Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish Ministers are currently considering all the available information on bovine EID and technology and any potential impacts it may have, including on trade. This includes the results and analysis of the Consultation on Cattle ID and Traceability held earlier this year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32178 on 19 December 2024. 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 Green Heat Finance Taskforce is currently finalising its Part 2 report and will publish it in early 2025.

Between 2021 and 2024, expenditure under the Heat in Buildings Programme totalled £493m. The annual spend is as follows:

The Green Heat Finance Taskforce’s Part 1 report identified a range of finance mechanisms that could be expanded or developed to support individual property owners finance the upfront costs of installing clean heat and energy efficiency measures. These included approaches to encourage greater secured lending, developing equity release products focused on retrofit and exploring the potential to offer property linked finance in Scotland.

Its Part 2 report will cover financing place-based and social housing retrofit programmes as well as financing of heat networks. The report will focus on how to attract private investment at scale to unlock blended finance opportunities, combining public and private contributions, to deliver coordinated activity across multiple properties.

Scottish Government does not directly hold this data. Livestock traceability systems used within GB capture all death data reported and can easily identify farms of origin prior to slaughter. Scottish Ministers will consider all evidence available before a final decision is made.

Three Marine Planning Partnerships (MPPs) have been established covering the Shetland, Clyde and Orkney marine regions, and are at various stages of progressing with their Regional Marine Plans.

The draft plans for Shetland and Orkney have concluded their public consultations and are making progress towards being submitted to Scottish Ministers for consideration, approval and adoption. The draft Clyde Regional Marine Plan is currently in the process of a policy update ahead of identifying a suitable period for a public consultation.

Officials will continue to work constructively with each MPP to refine and develop their plans to be suitable for adoption by Scottish Ministers.

The Green Heat Finance Taskforce met on 16 July 2024 and 9 October 2024. The Taskforce’s next meeting is scheduled for 15 January 2025 when it will seek to finalise its Part 2 report.

To address delayed discharge and reduce waiting lists, £200 million has been allocated in the 2025-26 Budget. Funding will be targeted at specialties with long waits to ensure that by March 2026, no patient will wait longer than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment or inpatient / day case treatment.

Work is underway to review and allocate the budget across the schemes funded through the Heat in Buildings programme. The allocations will be submitted for review to the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy early in the new year.