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No meetings between Ministers and the Clyde Catamaran Group have taken place in that time period. However, a meeting with the CCG has been arranged and I look forward to hearing the Group’s proposals.

No office has failed to deliver towards any of the strategic objectives. The progress made towards, or challenges against, achieving strategic objectives are best understood as cumulative.

Scotland’s international network comprises a broader range of partners who support our efforts across trade, investment and diplomacy. Colleagues both in Scotland and in our international offices across Scottish Government and Scottish Development International contribute together towards trade and investment measures for international sales and jobs.

The Scottish Government’s international network of offices deliver benefits to Scotland across all five strategic objectives. This is reflected in the annual monitoring and evaluation report submitted each financial year.

Monitoring and evaluation reports outline the work undertaken by each office to progress against each strategic objective; and to contribute towards ensuring they provide value for money. As part of this, offices highlight challenges as well as outlining potential and/or planned areas for improvement. In recent years this has included factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative impact Brexit continues to have on our economy, jobs and trade.

We recognise that there are areas where improvements can be made. The Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s report into the Scottish Government’s international work, published last year, highlights the challenges in measuring the impact of diplomacy and soft power, as well as quantifying areas through metrics and performance indicators as direct and immediate benefits.

This is an area where we are committed to a continuous cycle of improvement alongside ensuring our international work is measurable, transparent and available to the public. From this year, we will publish an annual report explaining how our international offices work to promote our values, objectives and priorities across the globe.

Details of progress made against each strategic objective are as follows:

Reputation

• The recently published Nation Brands Index (NBI) 2022 survey, which scores and ranks countries against six dimensions (culture, tourism, governance, immigration and investment, exports, and people) demonstrated that Scotland has achieved its highest ever reported score, jumping to 65.3 out of 100, compared to a score of 62.6 out of 100 in 2020.
• The work of the international offices in maintaining and promoting Scotland’s image abroad via facilitating collaborations, developing networks, and hosting officials and events is a key contributor to Scotland’s overall international reputation.

Trade & Investment

• The most recent monitoring and evaluation report of the offices demonstrated that cumulatively the forecast international sales within each location country as a result of SDI support totalled approximately £972,000,000 in 2021/22.
• Another source of evidence was the EY 2022 Attractiveness Survey which demonstrated that Scotland was the most successful national or region within the UK, outside London, in attracting foreign direct investment.

Research & Innovation

• Scottish education has a worldwide reputation for excellence in teaching and research and each of the international offices undertakes work to help facilitate and develop further research and innovation opportunities abroad.
• Recent examples include funding which was secured in Germany to facilitate a bilateral research collaboration in the fields of hydrogen, life sciences and biotechnology, as well as capacity building work around the Horizon Europe programme.
• In Brussels we have also worked to ensure Scotland is able to retain a role in European organisations which facilitate research, development and innovation collaboration such our membership of the Vanguard Initiative - a network of some 30 European regions.

Scotland’s Interests in the EU and Beyond

• Protecting and promoting Scotland’s interests in the EU and beyond is a key focus of Scotland’s international network. Our network comprises offices from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise (SE) through the latter’s international trade and investment delivery arm, Scottish Development International (SDI). Collectively this network supports activity by the Scottish Government, its agencies and public and private sector partners, in strategic locations outside Scotland.
• A key feature of the international offices’ activities in this domain includes the work of the GlobalScot network, a worldwide network of entrepreneurial and inspirational business leaders, dedicated to supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies. Within the most recent measurement and evaluation report for the offices it was demonstrated that the network continues to grow.
• The GlobalScot network now comprises 1200 individuals globally, of whom 545 are in Europe (January 2023). GlobalScots can be found in 68 countries and represent all key sectors.
• Trade and investment envoys are also a central part of Scotland’s international business network. They are ministerial appointed to promote international trade and investment interests, strengthen local market knowledge in the countries and sectors they represent and provide strategic business insight and connections. There are eleven trade and investment envoys working in a non-political capacity across specific markets and/or sectors.

The Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland. We rely on Historic Environment Scotland as the experts to conserve and protect our important heritage assets for current and future generations to enjoy and benefit from. I am pleased that Historic Environment Scotland provided £500,000 for the Union Chain Bridge project to fund repair work. As the site visit that was carried out at the Union Chain Bridge is an operational matter for Historic Environment Scotland, I have asked it to write to the member with a more detailed answer to his question.

The British Retail Consortium publication, Crime Survey 2023 Report, does not have a Scotland specific section, but does include references to the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 contained within it.

The report highlights the use of the new Act in dealing with incidents against retail workers in Scotland. The report also highlights the importance of retailer reporting of incidents and an effective response by the criminal justice system.

The Scottish Government considers those working in Scotland's retail sector do a valuable job and never more so during the recent challenging times of the pandemic. They, like anybody, should be able to work without fear of abuse. The Scottish Government supported the Protection of Workers legislation, which was a Members’ bill, when it went through Parliament. We fully support independent law enforcement agencies having the powers they need to deal with attacks and threats made against retail workers.

The Scottish Government does not hold the full level of information requested for reasons outlined in our answer to your recent question S6W-15113 on 7 March 2023. We do know that our delivery partner the Fuel Bank Foundation has found that in the current financial year, around four in every ten applications have come from households which include at least one child under the age of 16, or if in education, under 18.

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

This information is not held centrally.

Please see the answers to your questions in the following table. There were no Forced Marriage Protection orders issued or breached prior to the 2017-18 financial year.

As I have said previously, oil and gas exploration and production, including licensing, remains reserved to UK Government. Our position on oil & gas licensing is clear , unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and meeting the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees. Nor is it the right solution to the real cost of living crisis families are facing, when to reduce energy costs we need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. This means investing more in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

W e have consistently called on the UK Government, to urgently re-assess all approved offshore oil and gas licenses where drilling has not yet commenced, against our climate commitments.

Instead of licensing for more fossil fuel extraction, the UK Government should be encouraging investment in renewables and supporting a just transition for our energy sector and for Scottish households, and businesses.

As per previous Climate Change plans, it must contain policies and proposals, by sector, for meeting the economy wide annual emissions reduction targets for each year. The Plan will also set out for the first time the costs and benefits (including financial cost, emissions and jobs) of the policies it contains, as well as setting out how it will affect different sectors of the Scottish economy and different regions in Scotland.

The initial approach for the Single Building Assessment pilot involved giving grants to homeowners through a property factor. Sixteen Single Building Assessments were commissioned through this approach, which is referred to as Pathway 1. In May I confirmed to Parliament that the Scottish Government would move to directly procuring Single Building Assessments, an approach termed Pathway 2. Eight Single Building assessments have been, or are in the process of being, commissioned through the Pathway 2 route. In addition three Single Building Assessments are being commissioned in partnership with developers. Fourteen Single Building Assessment reports have been submitted to the Scottish Government and remediation has started on one building.