Seòmar agus comataidhean

SEPA are responsible for flood forecasting and warning in Scotland and continually develop this service. They work in partnership with the Met Office to forecast for flooding and operate Floodline in Scotland to warn emergency responders, and the public, when flooding is likely.

The Scottish Government collaborates with and funds academics and research institutions through its Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Strategic Research Programme (SRP) 2022-2027. There are mechanisms within the programme used specifically for work on flood resilience. For example, the CREW Centre of Expertise for Waters provides the Scottish Government and its agencies access to water related (including flooding) expertise from Scottish Higher Education Institutes and Research Institutes. Recent CREW research commissions include work on is on improving flood forecasting in catchments influenced by reservoirs. The SRP also funds longer term strategic research including a five year research project on nature-based solutions at the James Hutton Institute.

The budget for the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund was set in the Budget (Scotland) Act 2024 at £11.5 million for financial year 2024-25. The settlement of £12.8 million, as published on 4 December in the Scottish Budget, relates to the next financial year 2025-26.

Over the course of 2024, we have continued to launch new programming following a series of competitive calls for proposals, as well as continuing to fund some existing long-term initiatives:

In Inclusive Education, we are funding: scholarships for women and girls in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, and Pakistan; and a programme which aims to remove barriers to quality education for out-of-school children with disabilities and additional support needs in Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda. See our webpages for more detail: Inclusive education - International development - gov.scot

In Health, our projects focus on tackling non-communicable diseases – the world’s leading cause of death – by building stronger health systems in Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda. See our webpages for more detail: Global health - International development - gov.scot,

In Equalities, in March we launched our Women and Girls Fund which will support the advancement of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in our partner countries. We have additionally continued our support for the Police Scotland Peer-to-Peer Partnership Programme with the Police Services of Malawi and Zambia. See our webpages for more detail: Equalities - International development - gov.scot.

We continue to support the work of four networking organisations as part of our support for global citizenship in Scotland: the Malawi Scotland Partnership, and their sister organisation the Scotland Malawi Partnership, Scotland’s International Development Alliance, and the Scottish Fair Trade Forum. See our webpages for more detail: Global solidarity and citizenship - International development - gov.scot.

Through the Humanitarian Emergency Fund, we have provided provide lifesaving assistance to vulnerable communities in the Middle East, Sudan and neighbouring countries, Kenya, Southern Africa, Libya, as well as in our partner countries of Malawi and Zambia. See our webpages for more detail: Humanitarian response - International development - gov.scot.

Finally, the Scottish Government’s Global Renewables Centre has continued to drive innovation in renewables across Scotland and our African partner countries. See our webpages for more detail: Renewable energy - International development - gov.scot.

Please also see the Scottish Government Contribution to international development 2021 to 2023, which provides a holistic look at a wide cross-section of our international development activity during calendar years 2021-23, as well as providing (c11) details of our future programmes from 2024 onwards.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy commits to seek new flood resilience partners across the public, private and third sector and seek to influence policy across sectors who can contribute to creating flood resilient places.

In developing the Strategy the Scottish Government undertook an extensive programme of engagement with a range of flood risk management stakeholders and communities over 2023 and 2024. This included engagement at the annual Flood Resilience Conference in February 2024 attended by a range of public and private sector organisations.

More widely in November 2024 Scottish Government launched Scotland’s Natural Capital Market Framework which outlines the steps we will take to attract greater responsible private investment into high-integrity natural capital projects – including those that improve flood resilience.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32614 on 14 January 2025. 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.

There is no direct link between infrastructure upgrades and passenger fares.

The Scottish Government does not own any personalised or special vehicle number plates, therefore there are no associated costs.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

The Scottish Government’s international network offices do not have a role in developing policy on options for Scotland’s constitutional future. Nevertheless, it is the role of the Civil Service to support the elected government of the day in developing and implementing its policies. That is the case for work on independence as it is for the rest of the government’s work.

The Rail Cluster Builder is a specific example of Scottish Government supporting manufacturers to develop decarbonisation technologies. Funded by Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland and Skills Development Scotland, the Rail Cluster Builder Phase 2 is a three-year project building on the momentum of Phase 1, giving opportunities for Scottish SMEs to bring new ideas, new thinking and learning from other industries across Scotland into the railway sector and helping to create innovative, green solutions that will support our net zero targets.

A key element of Phase 2 is ensuring that businesses have access to support to address the skills related challenges faced by organisations in the rail sector. Skills Development Scotland provide support to companies to identify their skills needs and how to develop their existing workforce in order to build capacity, grasp opportunities and increase competitiveness.

There have been no comparative analyses undertaken of spending relative to similar devolved administrations.