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The Scottish Government has set the goal of establishing Scotland as one of Europe's leading start-up economies, fostering an environment where innovation and high-growth businesses flourish. Within this parliamentary term it has spent over £60 million to aide these ambitions with at least a further £23 million committed by the end of the Parliamentary term.

These figures do not include spend from our Enterprise Agencies or Entrepreneurial Education. In addition this does not include spend for financial year 2026-27 due to our single year budgeting process.

I made it clear when responding to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment (IRQA) in September last year that it is vitally important that all young people have a clear and coherent senior phase offer, which aligns with pathways that are available in both higher and further education, and on into employment.

As indicated in the Scottish Government response to the IRQA, the work to rationalise the qualifications offer in the senior phase will be undertaken by the current qualifications body and subsequently Qualifications Scotland. The work should ensure high-quality qualifications in senior phase that:

• suit all pupils regardless of their age, stage, and ambition;
• is clear and easy for pupils to understand and navigate;
• delivers greater parity of esteem between different qualification types;
• delivers the skills and knowledge to grow our economy and
• will be maintained, reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

During 2024-25 SQA worked with stakeholders to identify and remove underutilised qualifications from their portfolio and, after extensive engagement, will remove 143 qualifications mostly on the grounds of no or low uptake.

An essential part of rationalisation of the senior phase offer will be guided by the evidence gathered from reviewing the types of qualifications available, patterns of delivery, their intended purposes, and how effectively they are fulfilling those purposes.

£636,431.99 has been spent to date.

The Scottish Government recognises the imperative to put heat network developers on a similar statutory footing as other utility providers, and our Heat Network (Scotland) Act 2021 enables this.

My officials have been developing proposals for the requisite regulations and guidance to implement this part of the Act. However, we have not yet proceeded to consultation as we consider the implications of the UK Government’s developing plans for heat network regulation, as well as ensuring that the licensing authority can perform its functions in practice.

As such, my officials have been examining potential opportunities to amend proposals – and possibly the Act – to ensure we deliver a regulatory system which is proportionate, and which interoperates with related UK Government legislation to ensure the right networks are built where they can have most benefit and are operated in the right way.

Notwithstanding this, the intention remains to implement the special rights and powers which our Act foresees for Scottish heat network developers. My officials continue to carry out stakeholder engagement on proposals to implement this part of the Act.

The Scottish Government, along with our tourism agency VisitScotland, acknowledges the significance of community tourism. VisitScotland has teams strategically located throughout rural Scotland that are instrumental in collaborating with regional stakeholders to identify local needs and opportunities.

Community Led-Tourism

• VisitScotland fully recognises and supports the unique role of community led tourism in Scotland. Community-led tourism enterprises deliver many visitor experiences and services across Scotland, making them an important part of the wider visitor economy. Such enterprises encompass a variety of inclusive ownership models and provide opportunities to generate community wealth. Partnership and collaboration is at the heart of the work that VisitScotland do to grow Scotland’s visitor economy including their work with Scottish Community Tourism (SCOTO) Community Tourism Network CIC, the organisation which connects Scotland’s network of community tourism enterprises.

Business & Experience Development

• VisitScotland’s business support programme is accessible for all tourism and events businesses in Scotland – including SMEs (majority of businesses in the sector) and community-led tourism organisations. Over time, VisitScotland will continue to give community tourism organisations access to practical information and resources to build capability and develop.
• Community tourism is integrated in the Scottish Thistle Awards programme, which celebrates and spotlights the best in Scotland’s best tourism and events sector.
• VisitScotland also promote enterprises of this type through their integrated marketing approach, showcasing the unique and enriching experiences visitors can have by engaging with communities.

Place Development

• VisitScotland’s focus on place ensures that the experiences and welcome offered by industry and communities in destinations are combined with the appropriate investment cases and infrastructure to address issues of quality, sustainability, inclusivity, capacity and drive net zero.
• As part of the place development work, VisitScotland manage the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) on behalf of Scottish Government. The fund aims to improve the visitor experience in rural parts of Scotland that are experiencing visitor management issues. In particular, it aims to help address pressure on local infrastructure or any negative impacts on communities.
• Since 2018 RTIF has awarded £20 million of grant funding to 75 projects. While RTIF criteria and assessment processes consider community issues and concerns arising from visitor pressure points, the purpose of RTIF is to fund visitor infrastructure which addressed visitor and community pressures arising from visitor numbers as opposed to a community fund to support purely local community needs or asks. Only National Park Authorities and Local Authorities can apply for RTIF funding, however more than 63% have done so in partnership with local community groups or third-party agencies and charities (RSBP, FLS, NTS etc.)
• Where community-based organisations are involved in RTIF projects, there are further opportunities to engage with those organisations, to assess the community tourism development opportunities associated with the creation of new tourism infrastructure. This would allow more community benefit and opportunity released from investment, in turn benefitting both visitor and resident.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37556 on 21 May 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

Our current Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) which was published alongside the last Capital Spending Review, estimated that annually, around 45,000 construction and maintenance jobs would be supported through the associated total capital investment. This information is not centrally monitored, however as part our annual reporting on the progress of the IIP, we include information on major capital projects and their contribution to local economic development.

Our annual IIP Progress Reports are published on the Scottish Government website and can be found by way of the following link www.gov.scot/infrastructure-investment-plan

The Pain Management Panel consisted of 16 people with lived experience of chronic pain. A sampling framework was developed by The Lines Between to ensure diversity within the panel across participants’ experiences, circumstances, and characteristics. The sampling framework was designed to recruit 15 participants to the pain management panel with the intention to interview a group of 22-25 people to mitigate potential attrition during the project.

It was not possible to support all of the submitted projects within the available budget. There is currently no scope to support the reserved projects however should additional budget become available this will be considered. As part of the pipeline approach reserved projects can be considered for support in future years, subject to annual budget availability.

The Scottish Government has not to date, provided any direct financial support for the People’s Palace redevelopment project. However, I understand that this project was accepted onto Historic Environment Scotland’s, Historic Environment Repair Grant programme in May 2023 and is currently going through the development process.

I will be meeting with Glasgow Life in the coming months to learn more about the project and the opportunities it could deliver for the local community, the wider heritage sector, Scotland’s economy, and tackling child poverty.