced shortly.

The MFS will re-open in due course to new applications for 2024/25.

Additionally, to ensure that the seaweed sector in Scotland develops sustainably, the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland are jointly funding a 3-year business development manager position at the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association to represent the industry across various fora and identify opportunities for growth.

An assessment of the conservation status of Atlantic salmon is carried out annually for 173 separate inland water assessment areas, including the 17 Special Areas of Conservation where Atlantic salmon are a primary or secondary qualifying feature. Each assessment area is assigned to one of three grades based on the probability of the stock meeting an internationally agreed conservation limit over a five-year period. The assessment informs regulation that determines where the killing of salmon by fisheries is permitted outside of the spring season. The results of the latest assessment are available on the Scottish Government website - Overview - Salmon fishing: proposed river gradings for 2024 season - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot ).

NatureScot has initiated a project to update the site condition assessment, which includes differing stock components, of the 17 Special Areas of Conservation in Scotland where Atlantic salmon is a qualifying feature, and a final report will be published in due course.

The main expression of genetic diversity of Atlantic salmon in Scottish rivers is when the fish return to the river. Populations of early running fish are assessed to be particularly vulnerable across Scotland and are therefore protected by regulations that prevent the killing of Atlantic salmon before 1 April each year.

District Salmon Fishery Boards and the River Tweed Commission have statutory powers and duties for the protection and improvement of fisheries, and the increase of salmon within their districts. At the national level, the Scottish wild salmon strategy was established in 2022 in response to the long-term downward trend in the number of Atlantic salmon returning to Scottish waters. In 2023 we published the wild salmon strategy implementation plan, which sets out over sixty actions to tackle the wide range of pressures affecting the species throughout their life cycle.

A delivery group oversees and directs the delivery of the strategy and implementation plan and will also review and shape the programme of work considering new evidence and other policy developments. The delivery group is supported by a Scientific Advisory Board, established to coordinate and harmonise research and monitoring activities across science organisations and regulators

Items may be prescribed within primary care where there is a clinical need with the exception of items listed on Schedule 1 of Part 12 of the Scottish Drug Tariff.

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). 97.14% is a very high fill rate for Anaesthetics ST4 in rounds 1 and 2 of 2023 recruitment. Within that context there will always be a small number of posts that will not fill. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that everyone who needs it can access seamless, timely and high-quality palliative care. Independent hospices are highly valued and provide vital support to people and their families, as well as supporting other health and social care services and teams delivering palliative and end of life care. We fully understand the pressures that hospices are currently facing and we will strive to support the hospice sector where we can.

I convened a round table with Integration Authority Chief Officers and Hospice leaders on 5 December to discuss how we can support independent hospices, including through a draft national guidance framework to support and improve consistency of local planning and commissioning of independent hospice care.

The Constitutional Futures Division’s work on the Building a New Scotland series is delivering the mandate to give people the information they need to make an informed choice about Scotland’s constitutional future.

Scottish universities are autonomous bodies and the Scottish Government does not collect data on education agents employed by them to recruit overseas students.

The funding provided in the Autumn Statement fell far short of what we need. Instead, the Autumn Statement delivered a real terms reduction in the total block grant.

The Tourism budget sits within the Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy portfolio which saw reductions of £98m (7.2%), requiring difficult decisions on prioritisations.

In recognition of their role in supporting economic recovery and growth in the visitor economy, we have prioritised funding for VisitScotland to the extent possible given the extremely challenging settlement.

As the national tourism organisation VisitScotland remain committed to driving the visitor economy and growing its value to Scotland. In delivering this, they recognise that consumer behaviour and the needs of businesses in both the tourism and events sectors have changed, particularly since Covid and in an increasingly digital world.

To adapt to this new landscape, VisitScotland anticipate making some changes to the way they deliver some of their activities to be even more efficient and effective. In light of the budget announcement, the pace of these changes will likely need to be accelerated.

VisitScotland will continue to focus their efforts on driving the visitor economy through their work on marketing, events, destination development and business advice and support.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the paper ‘ An independent Scotland in the EU ’ were published in the answer to question S6W-23099 on 30 November 2023. Additionally, there were launch costs for staff travel, catering and venue costs, which totalled £518.50. 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 .

CalMac have provided assurances that all traffic for Lochmaddy was accommodated on the Lochmaddy – Ullapool service, or offered space on the Lochboisdale service as an alternative. They have also confirmed that all traffic for Tarbert was accommodated on the Stornoway service.