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Funding of £100,000 has been allocated through a Grant Fund Award in the 2023-24 financial year to support the onboarding of an expert partner organisation, with £80,000 being the indicative funding of this award for 2024-25. None of these funds have been spent to date.

The Scottish Government uses a range of techniques to monitor and study fish populations which is critical to inform the management actions put in place to protect species. Internal tagging is used when there is no appropriate alternative method available to answer the specific question being addressed. It is a regulated procedure covered by the Animals (Scientific procedures) Act 1986 and is performed under licence from the Home Office. Alternatives to this method are examined and adopted where possible by the Scottish Government following the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) embedded in the act.

Support for the refurbishment of cultural assets, such as small-scale building renovations, accessibility improvements or installing fixed assets, can be accessed by individuals and organisations applying to Creative Scotland’s Open Fund.

On a select case-by-case basis, a Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) by Creative Scotland may also be authorised to use some of its regular funding towards refurbishment costs. This would require the organisation to demonstrate to Creative Scotland how the refurbishment represents value for money, public benefit and supports the delivery of their overall creative programme.

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

Catering service times across campus provide a robust offering around parliamentary business.  Lunch service timings in the Garden Level Restaurant (11:30-14:30) are based on levels of demand and efficient use of resources in line with parliamentary requirements.  If it is helpful, it is possible to pre-order food on our app, and collect it from the Holyrood room between 11:30 and 2:30, although this does not change the timings, it is a quicker service.

Alternative options are available after 2.30pm including the Coffee Bar where a hot sandwich option can be ordered and the Public Café where hot food options including soup, baked potatoes and a range of sandwiches are on offer.  Hot food is also available from 4pm in Queensberry House Lounge.

Ministers will take decisions about where the funding is allocated in 2024-25 and future years subject to the outcome of the Scottish Budget process and associated approval by the Scottish Parliament.

The draft budget will be published later this year and will be the subject of Parliamentary scrutiny in early 2024. The Scottish Government intends to present the Draft Budget 2024-25 to Parliament on Tuesday 19 December 2023.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work in partnership with partners and World Athletics following confirmation of the successful bid to host the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

In total the Scottish Government will provide £1.15 million of support for the event from the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Portfolio, with VisitScotland providing a further £350,000 of support from its core budget. None of this funding is capital. This financial support is profiled across a number financial years, reflecting the long lead in time to prepare for an event of this size. UK Sport and Glasgow City Council are also providing funding.

The bid was carefully considered by all partners and this event has the potential to generate economic and societal benefits for areas of Scotland.

Scottish Enterprise uses the Scottish Enterprise Regional and SME Investment Subsidy Scheme (the Scheme) to provide RSA grant funding. The Scheme includes a requirement that, to be eligible for support, large companies must be opening a new establishment or diversifying the activity at an existing site. There is no such requirement for SMEs. This requirement is consistent with the general approach to regional investment funding across the UK and Europe.

RSA is not the only mechanism Scottish Enterprise uses for funding eligible projects within the manufacturing sector. Scottish Enterprise has a wide range of subsidy schemes for which diversification is not a requirement for funding. The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise consistently review support mechanisms in place and welcome feedback on how to support companies within the rules set out by the Subsidy Control regime.

Ministers and civil servants engage regularly with INEOS and Petroineos as a matter of course, given the strategic importance of the assets at Grangemouth.

Recent engagements include two site visits in at Grangemouth to discuss INEOS’ net zero roadmap, which were attended by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition and both the Energy Minister and myself in April and June.

I also met representatives of Petroineos’ Joint Ventures Partners in June 2023 as part of the Scottish Government’s regular engagement with the business.

The First Minister and I also spoke to senior management at the refinery on 23 November 2023, during which we outlined our expectation that the business should explore every possible option to extend refining operations beyond the conclusion of import terminal infrastructure construction.

The Scottish Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders on the future of the marine sector on a very regular basis. This has included, for example, detailed engagement with Scottish seafood stakeholders on Brexit and the new costs and barriers it has created for exporting to the EU, and our shared concerns about post-Brexit UK immigration policy, and how these can be mitigated or overcome.

“Our marine sector in an independent Scotland” is informed by our continuous engagement with the marine sector.