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The Scottish Government is very committed to the delivery of two Greenports in Scotland, which will create new, well-paid jobs, deliver a just transition to net zero and support economic transformation based on fairness.

As an Annex to the Bute House Agreement, freeports is listed as an excluded matter to the Agreement and is therefore a policy which is not subject to co-operation between both our parties.

We plan to proceed with plans to deliver two Greenports in Scotland with the UK Government, working on a partnership basis. All details will be set out in a finalised joint applicant prospectus to be published later this month.

The four nations arts councils and agencies are working alongside each other to share information and collaborate on more activity and projects, including international work.

This includes Arts Infopoint UK, led by Wales Arts International in collaboration with Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and Arts Council Northern Ireland, which is a pilot initiative aiming to provide clear information and support to artists seeking to travel to the UK.

The pilot Four Nations International Fund, led by Creative Scotland, was launched in October 2021, with 38 projects across many art forms receiving funding. Each project requires a partner in at least one other of the four nations of the UK, in addition to an international partner. Projects include partnerships between Scotland and Northern Ireland based organisations.

Other activity undertaken together with Northern Ireland, England and Wales includes the Cultural Bridge Pilot Programme which aims to promote more sustainable approaches to international exchange and collaboration opportunities for the cultural sector, and further engagement on FLUXUS, a Franco-British programme for contemporary art run by the Institut Français.

There are also joint conversations around maximising the impact of bilateral funds such as the Cultural Bridge Pilot Programme with German partners Fonds SozioKultur. Creative Scotland’s Cultural Bridge programme supports organisations in the UK and Germany to both deliver programmes of activity in partnership with an organisation in at least one other country, and to develop partnerships as a network across the five countries involved, with the organisations and their communities.

Scottish Ministers attended the 36 th British Irish Council (BIC) Summit hosted by Welsh Government which had the theme of Indigenous Minority and Lesser-Used Languages. Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, attended a virtual work sector meeting on 17 November 2021, and Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister and Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy attended the Summit on 19 November, when Ms Forbes gave her update on economic recovery to the pandemic in Gaelic.

Scottish Ministers have taken part in a number of ‘Exit Operations’ meetings with their counterparts across the UK. These meetings have focused on measures to prepare for and address the impacts of the UK’s exit from the EU. The meetings have dealt with a range of issues relevant to the culture and creative sectors, including the international mobility of artists, international trade and exports, and funding.

Scottish Ministers engage with their counterparts across the UK through Four Nations Ministerial Meetings, which have addressed issues of shared concern such as sectoral recovery from the pandemic and the challenges to the culture sector presented by Brexit.

While the Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, NHS Boards are responsible for delivering safe, effective, person-centred care at a local level.

The Scottish Government published the National Personal Footcare Guidance https://www.gov.scot/publications/personal-footcare-guidance/ , which sets out clearly the difference between personal footcare and clinical podiatry in NHS Scotland and offers help and support to individuals, carers and families in the provision of personal footcare, including older and at-risk people.

People with the most urgent clinical need are seen by a registered podiatrist to ensure they are prioritised for treatment, and those that require personal footcare are advised how to self-manage their footcare or are signposted to other more appropriate services. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, those with the most essential or urgent clinical podiatry needs continue to be seen. We are working with NHS Boards to remobilise and reform services, including the development of services across Scotland to support future service sustainability and addressing the backlog of treatment.

Michael Russell, the then Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs met with Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs on 14 January 2021 to discuss the Scotland Bilateral Review. Culture was one element of this meeting.

Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture met with Catherine Martin, Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on 8 March 2022.

Scottish Ministers attended the 36 th British Irish Council (BIC) Summit hosted by Welsh Government which had the theme of Indigenous Minority and Lesser-Used Languages. Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, attended a virtual work sector meeting on 17 November 2021, and Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister and Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy attended the Summit on 19 November, when Ms Forbes gave her update on economic recovery to the pandemic in Gaelic.

It is important, in line with the principle of healthcare being free at the point of use, that lateral flow device (LFD) tests should remain free of charge for any circumstance in which testing is required as part of clinical care.

The COVID-19 Strategic Framework Update, published on 22 February, sought input from public health specialists who support a move to focus on protecting those at highest clinical risk, supporting patient care and responding to outbreaks, as we move towards the endemic phase.

A transition plan setting out the next steps for Test and Protect in Scotland will be published later this month.

The Scottish Government understands the important role independent music festivals play in Scotland’s cultural scene, and wants to help ensure festivals will be able to take place in 2022. Support for music festivals that is provided in 2022 builds on the previous £240 million of financial support which the Scottish Government has provided to the culture, heritage and events sector to support its recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government recently announced £2 million of events sector funding through VisitScotland’s National and International programmes. Depending on their circumstances, independent music festivals could have been eligible to apply to the 1st round of the National Programme which closed on 11 February. This is for events taking place from 1 April to 31 August 2022. Round 2 is now open and covers the period 1st September – 31st December. Grants of up to £25,000 are available.

The Scottish Government would also encourage Scottish Music Festivals to apply to Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. This Fund is open to projects from across the Culture sector, and as music is one of the creative industries, music festivals are able to apply.

The £750,000 Scotland on Tour fund, managed by Active Events, will support musicians, venues and festivals to bring new and additional concerts to venues and festivals in Scotland during 2022. The Scotland on Tour working group consisting of representatives from the music sector, Creative Scotland and the enterprise and skills agencies, will actively be looking at how the project can support festivals in future funding rounds.

The Scottish Government is also working with partners to consider what more we can do to support public confidence to return to events and cultural performances.

The Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers opened on 6 January and closed on 21 January. It provided much-needed support to creative freelancers experiencing cancellations due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The total number of applications received by Creative Scotland was 1,946. The number of approved applications was 1,766. Of these approved applications, so far 1,763 have been paid in full.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06927 on 4 March 2022. 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 2018 advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), our statutory advisers, was that over the next decade government policies should only support biomass use where this

a) provides cost-effective abatement whilst avoiding ‘lock-in’ to sub-optimal uses, and/or

b) develops key technologies and sustainable supply chains.

They recommend that we limit support for bioenergy use in buildings to biomethane produced from anaerobic digestion and other niche uses (as part of hybrid heat pumps systems in hard to treat off-gas homes, local combined heat and power systems and small-scale district heat networks) - whilst minimising air quality impacts.

Overall, the Scottish Government’s aim is to see bioenergy used where it has the greatest value in reducing emissions. We are currently working to understand the most appropriate and sustainable use of bioresources across the whole energy system in Scotland and intend to publish a Bioenergy Action Plan in 2023.

Biomass in a low-carbon economy - Climate Change Committee (theccc.org.uk)