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Given the importance of this strategic asset to Grangemouth and Scotland, the Scottish Government has been working closely with the business as it explores future options to transition the site, such as bio-refining.

Petroineos notified the Scottish Government on 21 November 2023 that senior management were to make a formal internal announcement of the business’ plans to commence preparatory work for new import terminal infrastructure at Finnart Terminal and Grangemouth.

The Material Flow Accounts model is being reworked so that its new trade data will be aligned with EU material flow accounting practices. Zero Waste Scotland is also exploring the scope for mapping material flows to economic sectors.

As a result of the UK’s departure from the EU, the Material Flow Account model can no longer source its trade data from Eurostat and the model needs to be significantly reworked as its new trade data will not be in alignment with EU material flow accounting practices. Zero Waste Scotland has therefore decided to make these methodological changes before reporting results to ensure clear communication of Scotland’s current material consumption.

Zero Waste Scotland will confirm a publication date once the review is complete.

The Primary Care Reform and Delivery Budget total was £262,500,000 in 2023-2024.

Reductions, slippage and reprofiling has taken place across a variety of programmes focused on GP workforce, sustainability, rural healthcare, data and digital improvements.

The Scottish Government has no single metric for measuring the diversity of land ownership. Our approach is to examine the evidence of patterns of ownership structures in the context of the different concerns that may be raised, in relation to land ownership and control.

Diversity may be measured at national, regional or local scale, and/or may seek to assess the extent, value or type of land owned (or controlled) by public, private or third sector organisations respectively. Within the private sector, the extent/value/type of land owned can be linked to the number and/or types of owners (individuals, trusts, companies/shareholders, overseas investors, unlisted companies, pension funds, etc.) A company, trust or pension fund could be a single entity, but benefit a number of individuals.

The expansion of community ownership is a key priority for us and we monitor the progress made by the community ownership sector in terms of acquiring land and land assets, see Community Ownership in Scotland 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Our position on the current picture with regard to diversity of land ownership in Scotland is set out in the second and third principles of our Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement:

2. There should be a more diverse pattern of land ownership and tenure, with more opportunities for citizens to own, lease and have access to land.

3. More local communities should have the opportunity to own, lease or use buildings and land which can contribute to their community's wellbeing and future development.

Finally, we set out in our consultation on the forthcoming Land Reform Bill, Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation , our commitment “to making reforms that will contribute to the diversification of ownership of land in Scotland.”

The Scottish Government does not produce projections on the number of businesses in Scotland, overall or for individual sectors.

The Scottish Government has developed guidance to ensure that Bills can operate effectively in the wider policy and regulatory framework into which they will be introduced. As part of the development of the Bill this may (where relevant) require formal impact assessments to be carried out. These are:

• Business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA)
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA)
• Data Protection Impact Assessment
• Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)
• Fairer Scotland Duty assessment
• Future proofing legislation
• Human rights in policy making
• Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)
• Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA)

Where appropriate, issues raised in relation to housing, jobs, food production and rural depopulation will be addressed through these formal impact assessments.

We set out in our consultation document, Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation , ( Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space ), our proposals for measures to be included in the next Land Reform Bill, and sought views on their impact in the areas listed above. In addition to taking account of the responses to this, and other questions in the consultation, officials continue to engage with internal and external stakeholders with interests in housing, jobs, food production and rural depopulation.

We established the Scottish Land Commission on 1 April 2017, after the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force. Its remit is to review the effectiveness and impact of our laws and policies relating to land, and to make recommendations to Scottish Ministers on future land reform.

As part of the development of their discussion paper, Legislative Proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s Concentration of Land Ownership, (published February 2021), and their ongoing work on land reform, the SLC has published a series of reports reviewing international experience of interventions in land ownership, to inform fresh thinking for Scotland. They may be found here: International Experience - Governance & Ownership - Our work - Scottish Land Commission .

The proposals put forward in our consultation on the Bill were based on the Commission's discussion paper, which in turn were(where relevant) informed by the findings and lessons of these reports.

Border security and the movement of goods is a reserved matter for the UK government; however, the Scottish Government provides grant funding to the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support law enforcement activity undertaken by local authorities against the sale of illicit fireworks in Scotland. This work extends to work concerning imported fireworks at ports and fast parcel outlets in cooperation with Border Force, as well as online sales from outwith Scotland.

Infrastructure on the UK rail network, including lines speed and capacity, is a matter for Network Rail, therefore Network Rail would be best placed to provide this information.

Network Rail advises it is currently looking to understand the implications of the Prime Minister’s HS2 announcement made in October and how this might affect journey times in the medium to long term.

As with the current Rail services Decarbonisation Action Plan, the refreshed plan will consider the decarbonisation of all rail routes in Scotland.