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Having welcomed five very competitive bids in June, and following a rigorous assessment process, the Scottish Government can today confirm that the two Green Freeport locations selected jointly by Scottish and UK Ministers are Inverness and Cromarty Firth and the Firth of Forth.

Scotland’s Green Freeports will support businesses to create high-quality, well-paid new jobs; promote growth and regeneration; and make a significant contribution to achieving our net zero ambitions.

The Scottish Government looks forward to working closely with the successful consortia, supporting them through the next phase of the process as they develop their business cases, in order to ensure that they deliver maximum positive impact.

We will also work with the unsuccessful bidders to consider how they can build on the plans set out in their bids to deliver jobs and growth in their regions outside the Green Freeports programme.

Ellis Watson has been appointed as a Business Advisor to the First Minister. He will work directly with the First Minister to identify the priorities of the business community and help shape the government’s support and response. The creation of the role demonstrates the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to work in partnership with the business community and build on the progress already made in delivering the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, for a wealthier, greener and fairer economy.

Setting VAT rates is reserved to the UK Government, and remains a decision for HM Treasury. This issue affects heritage properties across all four nations of the UK and provides an opportunity for the UK Government to respond proactively to the global climate emergency. I wrote to Nigel Huddlestone MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, in February last year making the case for a VAT reduction to encourage and promote energy efficiency improvements in traditional buildings, unfortunately the UK Government has not indicated any willingness to consider the issue at this time.

The Scottish Government has already recognised in its housing strategy, Housing to 2040 , that reductions in VAT on household repairs would encourage home renovation in Scotland, and better equip homes for the challenges posed by climate change and the transition to net zero.

The Historic Environment Scotland publication, Guide to Energy Retrofit of Traditional Buildings addresses the common assumption that it is harder to improve the energy efficiency of older buildings, and enables the owners of traditional and historic properties in Scotland to make informed choices about the options available.

The Scottish Government will continue to call on the UK Government to introduce VAT reductions for traditional buildings and to work with stakeholders, including Historic Environment Scotland, to develop further solutions to transition Scotland’s historic buildings to net zero emissions while respecting and preserving their special characteristics.

Each Scottish Government international office submits a monitoring and evaluation report every financial year. Offices use a range of both qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure their performance; monitor their effectiveness; ensure they are achieving their strategic objectives and that they are providing value for money.

We are committed to ensuring our international work is measurable, transparent and available to the public. From this year onwards, we will publish an annual report explaining how our international offices work to promote our values, objectives and priorities across the globe.

In the academic year 2020-21, there were 33,761 applications to the Higher Education Discretionary Funds across colleges and universities. The Discretionary Funds include the additional Covid Fund, introduced to support students during the pandemic.

27,500 applications were successful.

These figures come from the financial returns provided by colleges and universities, and reflect the applications made to them. The overall total applications number is not disaggregated into individual students’ applications - it could include several applications being made by the same individual student.

Data for 2021-22 is not yet available, and is due to be published in the annual SAAS Statistical Publication in August.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-01744 on 11 January 2023. The answer to the Oral Question can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-11-01-2023?meeting=14081 .

The Scottish Government recognises the difficult situation that the culture sector is facing currently.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-01744 11 January 2023. The answer to the Oral Question can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-11-01-2023?meeting=14081 .

The Scottish Government remains keen to conclude some work on multiyear funding, and will discuss this with Creative Scotland, even if economic uncertainty means that the figures for later years can be at most only indicative. The outlook, following the recent Autumn Statement by the UK Government, is even more challenging for the later years of the Resource Spending Review period.

The Scottish Government is using a range of interventions across its policies to advance the Race Equality Framework and human rights for all minority ethnic groups, one of which is the Interim Governance Group.

The Interim Governance Group is a short-life working group with a specific remit to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers on establishing long-term anti-racist infrastructure. Its membership includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism and expertise in tackling it. Individuals were also appointed on the basis of having extensive knowledge and/or experience of policy making in Scotland, and design and implementation of policy/systems. More information on the remit and membership of the group is available here: https://www.gov.scot/groups/interim-governance-group-to-develop-national-anti-racist-infrastructure/

The intention is that the work of the IGG will support the development of improved infrastructure and accountability that has a positive impact on the lives of all racialised minority communities. Racialised outcomes are not experienced uniformly, and effective interventions need to take specific experiences into account. In Scotland, this includes important disparities impacting Black/minority ethnic groups.

Ensuring that communities are engaged with policy developments, including in long-term oversight and governance, is of utmost importance, and we are looking to explore mechanisms and routes to achieve that in the best way possible. Policy areas focussed on anti-racism and race equality are actively engaging with a range of stakeholders and communities as part of their work. The Interim Governance Group has commissioned a programme of community engagement, to both disseminate information about forthcoming anti-racist policy infrastructure and to gather community members' and organisations' perspectives on how it can work best to deliver genuine change-making policy and practice in Scotland.