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The Scottish Government has provided the following funding to the Net Zero Technology Centre from its foundation to the end of the second quarter of financial year 2024-25:

• £148,696,581 through the Aberdeen City Region Deal and paid through Aberdeenshire Council as the Deal's Accountable Body (including funding provided on behalf of the UK Government whereby both governments have committed up to £90 million each over 10 years to financial year 2026-27)
• £4,521,000 through the Decommissioning Challenge Fund, payments concluding in financial year 2018-19
• £15,151,601 through the Energy Transition Fund
• £709,126 through the Just Transition Fund.

Scottish Government officials meet quarterly with the Net Zero Technology Centre to discuss a variety of financial matters, including the Centre's plans for future funding beyond the term of the Aberdeen City Region Deal and its journey towards financial self sustainability. Officials will continue to meet with the Centre to discuss these matters for the remainder of the Deal period.

In the last seven years we have invested over £2 million in the Healthy Living Programme, to help convenience stores offer healthier choices. More than two-thirds of the 2,300 strong Healthy Living Programme membership serves the most deprived areas of the country and ensures access to affordable, healthier food and drink in those communities.

Public Health Scotland published an evaluation on the Programme last year: Evaluation of the Scottish Grocers’ Federation Healthy Living Programme - Evaluation of the Scottish Grocers’ Federation Healthy Living Programme - Publications - Public Health Scotland. The evaluation shows that the Programme has increased the availability of healthier options in the sector and provides recommendations to further expand its reach and scope, for instance, through sector-wide healthier promotions.

We have also invested over £600,000 in the last seven years to help smaller businesses reformulate common products to make them healthier. This is playing an important role in improving dietary health by removing hundreds of millions of calories from Scottish food and drink products sold across the country, including deprived areas.

The Reformulation for Health Programme is administered by the Food and Drink Federation Scotland with additional support from Food Standards Scotland, Scotland Food & Drink and trade associations for relevant manufacturing sectors such as Scottish Bakers.

This was also discussed as part of the Population Health Framework development roundtable with Public Health and business stakeholders in September.

Our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan, A healthier future: Scotland's diet and healthy weight delivery plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) set out ambitious and wide-ranging action to deliver our vision for a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight. We are taking forward a range of action across five key outcomes: giving children the best start in life; creating a healthier food environment; better access to weight management services; leadership and reducing health inequalities.

This includes our continued support for convenience stores to increase the accessibility of fruit and vegetables in more deprived areas, supporting businesses to reformulate their products to make them healthier, and maintaining funding to community food networks, to enable them to increase access to affordable, healthier food to their communities and to promote the health benefits of nutrition and physical activity.

We have updated the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations strengthening the provision of balanced and nutritious food to children. Our Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme promotes good nutrition to support healthy physical and brain development through the provision of healthy drinks and snacks in the earliest years.

The annual Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) Scottish Health Survey - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) provides key indicators relating to diet, including fruit and vegetable consumption, weight and physical activity, which we use to monitor progress towards our ambitious aim of halving childhood obesity by 2030.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all children and young people by giving them the best possible start in life.

We expect all local authorities to meet their statutory duty to comply with their statutory duty to comply with the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which are based on scientific evidence and dietary advice designed to ensure children and young people are provided with food and drink which contains an appropriate amount of energy and nutrients to support their healthy growth and development. They also ensure there is a limit to the amount of salt, sugar, fat and saturated fat contained within food and drink offered at any time of the school day, including at meal times.

We recognise that local authorities, and schools themselves, are best placed to decide upon the content of their school menus at the local level given their understanding of local needs and circumstances. Working in partnership with Education Scotland Health and Nutrition Inspectors, who monitor compliance with the Regulations, we continue to support local authorities as they build upon the work already being done to ensure that school meals meet the highest standards of nutrition, recognising that this is vital to supporting our children and young people’s effective learning.

To improve our food environment and support heathier choices, we are committed to legislate to restrict the promotion of food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) at the point of purchase. The consultation on the detail of proposed regulations closed on 21 May 2024 and independent analysis of the responses is underway. The feedback received will be used as part of the policy decision-making process, alongside a range of other available information and evidence.

We support the Healthy Living Programme to help convenience stores offer healthier choices. More than two-thirds of the 2,300 strong Healthy Living Programme membership serves the most deprived areas of the country and ensures access to affordable, healthier food and drink in those communities.

We continue to help smaller businesses to reformulate common products to make them healthier. This is playing an important role in improving dietary health by removing hundreds of millions of calories from Scottish food and drink products sold across the country, including deprived areas.

This was also discussed as part of the Population Health Framework development roundtables with Public Health and Business stakeholders in September.

Any correspondence from members of the UK Parliament will be processed by officials in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code.

As is a matter of public record, Stephen Flynn, MP, contacted the then Minister for Energy and the Environment, Gillian Martin, in October 2023 forwarding on information from Flotation Energy. Mr Flynn asked that Scottish Government officials could review the information below and, if appropriate, arrange contact with those involved to discuss these matters further and stated that no detailed response is required just confirmation the below is receiving attention. A written response was sent to Mr Stephen Flynn MP confirming that officials had reviewed the information provided in his enquiry and that officials were in regular contact with the Green Volt project team on this matter and that discussions are ongoing regarding the progress of the Green Volt application.

Ministerial correspondence received by the Scottish Government is fast-tracked when a Minister or their Private Office determine that a response should be issued in advance of the typical 20 working day deadline the Scottish Government endeavours to meet. There are no set criteria across the organisation for deciding whether correspondence should be fast-tracked. Decisions about whether to fast-track are made on a case by case basis.

It is not practicable to publish all correspondence in relation to marine licence and/or consent applications and subsequent determinations, however key information such as application, consultation responses and decision notices are shared here: https://marine.gov.scot/marine-projects.

The Scottish Government does not collect or record information relating to the volume of ministerial correspondence that is fast-tracked.