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I recently chaired a series of meetings of a Priority (previously known as Vulnerable) Energy Consumers Working Group to consider the key principles and practicalities of delivering a social energy tariff. The work of the group has informed the Scottish Government’s representation to the UK Government ahead of its Autumn Statement. We are continuing to call for additional and meaningful support to be delivered to those who need it the most including the urgent introduction of a social tariff mechanism.

In addition, I have met with the UK Government Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability three times and advocated for a social tariff targeted at consumers living under vulnerable circumstances, including high energy users that use medical equipment at home.

The Aqua Nor Conference in Trondheim was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the innovation, technology and research of Scottish aquaculture to an international audience.

A new Consenting Task Group has been formed to take forward and pilot key recommendations from last year’s independent review of aquaculture regulation. Good progress is being made to inform a new process for managing fish farm applications and the group is working towards piloting new arrangements which will be deployed in two local authority areas later this year.

On Scottish Government’s approach to aquaculture innovation, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22256 on 31 October 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

One of the key aims of the National Mission is to improve and save lives by ensuring that every individual has access to, and choice in the type of recovery and treatment they need. In response to the Changing Lives report published by the Drug Deaths Taskforce, the Scottish Government published a Cross Government Plan which sets out examples of how we are improving alcohol and drug services to make them more flexible, convenient, accessible and easier to navigate.

For example, we are supporting local areas further develop their assertive outreach programmes both through the implementation of the MAT standards and in other ways such as the Primary Care Alcohol Nurse Outreach Service (PCANOS), which embeds specialist harm reduction services within Deep End GP practices and supports patients in engaging with and navigating treatment services.

We are also investing in residential rehabilitation to ensure people can access help when they need it and have established an Expert Group to recommend improvements for crisis management and stabilisation.

In addition, we sponsor a number of third sector organisations which offer convenient and accessible technology-based help, advice and treatment for people with problematic drinking, for example, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs and We Are With You, who also provide a live web chat services which have improved engagement for many people.

We are also supporting the UK Government in developing the clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment, which were published for public consultation on 16 October 2023. The guidelines encourage more flexible and convenient interventions by using digital technologies when appropriate.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-22257 on 3 November 2023.

The National Innovation Strategy addresses the challenges and actions we need to take to ensure we deliver across the entire range of innovation activity in Scotland, and how we can best utilise innovation as a driver to grow our economy, create jobs and deliver priority outcomes for all of Scotland's citizens. The Strategy sets out ambitious and transformational programmes on cluster building, investment, productivity, and commercialisation.

The National Innovation Strategy will take a cluster approach to our innovation priorities, and this approach will be a national, regional and local approach. We will work with industry, academia and the public sector to evaluate individual needs to address barriers and opportunities, and providing phased tailored packages of support in each priority area to further stimulate growth and innovation.

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 draft national Good Food Nation Plan is currently in the final stages of preparation and will be published shortly.

The publication of Non-domestic rates relief statistics 2023 is currently planned for early 2024. The date of publication will be announced as soon as it is available, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/ .

In January 2023, the Scottish Government agreed to produce a retrospective report in relation to the allocation of fish quota to vessels fishing by means associated with a lower environmental impact.

The report will review how quota was allocated to help incentivise selective fishing gear and low impact techniques, and other relevant factors such as the level of uptake of quota, where it was landed across the Scottish coast, and number of vessels involved. We plan to publish this report in the first half of 2024.

I would also take this opportunity to highlight that the Scottish Government recently published a consultation on how we allocate a portion of our fishing quota. This consultation seeks views on how the Additional Quota Scotland receives following the implementation of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the European Union and the UK becoming an independent Coastal State are distributed throughout Scotland.

The consultation is available at: https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/fish-stocks-allocation-of-additional-quota/ . It closes on 11 January 2024.

We are aware that stigma can act as a barrier preventing people from seeking treatment. This is why we are taking actions to reduce the stigma around alcohol misuse.

For example, last year we ran a national campaign to increase people’s awareness that a drug or alcohol problem is a health condition, which requires help and support and not judgement. We also referenced stigma on the NHS Inform website , which reinforces the message that a drug or alcohol problem is a health condition requiring help.

In addition, we published a cross-government Stigma Action Plan , aimed at tackling the stigma of substance use. We are working with a range of partners and stakeholders to co-design the next phase on the details of the actions outlined in the plan.

We also welcome the ‘See Beyond, see the lives’ campaign , which recognises the importance of supporting the families of people with problem substance use, who are often stigmatised and excluded from support, despite experiencing harms in their own right. In delivering the actions in our stigma action plan we will work with families to ensure that we can tackle the specific types of stigma that they experience both in accessing services and support and in daily life.

Moreover, we are planning to ensure treatment standards for alcohol, informed by the UK-wide clinical guidelines, will introduce new approaches to treatment, including non-stigmatising service delivery.

The Scottish Government provides funding to support our local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) who are responsible for the design and delivery of treatment and recovery pathways at the local level. They ensure a full range of recovery services are available such as aftercare, detox, residential rehabilitation and psychosocial treatments.

In 2022-23, £106.8 million was made available to ADPs, and nationally there is ongoing work including the expansion of our residential rehabilitation capacity by 50% by the end of the current Parliament and the UK Alcohol Treatment Guidelines which are currently out for public consultation until 8 December 2023.

Scottish Government also provides funding towards specific projects that support those with alcohol dependency, such as the Managed Alcohol Programme pilot being delivered by Simon Community Scotland in Glasgow.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to Women’s Aid East and Midlothian through the Third Sector Homelessness Fund and the Delivering Equally Safe Fund.

Women’s Aid East and Midlothian was funded through the Scottish Government’s Third Sector Homelessness Fund between 2021 and 2023. The objectives of Women’s Aid East and Midlothian's funding in 2022-23 was to:

• Deliver rapid access, permanent housing for women and children with complex needs and provide intensive and flexible support.
• Promote and increase the use of trauma-informed responses throughout Scotland for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
• Prevent women and children experiencing domestic abuse from homelessness by implementing Housing first as a preventative approach.

Since October 2021, Women’s Aid East and Midlothian have been funded through the Delivering Equally Safe Fund, which will run until March 2025. The objectives of the fund are:

• Women and children affected by violence are identified (early)
• Women and children’s safety needs are met
• Women and children’s wider wellbeing needs are met
• Fewer people adhere to gender stereotypes
• People have increased understanding of all forms of VAWG (causes, consequences, and appropriate responses)
• Power, decision-making and material resources are distributed more equally between men and women.
• Tolerance of VAWG is reduced and people are more likely to recognise and challenge it
• Perpetrators are identified early
• Perpetrators are supported to change their behaviour
• Perpetrators are sanctioned / held to account
• Violence against women and girls is reduced / eradicated
• Negative impacts on women and children who have been affected by violence are reduced / eradicated

Additionally, Women’s Aid East and Midlothian received indirect funding through the 100 Days (Covid emergency) funding. In 2021, the Scottish Government awarded £2,250,000 of funding over three years to Scottish Women’s Aid through the 100 Days (Covid emergency) funding. The funding was provided to frontline services for women and girls affected by gender-based violence to deal with additional pressures that occurred during the pandemic. Scottish Women’s Aid divided the funding amongst local Women’s Aid organisations, including Women’s Aid East and Midlothian.

The objectives of the 100 days (Covid emergency) funding were:

• fund additional staff to respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse for support services
• improvements to organisations’ IT and digital resource
• additional training to allow services to be augmented so that people could quickly and easily access help.