Seòmar agus comataidhean

As I said at my recent evidence session on the Bill with the NZET Committee, Meeting of the Parliament: lghp/18/02/2025 | Scottish Parliament Website we are not going to fix all the issues in either rural or urban Scotland in this one piece of legislation. Other pieces of work are ongoing that will have an impact on urban areas.

These include the Community Right to Buy review which is looking at how effective existing powers are in both rural and urban areas, as well as work on compulsory sales orders and Compulsory Purchase Reform, a public consultation on the latter being due later this year.

The amount of peatland restored through the Peatland ACTION partnership since 2021, broken down by local authority area, can be found in the following table.

Good progress is being made towards the current target to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030, with - 75,000 hectares restored to date.

Recent years have seen strong increases including, in 2023-24, over 10,000 hectares restored in a single year for the first time. We will again restore over 10,000 ha in 2024-25.

Through the Scottish Budget 2025-26 we will invest £35.5 million towards peatland restoration. With this funding the ambition of the Peatland ACTION partnership is to restore at least 14,000 hectares next year.

The funding will also enable the Peatland ACTION partnership to invest in designing a large number of new projects for future years. This will ensure the sustainability of the sector, allowing us to be more responsive to funding and continue to accelerate the programme’s success towards our 2030 target.

The Scottish Government remains committed to restricting the sale of horticultural peat as part of its commitment to environmental protection and climate change mitigation. We continue to work with gardeners, growers, environmental organisations and the UK and devolved governments to understand and overcome challenges, including those imposed by the UK Internal Market Act, as we explore all legislative options to implement effective restrictions as soon as feasible.

Whilst regulation for decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government supports this vital activity happening in a way that facilitates an orderly, managed and just transition to net-zero and maximises the benefits for Scotland’s businesses and communities.

Through the Decommissioning Challenge Fund, the Scottish Government invested over £10 million over the period 2017 to 2020 to support innovation and build capacity in the Scottish decommissioning sector.

Scottish Government considers industry involvement and engagement an important component in preventing the spread of Ips typographus into or within Scotland. Regular discussions are held with industry representatives from the nursery sector, growers and processing sector through the scheduled Scottish Tree Health Advisory Group and the Scottish Forest and Timber Technologies Industry Leadership Group.

Extensive surveillance and trapping is conducted across Scotland to monitor for the presence of these beetles. Following the trap finding in Scotland an intensive trapping programme has been underway to catch any residue beetles and prevent a breeding population from establishing in Scotland. There is no evidence that Ips typographus has become established or spread in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the report of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee’s ‘Follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland’ which was published on 17 January 2025, and which included a recommendation for welfare guidance for farmed salmon to be introduced. A response will be provided to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee in due course.

Communities in Scotland now have more options than ever before to take ownership of land and assets, including several distinct rights to buy, and they can now choose which route to community ownership best suits their aspirations.

Scottish Government’s sustained policy and regulatory interventions on sea lice have focused industry action on sea lice management and have resulted in a downward trend in sea lice numbers at a national level, with 2024 levels being the lowest since 2018.

Scottish Government has also delivered funding into fish health research and innovation through the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC), which resulted in total investment from SAIC, industry and other funding partners of £62.7 million on projects including those on gill health, rapid diagnostic technologies and Harmful Algal Blooms. In May 2024 a further £1.5m was provided to support the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre until March 2026 and we are now considering options to help facilitate aquaculture innovation into the future.

On behalf of Scottish Ministers, the Fish Health Inspectorate continues to undertake a listed disease surveillance programme to prevent the introduction and spread of listed and emerging fish diseases in Scotland which includes statutory inspections, sampling programmes, and the provision of advice to stakeholders.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with COSLA and local authorities to discuss areas of shared interest. The Scottish Government has focussed efforts on supporting families to make informed choices about reusable nappies by raising awareness of their benefits on the Parent Club website. Our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map commits to facilitating the sharing of best practice examples on reusable items, such as North Ayrshire Council's Real Nappy Incentive Scheme, to encourage uptake in other areas.