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In the 2023-24 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to pilot a new aquaculture consenting process in two local authority areas to help deliver a more streamlined regime across Scotland.

I am pleased to inform Parliament that pilots for a new pre-application consenting process for fish farm developments are underway in the Shetland and Highland local authority areas.

The commencement of these pilots is a result of the work undertaken by the Consenting Task Group, which I established in November 2022 to consider the recommendations of the Independent Review of Aquaculture Consenting and to identify and pilot improvements to the consenting system.

The Consenting Task Group, which includes representatives from the fish farming sector, SEPA, local authorities and other regulators, have worked together to co-design a new management process which maintains robust assessment of development proposals, but which coordinates and enables appropriately informed regulatory decisions to be made as quickly as possible.

During the pilot phase, the Consenting Task Group will continue to meet on a quarterly basis to share key learnings and make improvements as part of an iterative review process.

I would like to thank the Consenting Task Group’s Chair, Professor Dickon Howell, and all the task group members for their contributions to the pilots and I look forward to further progress. Information on the work of the Consenting Task Group is available on the Scottish Government webpages.

Sandeel aid the long-term sustainability and resilience of the marine environment and are an important food source for many species, including marine mammals, seabirds and predatory fish. It is therefore critical that we manage our marine environment in a such a way as to ensure its sustainable use, protecting biodiversity and ensuring healthy functioning ecosystems. I am therefore pleased to announce today that following full consideration of the all the consultation responses, we will be proceeding with prohibiting fishing for sandeel in all Scottish waters.

I would like to thank everyone that responded to the consultation. We received a total of 494 written representations from individuals and organisations including the fishing sector, renewable energy developers and recreational interests covering a range of issues, as well as 9,815 campaign submissions. This emphasises the strong interest from both the public and sectors, for which there was overwhelming support for the option to prohibit fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters with 97% or respondents indicating support.

The Sandeel (Prohibition of fishing) (Scotland) Order 2024 will be laid in Parliament on 5 February 2024 and will come into force on 26 March 2024 ahead of the 2024 fishing season.

The Scottish Government continues to deliver on its commitment to build the case for an independent Scotland in the EU, giving people the information they need to make an informed choice about their future, as set out in the recent Programme for Government. I’m pleased to confirm that on 2 February we are publishing ‘Our Culture in an Independent Scotland’.

This is the tenth paper in the Building a New Scotland series, which focusses on Scotland’s cultural and creative industries, providing detailed proposals on how an independent Scotland would further support Scotland’s creative economy, how an independent Scotland could realise the potential of our culture and creative sectors on the international stage by re-joining the European Union and removing barriers for international performers, how public service broadcasting would be protected with independence, and how Scotland can build on the strength of our screen sector.

I can also confirm that we intend to bring the matters raised in this publication forward for a debate in the Chamber as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government is continuing to prepare further papers in the Building a New Scotland series and these will be published in the coming months.

The Our Culture in an Independent Scotland paper will be available to view on the Scottish Government website from Friday morning at www.gov.scot/newscotland .

Scotland really is a land of food and drink, with so many high quality and delicious products, renowned and sought after at home and internationally. That’s why making the most of the fantastic food and drink produced here in Scotland has always been at the heart of the Scottish Government’s food policies.

We want everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy food and drink produced locally and for producers of all sizes to access the markets on their doorsteps. So today, the Scottish Government is publishing "Local Food for Everyone: Our Journey" – our Local Food Strategy.

This Strategy has been developed following the Local Food for Everyone consultation and outlines how the Scottish Government and partners will ensure the people of Scotland continue to have access to the best produce Scotland has to offer.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed their thoughts, views, ideas and experiences to help inform the development and content of the Strategy.

Link to "Local Food for Everyone: Our Journey" https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835217696

The decision to withdraw services is solely a matter for the local council or transport authority to consider and must comply with guidance as set out by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner who is the licensing authority in Scotland. They must give 42 days notice to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner of the cancellation, from the date that the Office of the Traffic Commissioner receives it.

The majority of bus services in Scotland are operated on a commercial basis by private bus companies in the open de-regulated market. Provided an operator registers a service with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner they can set routes, timetables and fares. Commercial viability and patronage on individual routes is considered commercially sensitive information, and is not currently shared with the Scottish Government.

Full guidance on the rules which must be adhered to can be found on the website of the Office of the Traffic Commissioner - Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

The Scottish Government has no plans to fund a fish counter on the River Dee .

A report detailing the impact of the initial pilot by Maggie’s can be found here .

From November 2021 to December 2023, 2494 people affected by cancer have been supported via Maggie’s.

During the initial pilot phase, people with 34 different cancer types, including those with multiple cancers, attended the prehabilitation workshops. 59% of attendees were people affected by prostate and bowel cancers. The trend is similar in the period from April to December 2023, however those affected by breast and lung cancers make up a larger percentage of attendees than in the pilot phase.

77% of those providing feedback said the prehabilitation workshops delivered by Maggie’s had a positive impact on their health engagement. In addition, more than 90% said they felt better able to make positive changes to their physical activity, emotional well-being, and diet/nutrition.

The prehabilitation website referred to in response to question S6W-24556 on
‎ 25 January 2024 is available to those who prefer to source information online, and a Scottish Health Technology Assessment is in progress to help Scottish Government understand the potential for digital solutions to delivering prehabilitation. Finally, in collaboration with NHS Education Scotland, a training plan is in development that will support national scale up of the Maggie’s workshops via other willing providers.

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 .

As set out in our draft budget the capital funding position is extremely challenging, with a UK Government cut of some 10% in our capital budget over the next five years. That has inevitably led to some difficult decisions on what capital projects will be progressed.

Kincardine and Lochgelly Medical Centres were not included within the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26, which identified the priority health capital projects for funding within that period. The Scottish Government will bring forward a revised Infrastructure Investment Plan in the spring, alongside the medium-term financial strategy, at which point we would hope that the fiscal outlook will be clearer.

The UK Government notified its intention to ratify the UNESCO convention for safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage on 23 December 2023. The Scottish Government will work with the other UK nations alongside key Scottish stakeholders to consider the most appropriate methods of implementing the convention once ratified.

The Scottish Government is unaware of any cases of cultural, arts or heritage organisations which have agreed Intangible Cultural Heritage principles and then not abided by them.

The Scottish Government Office in Copenhagen has operated with 3 members of staff since its established in 2022.