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We recognise that rural communities face particular skills challenges, which the Scottish Government is proactively working to address.

This includes: setting up the independent Commission reviewing land-based and aquaculture learning; developing skills and talent through our Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland; giving people age 13 and over already working, retraining or studying in land-based sectors direct funding to get the right training for them through the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Practical Training Fund; providing high quality, largely free, advice through the Farm Advisory Service; and committing £400,000 to support upskilling women in the industry. In addition, support will continue to be provided by the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund which is offering £1.6M this financial year to promote skills development and innovation in agricultural sector.

The Scottish Sarcoma Network is tasked with ensuring equity of care for all patients in Scotland with sarcoma, and for conducting audits of the quality of care provided to improve quality of life for all patients.

Sarcoma clinical management guidelines (CMGs) include the investigations and staging performed by radiology, and the guidelines outline the recommended treatment pathway for patients, promoting the equitable provision of high quality care. Guidelines are not designed to substitute the role of the clinician, but to support the most appropriate treatment decisions taken within the multi-disciplinary team.

These CMGs are based on UK, European and global guidelines and are being reviewed by the network, with bone, soft tissue, gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) and cutaneous (skin) CMGs currently in review, and breast and head and neck CMGs in development.

Lastly, the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) enables all radiologists to work together, and scans indicating a suspicion of sarcoma can be discussed with a sarcoma specialist radiologist.

As set out in our Programme for Government, we will be setting out full details of our Seafood Trade Strategy this year.

Following on from the launch of the Blue Economy Vision in March, the strategy will set out actions to revitalise the sector consistent with a sustainable and natural capital approach, to ensure remote and rural communities benefit from activity to support growth.

Following the publication of the Blue Economy Vision for Scotland on 31 March, which outlined six outcomes for Scotland’s marine environment up to 2045, the Scottish Government will publish the subsequent Action Plan in 2022 to meet the current Programme for Government commitment to develop a Blue Economy Strategy and Action Plan.

All food businesses are required to comply with the relevant requirements of food law. This includes the requirement to register as a food business with their Local Authority Environmental Health team, to comply with food safety and compositional requirements as well as food labelling requirements where applicable. This applies to food businesses that are operated out of commercial premises as well as those operated from domestic premises. A range of enforcement options are available to officers to ensure compliance.

In response to the pandemic and the resulting impact on the inspection regime, FSS & LA’s have worked in partnership to create a Recovery Plan. This adopts a risk based approach to inspections and prioritises the inspection of high risk businesses and unrated new businesses.

FSS has published a new online resource to support new and prospective businesses. The tool is designed to aid food businesses owners understand their responsibilities, including to first and foremost register with their authority.

Anyone with concerns that a business is operating in breach of the requirements is encouraged to report the matter to their Local Authority Environmental Health team.

The Marine Fund Scotland was launched in March 2021, with £14m awarded over the financial year 2021-22. The fund will shortly reopen for funding bids over the 2022-23 financial year.

The “Beyond the Glen” strategy for the Scottish venison sector is an industry-led strategy, the implementation of which is being co-ordinated by the Scottish Venison Association.

In common with other food and related rural businesses, the Covid pandemic has caused major uncertainty and market disruption in the last two years and has impacted on producer confidence and price. EU exit has also impacted on exports. Work on the strategy has been impacted but despite this, some good progress has been made, for example in exploring new routes for local chills, processing, and supply; developing market insight; and deer health research. Scottish Government funded £60,000 of online marketing in spring 2021 to support Scottish producers and processors. £80,000 has also been made available through the Covid Recovery Plan Opportunities Fund to create new local chill and processing units for wild venison.

The Scottish Government has raised this ambition even further, now aiming to support six islands to become fully carbon neutral by 2040.

Work has been ongoing with our External Technical Working Group to identify which islands will be part of the project. This group is made up of local authority officers and socio-economic wide stakeholders.

Announcements on which islands have been selected will be made in due course.

The “Beyond the Glen” strategy for the Scottish venison sector included an action to establish a “go to” Venison Hub for market research and industry technical advice. The Scottish Venison Association has taken on the role of the Venison Hub.

Information on the value of Chinese inward investments into Scotland can be found in the publicly available report Businesses in Scotland, which shows that there are currently 20 Chinese owned businesses in Scotland, with an estimated employment of 3,910 and a turnover of £1.33 billion. The Scottish Government does not disaggregate data based on the type of investment.

Scottish Government works with its enterprise agencies to ensure robust due diligence and proper consideration of human rights is undertaken on inward investments from China as well as from any other country. Additional safeguards are provided by the National Security and Investment Act 2021, which protects against acquisitions within sensitive areas of the economy that could cause harm to the UK’s national security.