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The Scottish Government recognises that a diverse and successful ports sector contributes significantly to national, regional and local economies. We continue to work with the ports sector to explore avenues of funding for diversifying and reducing the carbon impact of port operations.

Scotland’s ongoing programme of planning reform is refocusing planning on improving the quality of our places. We are undertaking a review of National Planning Policy in Scotland with a view to publishing National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) in 2022. This will be Scotland’s long-term development strategy, the direction of travel for which is set out in the NPF4 Position Statement published in November 2020. Permitted development rights (PDR) refer to those types of development for which planning permission is granted by national legislation, meaning they can be carried out without needing to submit a planning application. Port operators in Scotland already have broad PDR under Part 13 of Schedule 1 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992. As we noted in the draft Green Port Applicant Prospectus published in March 2021, the Scottish Government will consider whether port operators’ existing PDR remain fit-for-purpose.

Despite its forthcoming launch, there has been little detail shared or dialogue with Scotland on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It remains unclear how much Scotland will receive or on what basis our allocation will be decided. It is extremely disappointing that the UK Government has again decided to use the powers it has given itself in the Internal Market Act to introduce a scheme which bypasses the Scottish Government and stakeholders.

The Scottish Government extended the designation of Scotland’s current network of Enterprise Areas until March 2022. Informed by findings from a survey we commissioned in November 2020 regarding place-based economic initiatives, and the report of a Scottish Enterprise evaluation of Enterprise Areas, the future format for Enterprise Areas will be confirmed later this year.

In the period October to December 2020:

• There were 3,502 eligible referrals for the 62-day standard, an increase of 14.9%.
• There were 5,697 eligible referrals within the 31-day standard, an increase of 14.7% from the previous quarter.

The below tables outline Eligible Referrals broken down by central region.

Eligible referrals for the 31-day standard (rate per 100,000 of population):

Neither the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care, nor Scottish Government officials have engaged with ServiceNow. NHS National Services Scotland are responsible for the development and operational performance of the Service Now platform which is used as part of the overall digital solution for Covid Vaccinations, and it is for NHS National Services Scotland to manage the performance of their suppliers.

To manage the volume of vaccination appointments based on available supply we intentionally limited the initial functionality of the Citizen Portal system. The portal can currently be used to reschedule appointments. Unpaid carers and 18-29 year olds can also register online to receive their appointment.

We are exploring ways to allow people to book their own appointments.

Fire safety remains our priority and changes to the requirement for fire and carbon monoxide detectors in all homes mean that everyone will benefit from the same level of protection, whether they own their home or rent. The regulations will come into force on 1 February 2022 as scheduled. We will be undertaking a comprehensive awareness raising campaign which will look to help support people to fit the necessary alarms to the new standard.

We are currently planning for an extensive marketing campaign to take place throughout this year to reinforce how people can effectively reduce the risk of fire in their homes and highlighting the changes coming into force in February 2022.

We are continuing to work with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, as well as local authorities, to ensure people have the support and advice they need to meet the new requirements. Our regularly updated online Q and A has been providing advice for householders since 2018 and SFRS have signposted and highlighted the changes though various social media channels.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting and improving water quality across Scotland. We will continue to work with a range of stakeholders to ensure water quality at Ayr Beach achieves the best possible status. This includes Scottish Water, SEPA, Keep Scotland Beautiful, the agricultural sector, South Ayrshire Council and local communities.

Given the importance of sandeels to the wider ecosystem and the subsequent benefit in aiding long-term sustainability and resilience, it remains an overarching Scottish Government position, which is reflected in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, not to support fishing for sandeels in our waters. During the parliamentary session on the 09 June, I committed to looking at this issue as a matter of urgency and to consider what additional measures we can put in place to manage the North Sea sandeel fisheries in the most sustainable way possible.

There are also a number of measures already in place for the protection of sandeel stocks in the North Sea. The Northeast UK closed area means that that over half the grounds of sandeel area 4 are closed to fishing. In addition, the Scottish Government has made major steps in protecting areas of key importance to sandeel through the designation of a network of Marine Protected Areas focussed on areas important to sandeel populations.

Marine Scotland monitors fishing activity and sandeel abundance off our east coast, including the Turbot Bank nature conservation marine protected area (MPA). The last research survey in December 2020 found high numbers of sandeels within this MPA. Marine Scotland scientists collaborate in sandeel assessments conducted by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES). ICES reports annual sandeel landings at the level of ICES statistical rectangles, as for most commercial fish stocks. The ICES rectangles containing the Turbot Bank nature conservation MPA also include other sandeel grounds and so no landings are available for just the MPA. Since 2014, fishing has taken place in the ICES rectangles containing the MPA in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Nevertheless, based on vessel monitoring, there was no evidence of fishing in the MPA until this year when fishing appeared to extend to the eastern edge of this area.

Explanatory note:

Each ICES statistical rectangle is '30 min latitude by 1 degree longitude' in size which is approximately 30 nautical miles by 30 nautical miles