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The Bank is guided by the missions set for it by Scottish Ministers and makes independent decisions in line with their Investment Strategy. The Scottish Government is not currently considering mandating the creation of any refund guarantee products by the Scottish National Investment Bank at this time.

Covid-19 support for contractors through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme was a discretionary award dependent on the circumstances of the of individual organisations, developments and contractual arrangements.

Cunninghame Housing Association submitted 2 applications for assessment in March 2021 and both were assessed in line with published guidance. One claim was successful and the housing association was informed of the outcome in September 2021. A revised offer of grant was issued and all additional funding has been claimed.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted on 13 February 2023, signals a turning point for planning, placing climate and nature at the centre of planning and supporting all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The first iteration of the NPF4 Delivery Programme outlines the steps that are being taken to monitor and evaluate the impact of NPF4 and its policies to ensure its intentions are realised, supported and integrated with the Scottish Government’s wider programme of planning reform.

The Delivery Programme sets out actions that are relevant to addressing the planning process of major renewable proposals and other net-zero projects. This includes the work of the High Level Group on Planning Performance, co-chaired by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), which has a remit to improve the performance of the planning system and has recently been reflecting on the impact of planning fee increases in 2022 on authorities’ resources. In December 2022 an increase in fees for applications made under the Electricity Act was also implemented, and the Scottish Government is continuing to work with stakeholders to improve timescales for determination.

The Scottish Government is also working with Partners in Planning ( https://www.partnersinplanning.scot/ ) to develop a skills strategy which will identify the specialist skills required to address the requirements of NPF4, and the wider skills required to ensure we have planners with the expertise to deliver the developments we will need in the future. Additionally, recruitment of a National Planning Improvement Champion, whose focus will be on supporting improvement in the Scottish planning system, is underway.

In February, an Applicant Stakeholder Group was established to provide stakeholders with a forum to highlight key issues affecting the performance of the planning system and to help identify priority areas for action. The work of this group will in turn assist in shaping the work of the High Level Group on Planning Performance.

Beyond NPF4 delivery, the Scottish Government is undertaking a phased review of permitted development rights (PDR). We have committed to use the third phase of the review to consider new and extended PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewables equipment, as well as electricity network infrastructure. Our intention is to publish the Phase 3 consultation this Spring. This will support capacity in the system by removing the need for planning permission for some types of development.

Following the devolution of the Debt Advice Levy to Scottish Ministers in 2019, the Scottish Government commissioned the Improvement Service to undertake research into different potential funding models for debt advice. This work has only recently been completed and we will now carefully consider these findings alongside wider evidence, to determine whether any changes are required to future funding arrangements.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations report for 2022 – published on 15th December – indicates that over 99% of all properties across Scotland can access a reliable broadband connection.

Original plans for the R100 contracts were expected to see over 112,000 properties connected to superfast broadband speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps). However, in August 2022, we announced additional investment of £36 million to extend build to a further 2,637 properties – taking the total expected to receive connections to over 114,000.

As of 28 February 2023, the contracts had delivered 20,277 connections, with the vast majority being full-fibre and gigabit-capable – up to 30 times faster than our original superfast commitment.

Our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) also continues to support those not included within contract build or commercial coverage plans. As of 1 April 2023, 3,076 connections have been delivered through the use of vouchers.

The Scottish Government will outline our ambitions around culture and creativity in learning via the Culture Strategy Action Plan refresh, which we will publish later this year. This will include our plans for cross-portfolio engagement in order to scope where culture may link in with other policy initiatives, such as the Place Standard Tool, as outlined in the National Partnership for Culture recommendations.

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is an arm’s-length body sponsored by the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions. Whilst officials within the Scottish Government liaise with MaPS colleagues in Scotland on a range of policy and operational issues, Scottish Ministers have made no assessment of the effectiveness of work undertaken by MaPS in Scotland.

The Scottish Government will provide an update on this scoping work, as outlined in its response to the National Partnership for Culture recommendations, via the Culture Strategy Action Plan refresh (CSAPR).

The CSAPR will outline our ambitions around culture and creativity in learning, including our plans around collaborating with Creative Scotland on the scoping of a youth arts strategy, following Time To Shine , Scotland’s first national youth arts strategy, which covers the period up to 2023.

The Scottish Government has made it clear that this agreement, will not compensate for the damaging impact of the UK leaving the EU. The UK Government’s own modelling suggests that CPTPP membership will result in a mere 0.08% increase in UK GDP. In contrast the Office for Budgetary Responsibility has forecast that Brexit will reduce the UK’s potential growth by 4%.

Whilst there are some welcome gains for Scottish businesses, such as the reduction in high Scotch Whisky tariffs, these must not be at the expense of other sectors vital to our economy.

We have consistently expressed concerns to the UK Government that joining CPTPP could place Scottish producers at a disadvantage by opening the door to cheaper imports produced to lower safety, animal welfare, environmental or labour standards. We are also unclear how the UK Government will protect domestic standards given the arbitration processes of the agreement.

Delivery of medium-term improvements along with a permanent and resilient solution to the landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is a priority and we continue to seek ways to achieve these as quickly as possible, noting that all of the options require complex civil engineering. Budget has been allocated for the 2023-24 financial year, through the annual Scottish Budget exercise, and this will fund commencing the delivery of the medium-term improvements, which are expected to start later this year in a phased manner, along with taking forward preparatory work on the long-term solution.