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Our Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change (PES) highlights the importance of effective engagement to build support for climate action. The Scottish Government continues to build on outcomes from Scotland’s most recent Climate Assembly, by delivering a programme of participative engagement in support of the just transition planning process. We are exploring options to establish an additional participative process to engage the public in order to build understanding of the transition to a net zero and climate resilient Scotland. This is further to our existing engagement work, including the £5.5m Community Climate Action Hubs, £425k Climate Action Schools programme, and awarding funding of £272k through our Climate Engagement Fund.

The Scottish Government is committed to considering options for a carbon land tax, to further incentivise peatland restoration and afforestation.

Any potential new measures must be rigorously assessed and based on strong evidence to ensure they serve their objective and avoid unintended consequences.

Internal policy discussions involving a range of departments and Scottish Government Agencies are ongoing to identify potential options for a carbon land tax.

We will soon begin work to consult with a range of stakeholders, including landowners, to explore all available options and to understand their potential impacts.

Development of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) Delivery Plan is underway. This takes account of the current financial climate and is examining existing schemes across all modes in addition to the longer term STPR2 recommendations.

The latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts, following the UK Government Autumn Budget Statement, show an improved medium term outlook for capital. The Scottish Government will continue to consider its longer-term infrastructure plans after we receive clarity from the UK Government over our multi-year capital funding envelope in the Spring.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has provided interest free loans worth over £223 million to individuals and businesses across Scotland to support the transition to zero emission/ultra-low emission vehicles.

This financial year we are providing £15 million of loan funding to further accelerate the shift to zero emission transport. To support a just transition to net zero, funding has now been prioritised to focus solely on lower income households, as well as households in rural and Island locations, in addition to the taxi sector.

Recipients of the loan as well as individuals who reside in rural and Island locations can also access the domestic charge point fund which will provide up to £400 of funding to support the installation of a charge point for an electric vehicle.

Both of these funds are delivered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of Scottish Ministers, additional information on the schemes supporting the transition to Net Zero and funded by the Scottish Government can be found here - Grants and loans to help you travel greener - Energy Saving Trust.

The Scottish Government welcomes the work of the independent Green Heat Finance Taskforce and looks forward to receiving its Part 2 report shortly. Following publication of its Part 2 report, the Scottish Government will formally respond to the Taskforce, setting out the actions we will take, in partnership with others, on recommendations from both Taskforce reports.

Our response will be informed by the New Deal for Business sub-group on Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) which will, alongside other matters, consider how non-domestic rates levers support Scotland’s transition to net zero.

On 18 April 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy made a statement to the Scottish Parliament confirming that the Scottish Government’s ambition and legal commitment to reach net zero by 2045 remains unchanged.

In the statement the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy announced several new measures aimed at accelerating Scotland’s journey to net zero, including a pilot scheme with some Scottish farms to establish future appropriate uptake of methane supressing feed products.

There has been significant development in this area in recent years and it is taking time to develop the details of a pilot which could explore options for recognising appropriate use of these products and other practices which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms. Further information on the timetable of a pilot project will be shared as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government is committed to the long-term delivery of Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs). Having recently concluded a pilot programme in four regions across Scotland, Officials are working to consolidate learning and are co-developing an approach that will see the transition from pilot into formal initiative.

This work will directly inform the wider rollout of RLUPs beyond the four regions, providing a clear framework that will support us in bringing new regions into the program.

Funding certainty and market stability for farmers is absolutely crucial and we want to do all that we can to try to ensure that that is the case in Scotland. As announced at February’s NFU Scotland Conference, Tiers 1 and 2 will receive at least 70% of the available budget. Work on the future framework is continuing to be developed and any announcements will be made in due course. As always, we are committed to working with the industry to co-develop the new payment framework to ensure there are no cliff edges.

Supported businesses have produced approximately 33% of uniforms supplied to NHS Scotland over the last three years.

There is no minimum percentage of uniforms that must be produced by supported businesses for the NHS Scotland uniform contract. The current contract is based on the volumes ordered by health boards and so allows for fluctuations in demand.