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The Scottish Government are fully committed to transparency and probity in the management of, and accountability for, the public finances.

For central government and non-departmental bodies, our capital borrowing powers are restricted and the UK capital grant allocation is limited, so where it is deemed value for money, private finance is considered alongside a range of financing approaches including capital grant, capital borrowing, financial transactions and other forms of finance. Should additional capital borrowing powers become available, we will examine all options to ensure the lowest cost financing route is utilised.

Local authorities determine their own programmes for capital investment and make their own decisions as to the financing of capital investment programmes. In determining their capital investment programme, local authorities are required by legislation to comply with The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities, to ensure that all capital investment decisions are prudent, affordable, and sustainable.

The use of private finance to fund capital expenditure, as with all financing arrangements, should be transparently reported in accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The Scottish Public Finance Manual is issued by the Scottish Ministers to provide guidance on the proper handling and reporting of private and public-private finance.

The Scottish Government are aware that there have been continuing shortages across the UK due to a number of factors. The supply of medicines, including HRT products and the associated legislation, is a reserved matter for the UK Government. We continue to engage with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to seek a lasting solution.

A series of UK-wide Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) have been issued by DHSC, after consultation with the Scottish Government and other UK administrations, allowing community pharmacists to supply specific alternatives without needing to seek agreement from the prescribing doctor. An SSP is an additional tool to manage and mitigate medication shortages. This gives individuals the option to receive substitute products in a safe and effective way to ensure medication continues to be available to all.

There are over 70 HRT products available in the UK and supply issues are affecting only a small number of them.

The Scottish Government requests annual data on overall Young Patient Family Fund claims from territorial Health Boards and this allows uptake and cost within each Board area to be tracked year-on-year. This includes detail on the type of claim being made.

We do not ask Health Boards to routinely collect data on patient condition as this is not part of the eligibility criteria for making a claim. Similarly, Health Boards are not asked to report on the age of the patient. As part of our routine monitoring we do however ask Health Boards to report on the number of young inpatients associated with claims who were admitted to neo-natal units.

As part of the Green Freeports bidding process, bidders were required to outline how their choice of tax site locations would minimise displacement of economic activity from wider areas, especially other economically disadvantaged areas. This was given close consideration within the assessment process. The successful bidders – Firth of Forth, and Inverness and Cromarty Firth – will now develop their initial proposals into detailed outline and full business cases.

Scottish Government officials provided feedback to the unsuccessful bidders and confirmed that the Scottish Government stood ready to work with the bidding coalitions to consider whether and how it might be possible to build on aspects of their plans, outside the Green Freeports programme, to deliver jobs and growth in their respective regions.

The two selected Green Freeports will build on specific areas of strength and opportunities in their particular locations, so we are optimistic that the immediate risk of displacement will in practice be limited. They will be required to monitor, mitigate and report on any potential displacement as they move forward to delivery.

The Scottish Government budget for 2023-24 is £189.2 million as we progress towards our commitment to invest at least £320 million or 10% of the transport budget by 2024-25. This year’s budget includes the Cycling Walking Safer Routes (CWSR) grant of £35 million that goes directly to local authorities on a pro rata basis for the delivery of active travel projects.

There are a number of local authorities which have significant rural or island communities. In 2023-24, CWSR funding allocations to more rural and island areas include: £147,000 to Shetland Islands Council, £144,000 to Orkney Islands Council; £1.52 million to the Highland Council; £551,000 to Argyll and Bute Council; £950,000 to Dumfries and Galloway Council, and £741,000 to Scottish Borders Council.

HITRANS, the Regional Transport Partnership which covers the Highland, Orkney, Moray and Western Isles local authority areas, and much of Argyll and Bute, was awarded £1,111,500 to deliver active travel measures in 2022-23. HITRANS have been awarded £955,000 for 2023-24.

Sustrans Scotland received over £52 million of funding in 2022-23 for the Places for Everyone active travel infrastructure programme, where several projects are being delivered in the islands ranging from the £21 million Skye network, to smaller schemes across the Western Isles, Orkney, Jura and Islay.

The Scottish Government has also grant funded Cycling UK to run the Rural Connections programme which supports people in Shetland, Orkney, and other island communities to cycle, walk and wheel for everyday journeys, leisure and adventure. The programme offers a wide range of cycling and walking activities for all abilities, and is being funded as part of our UCI Cycling World Championships response.

Circularity Scotland is developing and constructing the logistical network that will support the effective operation of the scheme when it launches on 1 March 2024, and it has signed contracts with Biffa for operations, logistics, and plastics reprocessing. It has secured a number of sites across Scotland to deliver the scheme, including sites in Aberdeen and Motherwell, creating up to 200 jobs.

The Scottish Government is clear that deposit return schemes (DRS) are a form of extended producer responsibility (EPR). Therefore, producers will not have to purchase Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Waste Export Recycling Notes (PERNs), or pay producer fees under packaging EPR once that is operational, for containers collected through our DRS. We are working with the other UK administrations to legislate to give effect to this position.

The Scottish Government welcomes the recent Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) report on handheld remote-controlled training devices (e-collars).

The Third NASCO Performance Review was carried out to evaluate the functioning and effectiveness of NASCO and to identify areas where improvements are needed to strengthen the Organisation, and to enhance the implementation of the NASCO Convention, and it’s Resolutions, Agreements, and Guidelines. The report of the independent review panel will be considered by the Contracting Parties to NASCO at its 40 th Annual Meeting in June 2023.

The Scottish Government has promised a laser like focus on delivery, and we will ensure this happens, by directing energy and resources towards achieving the three missions and supporting the outcomes set out in Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start . Our ambition for an improving, consistent and transparent focus on performance and delivery is shared by Ministers and the Executive Team and work is in hand to strengthen the existing, evidence-based approach to delivery, performance and assurance that currently exists across the organisation.