Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Joint Working Group last met on the 29 January 2025. The group discussed and approved a programme of engagement on long-term Council Tax reform.

Engagement aims to gather opinions on changes to Council Tax that could be debated by Parliament that will enhance the fairness and effectiveness of the current system. Preparatory work is already underway, with plans to commence engagement activities in August.

The Group will next meet on the 4 March 2025 where they will discuss the implementation of the Council Tax programme of engagement.

The minutes for the 18 April 2024 and 24 October 2024 meetings of the Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform are available on the Group webpage. The webpage can be accessed at the following link, Local government finance sources and council tax reform: joint working group - gov.scot.

A progress report on the Fair Work Action Plan (FWAP) was included in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) annual report in 2024. It is anticipated that the next FWAP progress report will be published alongside the third NSET annual report later this year. This will provide updates on the FWAP outcome progress indicators, in line with the approach set out in the Fair Work Evidence Plan.

Oversight of the FWAP is provided by the Fair Work Oversight Group who meet biannually to consider progress against outcomes.

While employment law is reserved, the Scottish Government is using the levers we have to strengthen effective voice and collective bargaining, with a focus on low-paid and precarious sectors, including through our flagship Fair Work First policy. Work is ongoing through the Fair Work in Social Care Group to finalise an approach to sectoral bargaining for the adult social care sector. Although complex, once developed and introduced, this will encourage improvements in the terms and conditions of the social care workforce, specific to the roles and responsibilities across this sector.

The Scottish Government is committed to promoting collective bargaining and, despite financial constraints, we continue to provide funding and support to trade unions, recognising their role in advancing fair work across Scotland.

Given the significant challenges facing public finances at that time, utilising reserves that had been built up over time from underspend of previous allocations to reinvest in support of multidisciplinary team implementation was a prudent use of public funds. At the same time, the Scottish Government increased the recurring funding available for these teams through the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) to £170 million in 2022-23 to support Integration Authorities to continue to work with local partners to increase and enhance capacity in primary care services. We are now investing over £190 million annually in the implementation of primary care multidisciplinary teams through the PCIF as well as additional funding for annual pay uplifts.

We are investing over £190 million annually in the implementation of primary care multidisciplinary teams through the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) as well as additional funding for annual pay uplifts. The utilisation of PCIF funding held in reserve from the previous year to support in-year PCIF objectives is an approach we have now taken for a number of years. It is prudent to reinvest these public funds given the challenging financial context.

Flytipping is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, albeit one in relation to which a Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued to discharge any liability to criminal conviction. Through our National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, we are working with stakeholders to improve reporting, investigation, and enforcement. We will continue engaging with Local Authorities, Police Scotland, and SEPA to ensure they have the necessary tools to tackle flytipping effectively.

The master of the vessel convicted of fishing in the South Aran Marine Protected Area was initially offered a £10,000 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), the maximum permitted under the FPN scheme. This consisted of £4,000 for the "access offence" and £6,000 for the value of the catch, as determined when the catch was inspected by Marine Directorate Officers at the time of landing. The FPN was not paid and the case was reported the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service and the case went to trial where the master was fined £4175 by the Sheriff.

The catch consisted of 914kg of king scallops, which was sold to a merchant. The merchant provided the Marine Directorate with a salenote stating the value of the catch was £4548.50. The value of the catch would have been paid to the owner of the vessel.

Further details of the FPN are available - Marine compliance: fixed penalty notices - gov.scot

As this is an operational matter, I have asked Scottish Water and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to reply. Their responses are as follows:

a)

Not all spills from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are sewage spillages – CSOs are an integral part of the sewer network, designed to spill during heavy rainfall to prevent sewage backing up and flooding homes and businesses. Normally, what is spilled is wastewater which has been highly diluted by rain water - the toilet sewage element is less than 1% of the total volume.

Considering locations where Scottish Water is required to report annually to SEPA and where it has a long-term record of overflow events, there has been no recent increase in event frequency or in total event duration. In 2024, Scottish Water was able to publish some further overflow event information for other locations where it has reliable data. However, Scottish Water does not have long-term trend information at these locations.

The publication of information for additional locations has the effect of increasing the number of overflow events / duration for locations in the Firth of Clyde. As Scottish Water has deployed more Event Duration Monitors (EDMs) over the whole country, it expects that the total number of overflow events and durations included in the published dataset will increase.

b)

The SEPA responds to public and Scottish Water notifications of pollution from sewage and carries out a programme of inspections of sewer networks and sewage treatment sites. SEPA is not aware of an escalation in incidences of polluting sewage spillages into the Firth of Clyde. However, where sewer overflows are causing a water quality impact, SEPA works with Scottish Water through River Basin Management Planning to prioritise investment.

Up until six years ago the River Clyde was in the worst category for water quality and was classified as Bad by SEPA. Between 2010 and 2021, £610 million was invested by Scottish Water in wastewater assets bringing significant water quality improvements. The Clyde is now moving up classification and is into Good in a number of aspects. Aquatic species are returning to the waters, which supports a much more diverse aquatic life such as fish and birds with Atlantic Salmon returning.

The Scottish Government is aware of the concerns raised by the Foreign Affairs Committee regarding equipment manufactured by Hikvision, and other such companies, where such companies are subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China

Scottish Government, as part of the already underway replacement integrated security system, decommissioned all Hikvision cameras across its estate last year.

As indicted by the First Minister’s answer to S6F-03667 on 9 January 2025, any decision on security cameras used by other public sector organisations is for them to make. Although public agencies may choose to follow the Scottish Government’s lead in decommissioning all Hikvision cameras in the Scottish Government estate, they are under no obligation or duty to do so.

We encourage all organisations to follow National Cyber Security Centre supply-chain security guidance when selecting a technology supplier. The guidance clearly sets out the security standards that suppliers should meet and the considerations that organisations should make during the procurement process.

All answers to oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for the Official Report can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

My December 2025-25 Budget announcement included the commitment to conduct our first five-year review of LBTT by the end of this Parliament, to support an evaluation of key aspects of the tax legislation, including the application of the ADS where exceptional circumstances and events occur.

As part of this review, officials will engage a range stakeholders and members of the public on a range of general and specific relating to the LBTT and Additional Dwelling Supplement legislation.

The upcoming review will in part look to build further understanding on the impact of the ADS where difficult or exceptional circumstances apply, as well as understanding any complexities and uncertainties for the tax system for accommodating any subsequent changes.

The review, which will commence this coming spring, will support decisions in the next Parliament on the case for any legislative changes.