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The Scottish Government recognises the devastating impact land mines have, killing and maiming thousands each year. Indiscriminate and unpredictable, their presence drives whole communities from their homes and land. That is why, in September 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Scottish Government provided £300,000 to the Halo Trust. Through this grant, teams on the ground were able to cover 206,663m2 enabling Ukrainian famers to safely farm their land again. This not only benefitted 14,000 people in Ukraine, but the clearance of agricultural land is playing a crucial role towards restoring global food security.

The Scottish Government continues to deliver on its commitment to build the case for an independent Scotland within the EU, through the development of a prospectus to give people the information they need to make an informed choice about their future. I’m pleased to confirm that on 25 April we will publish the thirteenth paper in the Building a New Scotland series ‘Building a New Scotland: Justice in an independent Scotland’.

The paper sets out how independence would give Scotland the powers to take all the decisions in justice areas that are currently reserved, creating opportunities for more focused and creative action on some of the most challenging issues facing our society, such as drugs and gambling. The paper also describes how Scotland would be an open, engaged and positive international partner, able to play a key role in justice issues across borders, particularly around counter-terrorism, cybercrime and serious organised crime.

The Scottish Government is continuing to prepare further papers in the Building a New Scotland series and these will be published shortly. I can also confirm that the matters raised in this publication will be taken forward as part of a future debate on BaNS publications in the Scottish Parliament.

‘Building a New Scotland: Justice in an independent Scotland’ is available to view on the Scottish Government website from 25 April at www.gov.scot/newscotland

The Scottish Government will play a key role in delivering Project Gigabit procurements in Scotland. The Scottish Government will lead delivery of local (Type A) and regional (Type B) activity, providing opportunities for alternative network suppliers in Scotland. We will also work alongside the UK Government to manage the UK-wide (Type C) framework in Scotland.

This is a recognition of our strong track record of delivering large scale digital infrastructure programmes and will allow us to align Project Gigabit with our own Reaching 100% (R100) programme.

The first local procurement in Scotland is expected to launch imminently, covering the Borders and East Lothian areas. A regional procurement, in the Dundee, Aberdeenshire, Angus, and Moray Coast areas is expected to follow in the coming months.

The Scottish Government and Building Digital UK (BDUK) have worked together to prepare further procurements, and these will be launched if and when we are confident that there is the market interest needed for them to succeed. We are also preparing the ground for the UK-wide (Type C) framework to deliver across Scotland.

Unlike our R100 programme, there is no predetermined level of funding assigned to deliver connections in Scotland via Project Gigabit. Instead, funding is allocated to each individual procurement based on a model developed by the UK Government.

As we work jointly to deliver these procurements in Scotland, we will continue to urge the UK Government to match our ambition for Scotland’s digital infrastructure with a sufficient level of financial commitment to deliver in this wholly reserved area.

On 18 April the Scottish Government published a new package of climate action measures, this included the intention to establish a pilot scheme to support the roll out of methane supressing feed products to reduce emissions from livestock.

Officials are currently exploring the options for delivering such a scheme. Methane supressing feed products offer opportunities for emissions reduction in Scottish livestock systems and evidence on the efficacy and appropriate application of these products will be considered in developing the pilot scheme. Further details on the pilot scheme will be provided in due course, including a timescale for establishing the pilot scheme.

The Scottish Government has stated an ambition to establish a pilot scheme on methane supressing feed products. Officials are currently exploring options for the proposed scheme.

The pilot scheme will support policy development around the appropriate use of methane supressing feed products. Officials will consider the appropriate targeting of such a pilot scheme, this will include consideration of farm business specialisation and size including the role of livestock crofts in such a pilot scheme.

The Scottish Government has been supportive of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association since their inception in Scotland and since 2016-17 has supported the movement’s growth. In the financial year 2023-24, grant funding was provided under the portfolio of myself. However, the work of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association is cross-cutting and is not supported by a specific minister. As with other third sector organisations, engagement with the organisation spans across a range of portfolio areas including health and social care, equalities, and communities.

The ‘Hate Monster’ is a Police Scotland campaign which ran for 6 weeks in Spring last year. The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

I will assume you are referring to the Scottish Government’s ‘Hate Hurts’ campaign which ran in March. The campaign showed the impact that hate crime has on those affected to help people recognise their experiences, highlighted the forms that hate crime can take and encouraged those who are witnesses to, or victims of hate crime to report it.

The campaign sends a message of reassurance to all communities in Scotland that hate crime will not be tolerated. c£390k was invested in the ‘Hate Hurts’ national campaign which included a broadcast and print.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26524 on 23 April 2024. 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 .

The Business Support Partnership (BSP) is a commitment from Scottish Government, Scotland’s Enterprise and Skills Agencies, Business Gateway, and Local Government to develop a streamlined, efficient, and effective business support system that drives collaboration at a local, regional, and national level. Partners are committed to including the voice of businesses and communities and delivering inclusive and fair support that is underpinned by shared research, aligned customer surveying and data.

In its Strategic Delivery Plan 2023-2026, the BSP sets out its goal to ensure that the business support system in Scotland is inclusive, accessible and responsive, and that it recognises underrepresented groups, targets priority areas and supports socio-economic growth in response to data and the views of customers.

This is a long term undertaking, but one that is central to closing the gap in entrepreneurial participation. Better collection and reporting of data will provide us with essential information, which will allow us to prioritise and target support to under-represented and under-supported groups and to measure our progress.

Alongside this work we continue to develop our response to the broader recommendations of the Pathways report with emphasis on the establishment of Pre-Start support, with the Pathways Pre-Start Fund awarding £1.3m in partner led programmes aimed at widening entrepreneurial participation in 2023-24.