Seòmar agus comataidhean

The following data relates to information held by the Scottish Government on Aquaculture Production Businesses (APB) and authorisation to operate under regulation 6 of the Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 for animal health purposes only.

How many finfish aquaculture sites have (a) been closed and (c) surrendered their licence since 1 January 2018:

• There have been 25 finfish aquaculture farm sites de-registered and no longer in operation;
• There have been 57 finfish aquaculture farm sites inactivated as they are either in long term fallow or there are no current plans to stock them, although the APB may still be in operation;
• There have been 15 finfish APBs de-registered, no longer in operation which have surrendered authorisation to operate;
• There have been 15 finfish APBs which are registered as non-producing businesses, and have no farm sites in operation, which have surrendered authorisation to operate.
• How many finfish aquaculture sites have (b) had their licence withdrawn since 1 January 2018 (withdrawn being interpreted by the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) as removal by the competent authority for enforcement purposes):
• There have been no finfish aquaculture farm sites which have been withdrawn from an APB’s authorisation to operate;
• There have been no finfish APBs which have had their authorisation to operate withdrawn.
• The reasons for any aquaculture site ceasing to operate are a decision made by the commercial company operating the site and are not available to the FHI.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24405 on 22 January 2024. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website

Information held by the Scottish Government on fish farm escapes is available on Scotland’s Aquaculture Website at: Scotland's Aquaculture | Home .

We are currently in discussions with COSLA regarding the distribution of this funding. We will write out to local authorities in due course to set out our expectations regarding the use of the funding.

I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade in November 2023 welcoming the UK Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan, and to offer the Scottish Government’s commitment to work collectively to deliver on the key elements of direct relevance to Scotland. The Advanced Manufacturing Plan will be supported by the Green Industries Growth Accelerator fund.

Details of the precise delivery of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan and Green Industries Growth Accelerator are yet to be finalised. The Scottish Government will continue to offer support to the UK Government at official and Ministerial level, ensuring that opportunities within Scotland are maximised.

In June 2022, Scottish Ministers received an application from Naturalis Energy under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for the proposed Knockkippen Wind Farm, to be located within East Ayrshire. Currently, discussions are ongoing between the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit, the developer and several consultees in relation to addressing outstanding issues. Until these matters are resolved, Scottish Ministers are not yet in a position to determine the application.

The Scottish Government has always recognised the importance of our international links and we want to develop Scotland’s direct connectivity to China to help build strong links for business and exports, as well as make it easier for visitors and students to come and experience Scotland.

Transport Scotland’s Aviation Team, along with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, met a number of airlines from China at the World Route Development Forum in October 2023, to discuss future opportunities. These discussions are, however, commercially sensitive and I cannot share specific details.

To help secure new connectivity between Scotland and China, the Scottish Government will continue to work with Scotland’s airports to consider what support and information we can provide to help build the case for future routes.

The level of funding set out in the Scottish Budget reflects that the delivery of Glen Sannox (801) is now at an advanced stage. The costs and delivery schedules of both 801 and 802 continue to be scrutinised closely, with updates provided regularly to the Scottish Parliament.

The business case and cost review exercise for Ardrossan is expected to report outcomes in February which will then inform discussion between the funding partners on next steps.

The paper referred to in the question, published in 2018, lists a number of externalised costs including climate change, air quality, congestion, social exclusion and inequity. In the National Transport Strategy, published in 2020, Transport Scotland recognised these as priority areas, and the annual National Transport Strategy Delivery plans set out the interventions Scottish Government is taking to deliver the NTS Strategy. A significant legislative programme for transport was developed through the Transport Scotland Act (2019), covering a range of transport areas including smart ticketing, bus services, pavement parking, workplace parking licensing, road works, duties on health boards in regard to transport and low emissions zones. These have been either fully implemented or continue to be taken forward. The Scottish Government are not actively considering new legislation relating to transport at this time.

Overall more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record, (data correct as at 25 July 2023). Within that overall context there will always be a number of posts which do not fill. Diagnostic Neuropathology ST3 is a small specialty with only 1 post advertised in 2023, therefore, as this post has not filled, the fill rate appears as 0%. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities.