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The Scottish Government publishes monthly reports on the Scottish economy at:

Economic briefs and bulletins - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

A report was not published in June 2024 due to the pre-election period for the UK General Election.

The Scottish Government supports several small bodies that provide Scots language teaching resources for use in schools. Education Scotland and the Open University also make an important contribution to this. In addition, the Scottish Languages Bill, currently making its way through Parliament includes Scots provisions which will strengthen this support. In relation to Scots provisions, the Bill will also require Scottish Ministers to consult with those that have an interest in both the promotion of Scots and in the publication of Scots books and resources. We are confident that these measures will improve the resources available for teaching Scots in the classroom.

Legislation sets out a wide range of permitted development rights. These allow certain types of development to be carried out without a planning application. In doing so, they help provide certainty and save the time and expense associated with applying for planning permission.

In the first phase of the Scottish Government’s review of permitted development rights, we introduced new PDR for the conversion of certain agricultural and forestry buildings to residential and flexible commercial uses (including shops, food and drink and business uses). We also increased the scale of agricultural buildings that may be built without a planning application. Rural businesses can also make use of and benefit from a range of other PDR.

The information requested on how many epilepsy specialist nurses there have been in each NHS board in each of the past two years is not centrally available.

The assertion that there is no Scottish strategy for decarbonising aviation does not take into account that aviation is reserved or that the UK Government’s Jet Zero Strategy applies throughout the UK. Separately, the Scottish Government’s Aviation Statement has now been published and describes actions we will take to contribute to the global effort to reduce CO2 emissions. The Statement also emphasises that Jet Zero should benefit Scotland and that Ministers will work with the UK Government to secure this aim.

The Scottish Government’s response to the UK Climate Change Committee's report will be published in the coming months.

The decision to allow Heathrow expansion was taken by the Westminster Government and UK Parliament. The Scottish Government’s Memorandum of Understanding with Heathrow Airport ensures that Scotland will benefit from this major infrastructure project, which will bring significant job creation and investment opportunities to Scotland.

The UK Government response to the Climate Change Committee recommendation on airport capacity expansion provides its reasoning as to why it considers a UK-wide airport capacity management framework is not required.

The Scottish Government publishes ‘Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics’ on an annual basis. This contains information on emissions from aviation in Scotland, including flights to Heathrow.

The UK Government’s Jet Zero strategy, with its associated emissions trajectories, will apply throughout the UK. As the Aviation Statement makes clear, it is therefore vital that Jet Zero should benefit Scotland and Ministers will work with the UK Government to secure that aim. Scottish Ministers support the harnessing of new technologies across aerospace to meet climate targets. In addition to the technology-related actions in our Aviation Statement, the Scottish Government has established an expert working group to provide recommendations on increasing the production and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s response to the UK Climate Change Committee's report, including its recommendations on aviation, will be published in the coming months. Our new Aviation Statement clearly sets out the Scottish Government’s actions to support decarbonising aviation and Ministers’ intention to meet regularly with aviation stakeholders to discuss the progress made on reducing emissions. The Aviation Statement should be considered alongside the UK Government’s Jet Zero decarbonisation strategy, which applies across the UK.

This is not the Scottish Government’s policy position. The Memorandum of Understanding with Heathrow notes the potential to offer slots for up to 21 additional daily domestic flights per day. This figure relates to the whole of the UK, not only to Scotland. The amount of capacity between Scotland and Heathrow now and in the future will be determined by airlines matching supply to demand.