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The Scottish Government launched the EU Settlement Scheme in 2019 to support EU/EEA citizens, their employers and service providers following the decision of the UK Government to require EU citizens who were residing in the UK prior to the ending of freedom of movement to apply for the UK Government’s EU Settlement Scheme in order to continue living, working and studying in the UK.

The main aim of the Stay in Scotland campaign was to support EU citizens to secure their right to stay in Scotland through the EU Settlement Scheme. The UK Government publishes figures on the number of applications to the EU Settlement Scheme by nationality, region and local authority. The aim of the Stay in Scotland campaign was therefore to maximise the number of successful applications from EU citizens in Scotland.

Scotland is Now was the creative platform that formally launched the Brand Scotland Partnership on 11 April 2018, seeking to establish a new narrative for positioning Scotland internationally that would more effectively challenge certain perceptions that could limit opportunities.

The Brand Scotland Partnership consists of the following organisations: VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise/SDI, Creative Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, HIE, Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The Brand Scotland Strategic Partnership is a collaborative initiative that seeks to grow Scotland’s profile with international audiences and increase consideration as a place to live and work, study, visit and do business.

The Scottish Government routinely publishes marketing spend annually and figures for international marketing spend which would all have been delivered as Brand Scotland, can be accessed here: Marketing spend - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

In support of the Scottish Government’s broader aims to protect Scotland’s place in Europe following Brexit and mitigate any associated economic, social and reputational damage, an international marketing campaign was delivered by Brand Scotland in France, Germany, Ireland and Spain in 2019.

This ‘Scotland is Open’ campaign aimed to promote Scotland as a welcoming and open country to boost positive perceptions of Scotland as a place to live, work, study, visit and do business with in order to build and maintain strong relationships with the EU and member states.

The campaign included video on demand, paid social, OOH digital display and print advertising ran initially from 29 March until 11 April in 2019. The second burst ran from 31 January until 4 February in 2020 and added Belgium alongside France, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

As with all marketing campaigns delivered by the Scottish Government, a series of SMART objectives were set to evaluate the performance of the campaign and its impact on perceptions of Scotland, before it began.

Pre and post campaign research was undertaken by research agency BVA BDRC in France, Germany and Spain with four audience groups: potential relocators, students, holiday makers and senior business leaders who would consider doing business.

In just two weeks the campaign activity reached over 80 million people, generating 27% awareness in key markets (France, Germany and Spain) against a target of 10%. The video was viewed over 52 million times, with 25 million of these through to completion, and 8.8 million engagements.

The SMART objectives for the campaign were:

• To achieve 10% awareness of the campaign among live / work / study / visit / business target audiences in France / Germany / Spain by mid-April 2019 Among campaign recognisers in France / Germany / Spain achieve 30% agreement that Scotland is an (i) open and (ii) welcoming nation by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 30% agreement that Scotland continues to extend a warm welcome even in uncertain times by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 20% agreement that the Scotland of today is (i) inclusive (ii) innovative by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve a 10% consideration level of Scotland as a place to (i) live (ii) work (iii) study (iv) do business (v) visit by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 3% claimed action as a result of seeing the campaign by mid-April 2019

The campaign significantly exceeded these targets, achieving the following results:

• 34% campaign awareness amongst live/work audiences, 49% awareness amongst study audiences, 30% awareness amongst visit audiences and 33% amongst business audience
• 70% agreement that Scotland is an open and welcoming nation 76% agreement that Scotland continues to extend a warm welcome even in uncertain times
• Among campaign recognisers, 56% considered Scotland to be innovative and 60% considered Scotland to be inclusive
• Among campaign recognisers, positive consideration of Scotland as a place to live and work achieved 39%, as an overseas study destination 44%, as a place to do business 40% and a place to visit 43%.
• 82% of all campaign recognisers claimed to have taken action as a result of the campaign

(A) The draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car use was published in 2022 and was followed by a period of engagement and consultation. Analysis and consideration of the consultation responses are shaping the updated route map which will be published in due course.

The route map is co-produced with CoSLA, in recognition of the joint commitment to a just transition to reducing car use, and we are continuing to work closely with local and regional partners to update the route map and will publish it on completion of that engagement.

(B) Scotland now has over 6,000 public charge points and has achieved the delivery of 6,000 public charge points two years ahead of the 2026 target date. In late 2024 we will publish a draft Implementation Plan identifying the key actions to be taken to deliver our Vision for public EV charging. This draft Implementation Plan is being developed with the key stakeholders who share responsibility for delivering public EV charging across Scotland and will include a route map for delivering approximately 24,000 additional public charge points by 2030.

(C) In January 2024, Scotland introduced the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes (VETS) legislation, alongside England and Wales, extending to UK-wide from January 2025. VETS will deliver 411 MTCO2e of savings between 2024-2050 across the UK by increasing the sale of ZEVs as a proportion of overall annual sales to 80% cars and 70% vans by 2030) as well as reducing emissions on non-ZEVs.

Since 2011, support has been provided for the purchase of ZEV cars and vans equating to £39 million in interest free loans which has helped businesses purchase 1,382 ZEVs, alongside grants provided through the LEZ Support fund.

(D) Consideration for a new national integrated ticketing system for Scotland was detailed in the 2024 Smart Delivery Strategy, aligning with wider work to advance the future of public transport in Scotland. In 2025 consideration for this system will be undertaken, including the technical, financial and legislative impact.

We have begun commencing the smart-ticketing measures from the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, establishing the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board in 2023. The board comprises operators, transport authorities, users, and technical experts, to provide independent advice to Scottish Ministers on the future of smart-ticketing, including a technological standard, in line with their published August 2024 workplan.

(E) Development of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) Delivery Plan is underway. This takes account of the current financial climate and is examining existing schemes across all modes in addition to the longer term STPR2 recommendations.

The latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts, following the UK Government Autumn Budget Statement, show an improved medium term outlook for capital. The Scottish Government will continue to consider its longer-term infrastructure plans after we receive clarity from the UK Government over our multi-year capital funding envelope in the Spring.

(F) The Scottish Government will set out the high-level principles of Air Departure Tax in due course, following which we will work towards implementation as soon as is practicable. However, this first requires a solution to the Highlands and Islands exemption, and we are working with the UK Government to achieve this.

(G) The foundations of the Whole Farm Plan have been co-developed with industry and rural partners and will go live in 2025. As part of our commitment to enhanced conditionality, in 2025, in return for their basic payment, all farmers and crofters will need to have in place two from the following five baselines: Animal Health and Welfare Plan, Biodiversity Audit, Carbon Audit, Integrated Pest Management Plan or Soil Analysis.

All farmers and crofters will be required to have a proportionate carbon audit in place by 2028 at the latest as part of the Whole Farm Plan.

From 2028 farmers and crofters will be required to produce a nutrient management plan (NMP) to complement their soil analysis. We therefore recommend as part of the current Whole Farm Plan guidance that once a business has received their soil analysis, they use this information to create a nutrient management plan. We will continue to work with our industry and rural partners to co-develop the Whole Farm Plan.

(H) The Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy announced several new measures aimed at accelerating Scotland’s journey to net zero, including a pilot scheme with some Scottish farms to establish future appropriate uptake of methane supressing feed products.

There has been significant development in this area in recent years and it is taking time to develop the details of a pilot which could explore options for recognising appropriate use of these products and other practices which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms. Further information on the timetable of a pilot project will be shared as soon as possible.

(I) The Scottish Government is working with the NorthWest 2045 (Highlands), South of Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders), Cairngorms National Park and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs) to transition from a pilot to a formal initiative. We remain committed to the long-term delivery of RLUPs, however, taking into account wider fiscal pressures and subject to lessons learned from the ongoing transition, the phased rollout of new partnerships will begin in financial year 2026-27 at the earliest.

(J) With partial rewetting, the water table in peatlands or peaty soils is held deeper underground than with full rewetting or restoration. In theory, this delivers a carbon benefit but also allows certain types of agriculture that may be limited by full rewetting to continue.

The Peatland Science and Technical Advisory Group have advised there may be some potential in lowland grassland systems and at the edges of some raised bogs where the use of ‘leaky dams’ may have a part to play in finer control of water table depth. However, significant areas of lowland agricultural peats are difficult to identify and map.

We have commissioned scientists at the James Hutton Institute to advise on the distribution of grassland on peat and on the relationship between water table depth and carbon emissions in peat grassland systems. When complete, this will inform on-going work in government considering options for incorporating peatland protection, management and restoration within the new four-tier agricultural support framework.

(K) The Scottish Government is committed to reducing high deer numbers in order to help us to achieve our biodiversity and carbon objectives. Three deer management incentives pilot schemes led by NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park Authority launched this autumn to incentivise deer managers to increase deer culls in specific parts of Scotland.

These pilot schemes have been implemented this year in different parts of Scotland to test different approaches to incentives and to better understand the barriers to deer management.

While these pilots do not constitute a single national scheme, we will use the findings from them to inform decisions on future incentive schemes.

(L) The Scottish Government is committed to considering options for a carbon land tax, to further incentivise peatland restoration and afforestation.

Any potential new measures must be rigorously assessed and based on strong evidence to ensure they serve their objective and avoid unintended consequences.

The Scottish Government will work with the Scottish Land Commission to consult with a range of stakeholders and to develop the evidence necessary to identify and assess options for a carbon land tax.

(M) The Scottish Government welcomes the work of the independent Green Heat Finance Taskforce and looks forward to receiving its Part 2 report shortly. Following publication of its Part 2 report, the Scottish Government will formally respond to the Taskforce, setting out the actions we will take, in partnership with others, on recommendations from both Taskforce reports.

Our response will be informed by the New Deal for Business sub-group on Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) which will, alongside other matters, consider how non-domestic rates levers support Scotland’s transition to net zero.

(N) The Scottish Government has committed to the development of a just transition plan for Mossmorran following completion of the just transition plan for Grangemouth in 2025. As with the Grangemouth just transition plan, this work will be co-designed with key stakeholders including industry, the workforce and the community. The Scottish Government is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders as part of the scoping phase of this programme of work.

In support of the Scottish Government’s broader aims to protect Scotland’s place in Europe following Brexit and mitigate any associated economic, social and reputational damage, an international marketing campaign called ‘Scotland is Open’ was delivered by Brand Scotland in France, Germany and Spain in 2019.

This ‘Scotland is Open’ campaign aimed to promote Scotland as a welcoming and open country to boost positive perceptions of Scotland as a place to live, work, study, visit and do business with in order to build and maintain strong relationships with the EU and member states.

The campaign included video on demand, paid social, OOH digital display and print advertising ran initially from 29 March until 11 April in 2019. The second burst ran from October until 5 November in 2020 and added Belgium to the international markets targeted.

The creative production and media costs for this two year campaign were funded by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise/SDI.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on how many children and young people have been placed in informal kinship care arrangements in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority. We do, however, hold figures for the number of children who are looked after in kinship care and these are included in the Children’s Social Work Statistics for Scotland.

As stated in the answer to question S6W-29293, NatureScot data does not differentiate between culls undertaken by the private and public sector.

Included below is the information that is held and shows reported culls for the last two years for overall deer cull in Scotland and reported culls for known public owned land. Please note that some areas of public land may be reported through private leases.

Individual MSPs can join the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. To help them make an informed choice, the SPCB will share information with Members about the Scheme and the Armed Forces Covenant. The only charity that the SPCB endorses is Poppy Scotland and the SPCB is proud to show its support to current and former members of the Armed Forces in doing so. 

The announcement of the second tranche of 2024-25 Community Led Local Development (CLLD) funding totalling £4.25m was provided to all delivery stakeholders on the 27 November 2024. Area based allocations have now been issued to the 20 Local Action Groups (LAGs).

It is crucial that we continue to prioritise surveillance to better understand and respond to emerging drug trends. RADAR reports and other surveillance measures play a vital part in providing us with an early warning and to alert services and people who use drugs.

RADAR aims to monitor drug-related harms, service usage and toxicology data to provide an early warning of emerging drug trends and identify actions to reduce and prevent drug harms and deaths.

There is also a focus on ensuring services across Scotland have treatment pathways available for all types of drugs including stimulants, and the Scottish Government work closely with all areas to support them to achieving this successfully.