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Individual local authorities have responsibility for the development and delivery of flood protection schemes. Every location at risk is unique and therefore the business case for improving flood resilience will reflect this.

Where a flood protection development may have a significant impact on a European site, then under the Habitats Regulations an appropriate assessment must be carried out by the Local Authority to determine whether an impact on the integrity of the designated site is likely. Should the appropriate assessment conclude an adverse impact on integrity then the Local Authority must apply for a derogation from Scottish Ministers to allow the development to proceed. One of the three tests which must be satisfied under the Habitats Regulations before a derogation is granted is that the development is of imperative reasons of over-riding public interest.

Flood protection schemes are an effective way to improve flood resilience for the design flood, they are not an absolute guarantee that flooding will not occur. Events beyond the design flood are possible and a residual risk will always remain. It is up to individual local authorities to determine what level of protection they deem appropriate considering the impacts of climate change and wider environmental factors in the area of the flood protection works.

Operational matters are ultimately the responsibility of the infrastructure owner, including how their operations may be impacted in the event of a flood.

Where a flood protection development may have a significant impact on a European site, then under the Habitats Regulations an appropriate assessment must be carried out by the Local Authority to determine whether an impact on the integrity of the designated site is likely. Should the appropriate assessment conclude an adverse impact on integrity then the Local Authority must apply for a derogation from Scottish Ministers to allow the development to proceed. One of the three tests which must be satisfied under the Habitats Regulations before a derogation is granted is that the development is of imperative reasons of over-riding public interest.

It is the responsibility of Local Authorities to plan, develop and deliver flood protection schemes and other flood resilience actions.

Local authorities carry out appraisals of flood protection schemes. It is expected that every scheme, which is delivered by a local authority, is developed with consideration of catchment processes and characteristics, making reasonable and practical efforts to enhance the landscape’s natural ability to slow and store flood water.

It is the responsibility of Local Authorities to plan, develop and deliver flood protection schemes and other flood resilience actions.

It is best practice for options development to be carried out by local authorities using an appraisal framework. The options should go through a robust and transparent appraisal of costs and benefits, and positive and adverse impacts in order to deliver best use of public money taking full account of economic, environmental and social priorities

It is the responsibility of Local Authorities to plan, develop and deliver flood protection schemes and other flood resilience actions.

Policy 3 of the National Planning Framework requires that development proposals contribute to the enhancement of biodiversity and that any potential adverse impacts will be minimised through careful planning and design. We would expect all schemes progressed by local authorities to include appropriate measures to conserve, restore and enhance biodiversity

The Scottish Stroke Care Standards are designed to drive effective service delivery and improve patient outcomes. Monitoring of performance against stroke standards through the Scottish Stroke Care Audit allows us to identify where challenges are being faced in the delivery of high-quality stroke care and implement quality improvements.

We recognise the standards are challenging and continue to expect Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet these standards and to work to improve their standards of care locally.

We continually assess the delivery of evidence-based stroke care, as recommended in the Progressive Stroke Pathway, via the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Board review process. This allows for an evaluation of Board performance, identification of areas of challenge and the formulation of local action plans to improve the delivery of stroke care.

The Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy recommended that no further planning permission is awarded to incineration facilities, beyond those for which planning permission has already been granted, with some limited exceptions. This analysis took into account the need to develop some additional capacity to ensure that Scotland can manage its own waste and implement the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste by 2025, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee. We addressed this recommendation through National Planning Framework 4.

Our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map consultation, published January 18, set out further detail and proposed provisional associated timescales on the steps we will take to minimise the environmental and climate impacts of waste, including the development of an indicative capacity cap as part of our Residual Waste Plan to 2045, with a provisional publication date in 2025-26.

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) regulations 2012 (“the PPC regulations”) require that SEPA make impartial assessments of all PPC Permit applications and make decisions relating to environmental permits in accordance with these regulations. While Scottish Ministers do have the ability to intervene in the PPC process by way of a direction, SEPA is Scotland’s independent environmental regulator and intervening in the PPC process needs careful consideration and typically would not be appropriate in the absence of exceptional circumstances.

Further information on these developments can be found here: Circular economy and waste route map to 2030: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Funding was provided in the 2023-24 financial year to City of Edinburgh Council, North Ayrshire Council, South Ayrshire Council and Dundee City Council to support their work on firework control zone development. Based on discussions with officials funding has also been allocated for provision to Glasgow City Council in the 2024-25 financial year. The Scottish Government continues to be open to expressions of interest in funding from local authorities for the 2024-25 financial year.

A funded local authority may decide that firework control zones are not appropriate, for example based on further discussions with partners. The powers are discretionary and local authorities are entirely responsible for how they choose to use the powers so long as they comply with the legislation and have regard to guidance.

Local authorities do not have to make any kind of application for a firework control zone. However, before designating a place as a firework control zone or amending or revoking an existing firework control zone, a local authority must prepare and publish a proposal in relation to the designation, amendment or revocation of the zone. The local authority must also carry out a consultation on the proposal. The Scottish Government is not aware of any consultations having been published.

While not a statutory requirement, guidance says that local authorities should where possible establish a local process to give communities the ability to make the case for the designation of a firework control zone. The Scottish Government is aware that eight local authorities have introduced firework control zone community request processes and made details available on their website. These councils are Angus Council, Argyll and Bute Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Dundee City Council, East Renfrewshire Council, Falkirk Council, Glasgow City Council, Inverclyde Council and Shetland Islands Council. A number of other local authorities have advised that they aim to introduce these over the coming months.

There are two commitments relating to FAST In the Stroke Improvement Plan 2023:

1. Establish the current degree of public understanding of FAST stroke symptoms and the action required, and whether certain at-risk groups require different messaging.

2. Support the delivery of FAST campaigns, working with third sector organisations, and ensure messaging reaches all at-risk groups.

Work to establish the existing understanding of stroke symptoms and FAST, including variations across demographics, has been completed via quantitative research.

The findings of this research will help to inform the strategic direction of a future stoke marketing campaign. The Scottish Government does not yet have a finalised timescale for running a campaign.