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There is a significant and increasing interest in co-operative business models in Scotland. Co-operative models are collaborative vehicles that play an important role in creating sustainable growth. They enable employees, businesses and communities to work together to fulfil shared interests. This unlocks creativity and capacity and there is growing evidence that they increase productivity, innovation and growth whilst achieving wider societal benefits.

Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS) is the arm of Scottish Enterprise working in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise to support company growth through collaborative co-operative and employee ownership business models. CDS raises awareness of the value of co-operative and employee ownership models, and provides specialist advice. Its services are integrated to those of Scottish Enterprise (SE), Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Business Gateway.

Scotland for EO is the industry leadership group (ILG) for employee owned businesses in Scotland, established in 2018 to empower the employee owned sector to direct its own development. Led by industry working in partnership with the public sector, the group champions employee ownership in Scotland and drives industry-wide collaboration and alignment.

Working with the industry leadership group the Scottish Government is committed to increasing the number of employee owned businesses in Scotland to 500 by 2030.

The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 received Royal Assent on 20 July 2019. Since then a number of sections have been commenced (3, 4, 8, 9,15,40-43, 45-47, 50(3), 52, 53(2) and 3(b), 54, 16(1) partially, 17-39, 44, 48, 49, 50(1)(2)(4), 53 (1) and (3)(a), 55-57, 59-61 and schedule 1 (paragraphs 1, 3, 4 and 5).

The provisions in section 5-7 relate to making electronic monitoring a condition of licence. Electronic monitoring is already a feature of post-release sentence management as a condition of licence, for uses such as Home Detention Curfew. The Parole Board currently have an ability to recommend licence conditions which can include an element of electronic monitoring. These sections of the Act consolidate existing legislation in this area to allow for a continuation of these uses, with the addition of a new use of monitoring of temporary release licence.

The next set of commencement regulations planned for the Act will likely now be early 2022. The provisions for sections 5-7 will be given a commencement date at that point. Those commencement regulations will also bring into force some of the court based uses of electronic monitoring already included in section 3 of the Act. A range of justice partners, including: COPFS, Police Scotland, justice social work and SCTS have been taking forward preparations for those uses and the exact list of disposals and timing of regulations will be dependent on partner operational readiness.

The Scottish Government’s previous response to question S6W-03332 on 26 October 2021 highlights that Transport Scotland is working closely with Scottish Futures Trust to consider the most appropriate structures and approach to growing and developing Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It also refers to the recent publication of a joint Transport Scotland and Scottish Futures Trust report on future development of Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging infrastructure:

New report on the future of public EV charging infrastructure (transport.gov.scot)

This report notes Climate Change Committee data that implies a potential need for 30,000 public electric vehicle charge points by 2030 in Scotland, but also highlights the challenge of accurately predicting with certainty the actual number of charge points required. This will be influenced by a range of factors, including developments and innovation in battery and charging technologies that will determine when and how often vehicles need charged.

Advancement in technologies including smart charging and the approach to the planning and delivery of electric vehicle charging infrastructure will not only have a bearing on the amount of charge points needed, but also on future electricity demand and its intelligent management. Similarly, decisions on where private and public charge points are located will also be influenced by range of factors including local need. It will also become increasingly important for local authorities, private sector and the electricity Distribution Network Operators to work together to strategically plan and optimise investments. The Scottish Government is continuing to fund the roll-out of electric vehicle charging at this point, and going forward will continue to work with the public sector – government, local authorities and regulators - as well as the private sector – car manufacturers, charging providers and electricity network owners and suppliers to harness efficiencies and opportunities, to build a comprehensive charging network accessible to all where no part of Scotland is left behind and which adds value to the economy.

My statement to Parliament on 23 September 2021 welcomed the findings from independent research that the Scottish Government has commissioned, to help inform its ambitious agenda to decarbonise Scotland’s transport sector, which includes a shift to greater use of public and shared transport and active travel, and also the outcome of there being a 20% reduction in kilometres driven by cars by 2030:

New report on decarbonising transport

This research sets out the scale of the challenge this Parliament is tasked with and provides an illustration of where action in the transport sector will need to be considered as Scotland transitions to net-zero. It also provides insights into the possible future composition of Scotland’s car fleet between now and 2045 under different pathways and their influence on the numbers of electric, petrol and diesel vehicles on Scotland's roads.

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 following table presents the estimated number of self-catering units receiving Small Business Bonus Scheme(SBBS) relief as at 1 June 2021, broken down by assessor and local authority, for properties (unit owners cannot be reliably identified from the information held) receiving 100% SBBS, 25% SBBS, and other percentages of SBBS (e.g. when combined with other reliefs). These tables include all self-catering properties in receipt of SBBS relief. The Scottish Government cannot reliably estimate the cumulative rateable value for each ratepayer and can therefore not state the number of self-catering units with a combined rateable value of £35,000 in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief. However, ratepayers with a combined rateable value of £35,000 may still be eligible for SBBS relief where the individual property has a rateable value up to £18,000.

Table 1: Number of self-catering properties receiving SBBS as at 1 June 2021, by percentage of SBBS and assessor area.

Our active travel funding is predominantly provided to local authorities through national enabling bodies who have the expertise and manpower to appraise and work with them and other community partners to deliver local projects.

In this financial year two of our largest funds are being delivered by Sustrans, with over £55 million provided through the Places for Everyone programme, and over £6 million through the Spaces for People programme.

In addition to this, £23.9 million is being provided directly to local authorities, on a pro rata basis, through the Cycling Walking and Safer Routes programme.

These three major programmes together account for around 75% of the total
‎ 2020-21 Active Travel budget of £115.5 million. A breakdown of this funding, by local authority and for each of the last three financial years, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. 62827).

The remaining 25% of the budget is provided through partners who deliver projects across many or all of the local authorities. This funding information broken down by local authority area may be held locally by some of these delivery partners, but it is not centrally collated by the Scottish Government.

The following tables presents the number of self-catering properties on the Valuation Roll as at 1 October 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 (30 September data is not available), broken down by assessor and local authority.

Table 1: Number of self-catering properties as at 1 October 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, by assessor area.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03453 on 21 October 2021. 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 Scottish Government has no functions in relation to the use of animals in research and testing.

The use of animals in research and testing is an area of policy reserved to the United Kingdom government, and is overseen by the Home Office.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to change the legislation in this area.

In relation to flatted properties, section 17 of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 gives homeowners reasonable access for maintenance and other purposes through the property of other owners. Section 17 may be viewed at:-

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2004/11/contents

There is no equivalent legislation for non-flatted properties. In some cases, title deeds, servitude rights over neighbouring land or the common law may provide the necessary access rights. Access to neighbouring land might also be permitted by way of a private arrangement between individuals. Where parties are in dispute, mediation can sometimes provide assistance.

If however, the member has evidence that a change in the law would be helpful, I would be happy to consider the issue further.

The Scottish Government aims to facilitate a constructive relationship between fishers and offshore wind developers in relation to the development of offshore wind energy in Scottish Waters. This is led by Marine Scotland through ‘Commercial Fisheries Working Group’ meetings where the interests of fishers are represented by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF), Scottish White Fish Producers Association (SWFPA), Community Inshore Fisheries Alliance (CIFA) and Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups (rIFGs).

In addition, the Scottish Government’s sectoral marine planning process for offshore renewable energy, which identifies potential areas for future development, involves fishing representatives being invited to join the relevant governance groups, in order to help inform the location of any resultant development areas. Furthermore, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and regional Inshore Fisheries Groups also facilitate the collection of wider views of the fishing sector to support plan development.