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We are committed to publishing an International Culture Strategy in March 2024. This will set out a number of actions to support the international objectives and ambitions of Scotland’s culture sector.

No estimate of food waste targets was set in 2016. The intention was for the Food Waste Reduction Action Plan to be reviewed in 2021, to set out progress on tackling food waste. The Review was delayed due to COVID-19 and was published in January 2024 ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/review-2019-food-waste-reduction-action-plan/ ), alongside an updated Scottish Food Waste Estimate ( https://cdn.zerowastescotland.org.uk/managed-downloads/mf-cdtg7vnr-1696942041d ).

Since 2019 Scottish Government has provided £750k to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). This funding was transferred on 1 December 2023 in response to UNRWA’s flash appeal for those caught up in the conflict between Hamas and Israel. This funding was a one-off contribution in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We have no plans for further contributions at this point in time.

Clean Air Day (CAD) is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the impacts of poor air quality on human health and the environment and the actions to address it. CAD 2023 saw a variety of events taking place across the country such as poster competitions for schools, presentations about air quality, health walks, fuel efficient driving, green travel surveys to vehicle idling campaigns, alongside activity on social media platforms.

The Scottish Government supported the delivery of CAD 2023 in Scotland through funding to Environmental Protection Scotland and Global Action Plan. SEPA and the Scottish Government also run a range of air quality activities throughout the year.

The Scottish Government did not provide funding to The Active Learning Centre (ALC) in 2019 or in any year since. The last International Development Fund (IDF) funding to ALC was for a 3-year project between 2008 and 2011, for a project called Women’s rights and advocacy: Capacity building to support the implementation of gender equality.

In my letter of 18 January 2024 to the Convener of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport committee (see at this link Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity (parliament.scot) ), I confirmed that Scottish Government officials regularly meet with the Office for the Internal Market (OIM) to discuss a range of issues related to its functions, including horizon scanning of potential legislation across the UK. These discussions are open dialogues where either party can raise any issue for discussion. They can involve high level intelligence sharing, as well as more detailed discussions of specific policy areas.

To date, there has not been a specific discussion on the proposed provisions of the Scottish Circular Economy Bill as part of this engagement. Wider circular economy issues such as deposit return schemes and single-use plastics policies across UK nations have been discussed.

Thanks to continued investment from Scottish Government, the screen sector in Scotland continues to grow. The 2021 Economic Value of the Screen Sector in Scotland Report showed a rise from £567 million GVA in 2019 to £627 million GVA in 2021.

Scottish Government has a strong track record of supporting the Screen Sector and since 2018, has provided £50 million to Screen Scotland in regular Grant in Aid funding with an additional £14.8 million (£14,749,690) funding provided for Covid-19 support, skills, studios, and cinema projects.

This funding has enabled Screen Scotland to provide specialist support across the industry, including for new productions, skills and training programmes, and the film exhibition sector.

We remain committed to the screen and wider culture sector and are increasing funding to the culture sector by £15.8m next financial year to £196.6m, which is the first step on the route to investing at least £100m more annually in culture and the arts by the financial year 2028-29. In 2025-2026 we aim to provide an additional £25m to the culture sector.

This investment will drive up opportunities for participation in creative pursuits, support the production of new works, increase skills provision, and ensure that Scotland’s cultural output has platforms at home and abroad.

We are continually seeking new opportunities to support and grow the screen sector and we are committed to ensuring that the exceptional growth experienced in recent years continues to develop our sustainable creative economy, making Scotland an attractive production base and place for people in the creative industries to live and work.

As set out in the International Strategy, we want to build on Scotland’s long history of excellence in the cultural and higher education sectors. This is why we have published a standalone International Higher Education Strategy. Universities Scotland and Colleges Scotland were engaged in the development of the strategy which outlines how we will work collaboratively with the higher education sector to achieve our joint ambitions:

• attract global students, staff, and researchers to help diversify our international student population and support them to maximise their contribution to Scotland.
• as an outward looking, inclusive nation that values our international education capabilities and export potential, we will work with universities and colleges, to maximise our social, educational and economic contribution globally.
• as a world leader in international education, research and knowledge exchange, deepen our global collaborations and engagements .

We have also committed to publishing an International Culture Strategy, which will build on the work that the Scottish Government already does to showcase the sector and facilitate opportunities for international collaboration .

The Scottish Government welcomed the Climate Emergency Response Group’s (CERG) annual report, which set out their four key areas of proposed action.

We are already taking action to address many of the issues highlighted by CERG, including: undertaking a pilot this year to introduce a net zero assessment of Scottish Government policies; publishing the final route map to reduce car kilometres; and through our commitment of £1.8 billion of funding over this Parliament towards heat and energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Government looks forward to continuing our engagement with the CERG on tackling the climate crisis.

The Scottish Government does not compare or analyse outcomes data from the National Standardised Assessments for Scotland against Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels data, as these each have a distinct purpose and should not be compared directly.

The National Standardised Assessments for Scotland have been designed to provide diagnostic information to teachers, schools and local authorities on children’s progress in aspects of literacy and numeracy, and to inform next steps in learning and teaching. They provide teachers with a valuable additional source of nationally standardised information to add to their existing understanding of children’s progress. NSA data can be used as a part of a range of evidence when assessing children’s achievement of the relevant Curriculum for Excellence levels. However, they do not assess whether learners have or have not achieved a level within the Curriculum for Excellence.