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The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a new Scotland paper, 'Independence in the modern world. Wealthier, happier, fairer: why not Scotland?', are set out in the following table.

The Regulations underpinning Scotland’s DRS state what factors need to be considered when developing the retailer handling fee. The Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd, followed a robust, independent process that considered these factors to set handling fee structure.

There are no current plans to implement a Primary Authority system for devolved regulation. However, as part of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation we have set out that we are working with stakeholders to consider how regulation can be used to support economic and societal aims and use this work to continuously improve the approach to regulation in the future. This will include reviewing existing powers and processes to identify where changes could be made to support both businesses and regulators in achieving our strategic aims.

In the development phase of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, we analysed future predicted coverage data supplied by mobile network operators. These indicated plans for commercial deployment on Barra. State Aid regulations then in force precluded S4GI deployment where there was planned commercial investment. On that basis, it was not possible to include candidate locations on Barra within the scope of the programme, and as consulted on as part of public consultations conducted by the programme in 2017 and in 2018.

Following the ScotWind and clearing announcements, the Scottish Government is undertaking a review and re-assessment of the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (SMP-OWE). As part of this process, the draft review of the SMP-OWE and associated assessments will be consulted upon in Spring/Summer 2023. The consultation is planned to last 12 weeks. Fisheries representatives will also be asked to form part of the review steering group.

The costs of global failure to address the climate emergency would be enormous and the Scottish Government is committed to leading the way in delivering early action to reduce emissions while at the same time positioning Scotland to secure and share the opportunities from the transition. The next Climate Change Plan, a draft of which will be published next year, will include costs of delivering emissions reductions to meet the statutory targets between 2025 and 2040. The Scottish Government has not set out a pathway to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and hence does not yet have a basis for a cost assessment of achieving that goal. The Climate Change Committee suggest “the net costs of the transition (including upfront investment, ongoing running costs and costs of financing) will be less than 1% of GDP over the entirety of 2020-2050”. We believe this is a reasonable estimate while noting that the cost totals and profile for Scotland may differ due to our stricter statutory targets and the likelihood that our pathway to net zero may diverge from that taken by the UK as a whole.

I slanders who are eligible for a Young Scot National Entitlement Card currently receive two free return journeys to the mainland each year.

The introduction of the Road Equivalent Tariff on CalMac ferry services delivered an estimated average 34% reduction in passenger fares and 40% for cars and it continues to save passengers around £25m a year.

The young persons’ free bus travel scheme applies to all young people across the country, including those who live on Scotland’s islands. However, it is important that Government reflects on policy implementation in rural areas and in our island communities. To that end, ferry fares policy and specifically the issue of young people’s access to public transport, will be considered as part of the Fair Fares review.

The Sectoral Marine plan for Offshore Wind Energy was subject to a Sustainability Appraisal that included a plan-level Social and Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA). This SEIA assessed and estimated the levels of positive and negative impact of Plan Options and the plan, as a whole. The SMP-OWE did not specify the number of projects that could progress in each Plan Option and as such, the SEIA assessed the Plan Option under various development scenarios. The SEIA was published for consultation alongside the draft plan and can be found at the following link.https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-sectoral-marine-plan-social-econimic-impact-assessment/

Community benefits from renewable energy developments can help generate lasting social and economic benefit for communities across Scotland.

Our longstanding Good Practice Principles for Community Benefit from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (2019) set national standards, which we encourage all renewable energy developers and communities to utilise, regardless of technology type.

We are keen to see the number of solar installations offering community benefit increase and, as we work with the solar sector towards solutions for its future in our forthcoming draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Strategy, will continue to encourage the sector to consider what packages of community benefit it can offer.

Spawning and nursery grounds were a key consideration in the planning exercise for the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind energy. Existing spatial information on the likely locations of spawning and nursery grounds were incorporated into the opportunity and constraint analysis that provided the basis for the initial identification of areas of search for the planning process. Later, when areas of search were narrowed down, the Strategic Environmental Assessment, part of the wider Sustainability Appraisal, assessed the potential for the plan to negatively impact these spawning areas and outlined suitable mitigation measures, where required. The plan highlights where this may be necessary and where further assessment maybe required at a project-level.