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The general Intangible Cultural Heritage principles of transparent collaboration, open communication, mutual respect and inclusivity are echoed across the Scottish Government, as well as across the work delivered by our public and national bodies.

The Scottish Government delivers support for cultural and heritage organisations through the sponsorship of our public bodies. In turn, Historic Environment Scotland and Creative Scotland deliver grant programmes to support many varied heritage, traditional skills and cultural practices.

Museums Galleries Scotland, the national development body for Scotland’s museum sector, also distributes grant funding for the Scottish Government to support accredited museums in Scotland which can also showcase Intangible Cultural Heritage and living heritage.

Overall, more trainee doctor posts have filled in 2023 than any other year on record. 13 posts were advertised in General Psychiatry at ST4 level and 8 (or 61.54%) filled successfully. These figures are accurate as of 25 July and pertain only to the initial recruitment rounds of 2023; end-year data for all UK nations and specialties will be published by NHS England in the coming weeks. We continue to work closely with our partners in NHS Education for Scotland and Health Boards, to consider ways of improving fill rates across all specialities. Examples in Psychiatry include:

• We continue to fund uplifts in Core Psychiatry, therefore bolstering the supply of trainees who can go on to apply for higher specialty training posts at ST4 level. 10 posts were added in 2022, 15 in 2023 and another 12 will be added in 2024.
• A new working group was established in May 2024 to consider how we can better support the recruitment and retention of both trainee and consultant grade psychiatrists. The group is working to produce a set of actions/recommendations on how we can make psychiatry a more attractive place to work. There have been three meetings of the group so far and discussions to date have been constructive. This work involves SG, NHS Education for Scotland, various Health Board representatives (including trainee doctor representatives) and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 came into force in October 2023. As Scotland’s law enforcement body, Police Scotland are responsible for enforcing the Act.

The Deputy First Minister engaged extensively with all Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers, and their officials, when developing the 2024-25 Budget.

Under the terms of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, the statutory deadline for laying a draft of the Climate Change Plan is 22 November 2024. However, statute also requires time for consideration of representations received during the statutory scrutiny period. Exact timings on this matter form part of ongoing consideration on the continued development of the draft Climate Change Plan. I will keep Parliament informed of progress.

The Scottish Government supports various cultural and educational initiatives across the Highlands and Islands which safeguard the living heritage of Gaelic communities. Our support of cultural venues such as Cnoc Soilleir in South Uist and the Islay Gaelic Centre provide innovative modern facilities for the celebration of local Gaelic heritage. As an example of this, Cnoc Soilleir recently hosted the first Gaelic Climate Convention exploring the intersection of local Gaelic culture and actions against climate change.

The Scottish Government funds Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Dìleab project which showcases the cultural history of the Outer Hebrides and creates opportunities for intergenerational learning. The online archive Tobar an Dualchais is a vital resource for accessing Gaelic songs and traditions collected by the School of Scottish Studies since the mid-20th century. Its benefits can be seen, among other places, in the inspiration it provides contemporary Scottish musicians to adapt traditional Gaelic music for a modern audience.

Through initiatives such as these, and our funding of the work done by bodies like Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, MG Alba and Stòrlann, the Scottish Government is working to ensure that the living Gaelic heritage of the Highlands and Islands is protected. Our ongoing work on the Scottish Languages Bill and the Scottish Government response to the Report on Economic and Social Opportunities for Gaelic will build on this important work.

Owner occupied homes which no longer use polluting heating by 2033 will have already, as a result of this change, removed all direct emissions associated with the heating of those homes.

This means that there would be no need for a legal requirement to meet an energy efficiency standard; however, there will still be strong incentives for homeowners to invest in energy efficiency and improvements to the fabric of those homes in order to reduce their energy bills.

The development of the marine planning framework will build on the existing consenting regime for aquaculture developments. Planning permission for finfish and shellfish farms are determined in accordance with National Planning Framework 4 and Scotland’s National Marine Plan. Seaweed farming is subject to the requirements set out under section 15 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 regarding decisions of public authorities affected by marine plans, including the National Marine Plan and any Regional Marine Plan, once adopted.

We will seek to ensure that National Planning Framework 4 and National Marine Plan 2 are aligned and consider any updates which are required to Planning Circular 1/2015: relationship between the statutory land use planning system and marine planning and licencing - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Regional marine plans are developed by Marine Planning Partnerships, and must conform with the National Marine Plan currently in effect. The content of the regional marine plan is for these partnerships to determine based on local priorities.

In 2017 The Scottish Government published a Seaweed Cultivation Policy Statement to help facilitate the growth of the sector by setting out policy on the suitability of seaweed cultivation in different scenarios. This provides those wanting to operate in this sector with a better understanding of the type of development that may be given approval.

We are committed to the sustainable development of our seas and are working with stakeholders on our updated National Marine Plan (NMP2), a key delivery mechanism for Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision. NMP2 will provide the guiding planning framework to support our future licencing and consenting decisions.

We will work with stakeholders from across the marine sectors on the development of NMP2 planning policies to support management of our marine space, and reflecting our latest policy developments, including our recently published Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture which sets out our long-term ambitions for the sustainable development of the finfish, shellfish and seaweed sectors.

The Scottish Government is committed to remediating cladding that poses a fire risk in buildings across Scotland. The Cladding Remediation Programme considers that wooden cladding, including on balcony structures, will be within scope and included as part of the building assessment process. Consideration to wooden balconies is referred to in the Scottish Advice Note (version 2.0), which advises the following: Balconies