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The total size of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is £34 million. The UK government budget committed funding from which Barnett consequentials will be received, however, these are accrued to the Scottish Government as a whole and it is for Scottish Ministers to decide how they should be allocated based on their priorities.

The following table includes estimated costs to extend the 40% relief for hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate to retail premises liable for the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates respectively. These costs are in addition to the forecast cost of the 40% relief for hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate and are net of existing reliefs (such as the Small Business Bonus Scheme) that we expect businesses to be awarded in 2025-26. A £110,000 cap has been applied at business level and a take-up adjustment of 70% has been applied, which is consistent with the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts.

When considering relief for properties liable for the Intermediate and Higher rates, the estimated costs are additional to the cost of relief for retail properties liable for the lower rate(s). Offering 40% relief for retail properties liable for Basic and Intermediate Property Rates, capped at £110,000 per business, for example would cost an estimated £52m (in addition to the cost of offering 40% relief to hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate, capped at £110,000 per business).

Relief cost estimates are based on the property classification as per the valuation roll. Properties could be used for other purposes, however. It should be noted that use-based non-domestic rates relief is only available where a property is wholly or mainly used for a specific purpose.

Source: Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October 2024; local councils’ billing information as at 1 June 2024

The Scottish Government recognises that supporting labour market participation and reducing economic inactivity requires a concerted approach from a range of services, including employability, health and childcare. We are currently taking action to support this, and have committed to doing more through our Programme for Government. For example, we have set out plans to improve access to health services by April 2025, and to implement specialist employability support for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions across all 32 local authorities by Summer 2025.

We publish statistics on the impact of our devolved employability services on a quarterly basis. The most recent publication, which covers up to June 2024, shows that Fair Start Scotland has supported 22,875 job starts since April 2018, and that No One Left Behind has supported 20,743 people to enter employment since April 2019. Although Fair Start Scotland has closed to new referrals, those on the service continue to be entitled to the full offer of support.

No One Left Behind reports on the economic status and long-term health conditions of participants and at the point of accessing services, with 14,025 reporting as economically inactive and 16,594 people reporting a long-term health condition. We will begin to include data on the outcomes achieved by those who are economically inactive at the time of entering No One Left Behind in the coming financial year.

Furthermore, the latest ELC census shows that uptake of the funded ELC offer for 3 and 4 year olds remains near-universal at an estimated 95% of children within that age group, and the latest parent survey shows the 74% of parents using funded ELC said that the funded offer enabled them to work or look for work.

The Scottish Government routinely analyses data on economic inactivity published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and publishes this data on the Scottish Government’s website.

The Labour Market Trends: December 2024 publication was released on 17th December 2024, and contains statistics from ONS’s Labour Force Survey. These show that Scotland had an estimated economic inactivity rate of 24.0% for August to October 2024.

The latest Scotland’s Labour Market Insights statistical publication was released on 28 October 2024, containing statistics from ONS’s Annual Population Survey. This reported that an estimated 786,300 people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive in Scotland in July 2023 – June 2024. An estimated 32.0% of inactive people gave their reason for being inactive as “long-term sick or disabled”. The second most common reason for being economically inactive was being a student (24.6%), followed by looking after “looking after family / home” (16.1%).

Economic inactivity due to ill health is a key concern, and the Scottish Government published analysis in September 2024 on supporting those with longer-term health conditions and disabilities to remain economically active. This is available at: Economic inactivity in Scotland: supporting those with longer-term health conditions and disabilities to remain economically active.

The Scottish Government routinely analyses data on economic inactivity published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and publishes this data on the Scottish Government’s website.

The latest Scotland’s Labour Market Insights statistical publication was released on 28 October 2024, containing statistics from ONS’s Annual Population Survey. This shows that an estimated 17.3 per cent (135,700) of inactive people aged 16 to 64 reported that they wanted to work during the period July 2023 to June 2024.

In addition to making it possible for same sex couples to marry, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 made some changes to marriage procedures. These changes included putting belief celebrants on an equal footing with religious celebrants and making provision so that civil marriage ceremonies can take place anywhere, other than in religious premises, agreed by the couple and the registrar.

We have no plans to review the procedures for getting married but we plan to consult in the next few months on whether the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership should be raised to 18 from 16.

The member is welcome to raise any specific concerns regarding the legal process of getting married with me in writing.

Registration services fees are set by the Registrar General for Scotland with the approval of the Scottish Ministers. The fee for a civil marriage ceremony conducted by a registrar is £55. This fixed fee applies in all parts of Scotland and has been in place since 2010.

Local authorities may charge additional fees to cover extra costs for accommodating additional guests and the use of marriage rooms or the attendance of an authorised registrar at places other than their registration offices. These fees are set by each local authority.

Under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, a registrar cannot issue a Marriage Schedule to permit a marriage to proceed within 28 days of the receipt of a couple’s marriage notices unless the registrar has been authorised to do so by the Registrar General for Scotland after a request by one or both of the parties.

The minimum period following submission of a couple’s marriage notices allows the registrar to carry out the necessary checks on whether there is any legal impediment to the marriage.

The minimum period was increased from 14 days to 28 days by the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.

In exceptional circumstances, for example where a party is terminally ill, or is being immediately deployed overseas with the armed forces, the Registrar General will exercise their discretion and permit a marriage to take place if less notice is given.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review these arrangements.

Registration service fees are set by the Registrar General for Scotland with the approval of the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government has not considered waiving or reducing the statutory fees associated with marriage. The Scottish Government’s policy as set out in guidance in the Scottish Public Finance Manual is that charges for public services should generally allow for full cost recovery: Fees and charges - Scottish Public Finance Manual - gov.scot Consequently, the aim is for local authority registration services to recover the true cost of their statutory services via the fees set by the Registrar General.

With effect from 1 May 2022, the fee for submitting each marriage notice was increased to £45 from £30: The Registration Services (Fees, etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022. This was the first increase in the marriage notice fee since April 2010.

The current fee for a civil marriage ceremony is £55 and the fee for the marriage certificate is £10 if purchasing within a month of the registration of the marriage.

The Scottish Government gathered information in advance of the 2022 Regulations about the overall costs of weddings for many couples: see under the heading of “Consumer Assessment” in the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the 2022 Regulations.