Scottish Parliament
Business includes:
- General Questions
- First Minister’s Questions
- Members’ Business – S6M-04464 Rhoda Grant: NHS Staff Recruitment and Retention
- Portfolio Questions
- Ministerial Statement: Scotland’s Census 2022
- Ministerial Statement: Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
- Stage 3 Proceedings: Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals) Bill
- Decision Time
- Members’ Business – S6MM-04703 Bill Kidd: Making Scotland Hostile to Trafficking and a Safe Place for Ukrainian Refugees
The following committees meet in the morning:
- Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
- COVID-19 Recovery Committee
- Public Audit Committee
- Social Justice and Social Security Committee
- Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
UK Parliament
Business of interest includes:
- Oral questions (Cabinet Office)
- Business Statement (Business Question to the Leader of the House)
Aberdeen City Council
Business includes a meeting of the Operational Delivery Committee.
Aberdeenshire Council
Business includes a meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee.
News/consultations/funding
- Low Emission Zone Support Fund for Businesses - Eligible Scottish micro businesses and sole traders can apply for up to £2,000 to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road and move towards cleaner transport options. This is for operating vehicles that are not compliant with the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards, in Scotland’s 4 largest cities. More information can be found here.
- A92 (S) Bridge of Don to Bridge of Dee Multi-Modal Transport Study - Aberdeen City Council is undertaking a Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) based appraisal of options for improving transport connections, in particular public transport and active travel (walking, wheeling and cycling) along and across the A92 corridor (Anderson Drive and the Parkway) between Bridge of Don and Bridge of Dee. More information can be found here.
- Sustainable Tourism Certification Scheme discounted membership offer – Through this scheme, three sustainable tourism certification scheme providers are offering a £500 discount on fees for tourism businesses in Scotland that join their certification schemes before March 2023 (or until all funding is used up). The providers are EarthCheck, Green Key and Green Tourism. The discount will mean eligible tourism businesses will get membership for the first year either discounted or even free, depending on the certification fees. The discounts are limited, and will be provided on a first come, first served basis. The funding for the scheme was provided through the Sustainability Certification Scheme Fund for Tourism Recovery, launched earlier this year by VisitScotland as part of the Destination Net Zero Programme. It provided grant funding to certification providers to support tourism businesses to recover from the impacts of CV19 in a sustainable manner. For more information, please see here
- Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund – The Fund is for any company with a manufacturing base in Scotland that wishes to pursue business growth by developing low carbon products, processes, or services. More information can be found here.
- Bring it Back Fund – Grants available to organisations in the UK with innovative projects to increase the take-up and remove barriers for reusable packaging in the food and drink sector. More information can be found here.
- Support for fishing and coastal communities – a new round of funding to support fishing businesses and wider marine organisations in coastal communities is open for applications. More information can be found here.
- A96 Consultation - In August 2021, the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group agreed a Cooperation Agreement and a shared policy programme. As part of this shared policy programme, various agreed principles regarding investment in the transport network were set out. In relation to the A96, the Scottish Government committed to take forward a transport enhancements programme on the A96 corridor that will improve connectivity between surrounding towns, tackle congestion and address safety and environmental issues. These issues include: the bypassing of Inverurie (and other towns), targeted road safety improvements (i.e Oyne Fork), the development of an A96 “Electric Highway” and bus prioritisation measures. Transport Scotland is seeking a better understanding of how the A96 corridor is used, particularly given the changes to everyone’s lives due to CV19 pandemic, and the extent to which the climate emergency makes a difference to how people travel on the A96 in the future. They have launched an online consultation which is seeking views on existing issues along the A96 corridor, and the kind of opportunities that could be realised in the future. For more information on the details of these proposals please see here or to go directly to the survey click here. Deadline – June 10 2022.
- Electric Vehicle Charge Point Tourism Recovery Fund - The Electric Vehicle Charge Point Fund provides a one-off payment to tourism businesses in Scotland to help cover the cost to install an electric vehicle charge point. For further information or to apply please click here.