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The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Citizenship in an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table.

At COP27, the Former First Minister pledged £5m of funding to address non-economic loss and damage (NELD) over the course of the parliament. Non-economic loss and damage includes, for example, cultural loss, damage to nature and health decline due to climate impacts.

Following the announcement, officials engaged with the international stakeholder community and explored options to deliver the funding. Our priority has been to ensure the funding:

• quickly reaches those who need it, in particular women, in the global south,
• responds to community needs and is participatory in design,
• makes a genuine difference to their lives by allowing them to address the impacts of climate change,
• is well-managed by a credible partner, and
• allows other donors to join the Scottish Government and provide funding.

On this basis, we are delighted to be partnering with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) to deliver the £5m of funding.

CJRF will use the funding to create a programme that will provide grants to support vulnerable global communities impacted by climate change and build grant partners’ capacity through technical assistance, learning and advocacy. The aim of the programme is to enable and support communities facing extreme climate-induced NELD to identify and prioritise the actions that will best address it. The programme will also focus on addressing NELD in a gender-responsive way, ensuring women and girls are given a strong voice throughout all stages of programme design.

In addition to meeting our criteria, CJRF were chosen as the preferred delivery partner on the basis of their ability to obtain additional funding and so to ensure that even more vulnerable communities receive support. We are delighted that Open Society Foundations (OSF) are providing $700,000 of additional funding for the programme, especially to foster youth-led community projects. OSF bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the programme given their historical human right and equity approaches to socio-economic challenges, including through their work on Climate Justice

We hope that this is not the only additional funding. The programme is fiscally sponsored by the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) who can accept other funds from governments, NGOs and the private sector, to address loss and damage. The aim is that Scottish Government’s contribution will galvanise others to pay into the fund to create a large, multi-donor initiative that can support more communities address non-economic loss and damage.

The programme is designed to respond to community needs. These may include, for example, activities to address climate-forced displacement and forced migration, and the myriad of associated losses: of family life, community, and culture; activities to address increases in gender-based violence, domestic abuse, and child marriage due to incessant climate stress. Other losses that communities may prioritise include loss of sites of cultural and/or spiritual importance, loss of language, and traditions.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table.

The publication cost £479.75 to produce. Two Civil Servants were allocated to its production.

We are not, at present, exploring the possibility of providing compensation to land managers in connection with the proposed ban on snares. We are still consulting on our proposals, but at this stage we are of the view that there are strong wildlife welfare reasons for bringing forward a ban. We also have not yet seen evidence of situations where no other form of essential predator or pest control is available.

We understand that in some cases the use of snares may be considered by land managers to be the most cost-effective method of controlling foxes. However we take the view that that animal welfare considerations should take precedence over cost considerations in this instance. We have not seen any evidence so far of any situations where no other form of predator control other than snaring is available to land managers.

As part of our whole system planning to prepare for this coming Winter, we have been working collaboratively with COSLA, NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and other partners to assess and promote whole system resilience across a range of pressures, including any significant increase in COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation. In response to learning lessons from last year, we have started this planning process much earlier and have hosted a Winter Summit for Health and Social Care Leaders this summer.

The Hospital Occupancy and Delayed Discharge Action Plan sets out to local systems the activity that will increase capacity and resilience to manage various pressures including increases in COVID-19 and other infections. Boards and HSCPs are returning a quarterly assessment to give assurance regarding their preparedness as we approach winter and the inevitable surges in illness we will see. As part of our Health and Social Care Winter Plan for 2023-24, we are also seeking assurance from local systems on their preparations through a Winter Checklist.

It will also be critical for the public to be aware and utilise the right care at the right time through the various pathways available to them including community pharmacy, NHS 24 and their own GP.

Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of all NHS Boards, including NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Forth Valley, to discuss the performance and resilience of local services; including winter planning, which has been a priority since the end of last winter.

A formal business impact assessment is not a requirement for measures introduced during the passage of a Bill through Parliament.

We invited the Rural and Environmental Land Management Group to submit a report on the use of snares by Scottish land management businesses. We considered this report alongside a report from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission. We concluded that other, more humane, methods of predator control such as shooting and trapping are available to land managers in most circumstances and that a ban on the use of snares would have a significant benefit for wildlife welfare with only a minor impact on some rural businesses.

The Scottish Government revised the Code of Conduct for Property Factors in August 2021 to make it clearer, to drive up standards and to improve transparency and consistency. The changes ensured that the Code remains up to date and responds to concerns raised by homeowners.

There is evidence that the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 is working as intended. However, officials will be taking a wider look at the operation of the property factor sector to see what more can be done to promote an ongoing improvement in standards in line with the requirements currently set out in legislation.