Today's political diary: Tuesday, October 17

The SNP is under pressure to finally dual the A9 and A96 more than a decade after promising to do so.

At the P&J Live today, members will be asked whether they fully support the dualling of both roads or not.

Grassroots members and senior politicians in the North-east have been campaigning hard on the issue.

Dualling the roads has been called "transformational" by the SNP's Peterhead convener David Birkett, who also tells the P&J he's not convinced the Bute House Agreement is right for Scotland.

"It was a manifesto promise in the past but due to us being a minority we’re kind of prevented from fulfilling it.

"We think it’s a promise that should be picked up and actioned again."

On the partnership with the Greens, Birkett said: "You’re seeing a lot of people who would like us to bin it. I’m not 100% decided to be honest. But I do think however you look at it the SNP is the senior partner in that agreement and I do think it can appear the tail is wagging the dog.

"And we need to get back to the dog wagging the tail. Going and abolishing the agreement…I don’t think so.

"But I do think we need to re-establish our primacy in that agreement."

Humza Yousaf has previously said that he'll provide a further update on the plans for the roads in autumn.

Scottish Parliament

No scheduled business – Parliament in recess

UK Parliament

Today’s business includes:

• Oral questions: With the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)
• Oral questions (Lords): Discussions with International Governments on the COP26 commitment to deliver $100 billion of climate financing.
• Debate (Lords): Debate on the organisation of security and co-operation in Europe.
• Business and Trade Committee- Oral evidence session on the Three-Vodafone merger.
• Westminster Hall Debate: HMRC enforcement of plastic packaging tax on imports.

Aberdeenshire Council

No scheduled business- School holiday

Aberdeen City Council

No scheduled Business

News/Funding/Consultations

• Consultation: Building standards enforcement and sanctions. In Scotland, a Ministerial Working Group was set up following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017, to review building and fire safety regulatory frameworks. The Group commissioned two reviews of building standards; one to cover compliance and enforcement and the other fire safety. The Review Panel on Building Standards Compliance and Enforcement identified the need for improving aspects of the building standards system (covering procedural compliance, built compliance and enforcement of both procedural matters and non-compliant work). As part of this review, the Scottish Government is now consulting with a view to strengthening several existing provisions. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 15^th January 2024.
• Consultation: Alcohol – Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP): Continuation and Future Pricing. Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) was introduced in 2018 with the policy aim to reduce health harms caused by alcohol consumption by setting a floor price below which alcohol cannot be sold, currently 50p per unit. The legislation is due to expire and consequently the Scottish Government is consulting on whether MUP should be continued as part of the range of policy measures in place to address alcohol related harm, and, in the event of its continuation, the level the minimum unit price should be set going forward. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 22^nd November.
• Consultation: Open Communications: a Smart Data scheme for the UK telecoms market. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has launched a consultation will help them to better understand the potential benefits and challenges of introducing an Open Communications scheme into the UK telecoms market. If taken forward, Open Communications would require broadband and mobile companies to provide their customers (on request) with data about their telecoms service - for example the price they pay, their download speeds and the data they use. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 13^th November.
• Consultation: New build developments: delivering gigabit-capable connections. Digital connectivity is changing the way we work, do business and deliver public services. The Scottish Government want to ensure that new build homes are built with future proofed connectivity. To support this ambition the proposals outlined in this consultation will amend building standards with a consistent approach requiring developers to ensure that: all new build homes are installed with the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure necessary for gigabit-capable connections; a gigabit-capable connection is installed in a new build home subject to a £2,000 cost cap per dwelling; or where a gigabit-capable connection is not being installed, the next fastest broadband connection is installed without exceeding the £2,000 cost cap. This consultation seeks views on this approach. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 12^th December.
• Consultation: Work Capability Assessments: activities and descriptors. The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is how the government assess people’s capability to work and the support they receive. While working practices that support disabled people have changed significantly, the WCA has not. The WCA activities and descriptors were last comprehensively reviewed in 2011. The Department for Work and Pensions are seeking views on amending the activities and descriptors in the Work Capability Assessment so that assessments reflect greater flexibility and availability of reasonable adjustments in work, particularly home working; and the application of Risk to Self or Others under the Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) circumstances in which a claimant is to be treated as having limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA). For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 30^th October.
• Consultation: Democracy Matters. Somebody, somewhere is making decisions on your behalf. Democracy Matters conversations have already started to explore whether far more of these decisions could be made by communities themselves. This is a key and connected part of the wider Local Governance Review which is looking across all of Scotland’s vital public services to consider how power and resources should be shared between national and local government. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 28^th February 2024.
• Consultation: Heat networks regulation: consumer protection. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, in conjunction with Ofgem, are seeking views on consumer protection requirements around pricing, quality of service, transparency of information, consumers in vulnerable circumstances and the scope of the rules. It also covers Ofgem’s approach to implementing and enforcing regulation, including through guidance, market monitoring, compliance, and enforcement activity, as well as its approach to delivering the cost recovery regime. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 27^th October.
• DEADLINE APPROACHING: Consultation: Smarter regulation: UK product safety review. The Department for Business and Trade and Office for Product Safety and Standards are inviting views on the long-term approach to product safety, and how to ensure that the regulatory framework is fit for the future. They want to ensure the new product safety framework works well both for consumers and business, and so are seeking views from all stakeholders to help develop and design the detail of the new framework. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 24^th October.
• DEADLINE APPROACHING: Consultation: Driver licensing for people with medical conditions. A range of medical conditions, disabilities and treatments can affect an individual’s ability to safely control a vehicle. All drivers are therefore legally obliged to tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) about any medical condition that affects their ability to drive. This is vital in helping to make sure that their health does not unduly increase their risk of having a road traffic accident which could cause injury or death to themselves and other road users. As the volume and complexity of driving licence applications or renewals where the applicant has 1 or more medical condition increases, the government believes that the time is right to review the existing legal framework to ensure that licences are only issued to those who meet the required medical standard while still striking the right balance between road safety risks and the needs of a driver to maintain mobility. This call for evidence explains the current driver licensing framework and provides an insight into other countries’ medical licencing processes. This is not a consultation on developed proposals, but rather an early-stage request for input to help formulate proposals that could support potential future changes to the legislative framework. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 22^nd October.
• Consultation: Nutrition and health claims on food: proposed legislative reforms. The government wants to ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy, and any health benefits promoted on the label. The nutrition and health claims regulations ensure that claims made about a food or drink are accurate and not misleading so that consumers can make informed choices to meet their lifestyle and nutritional needs. The government is proposing changes in relation to nutrition labelling, composition and standards (NLCS) retained EU law. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 31^st October.
• Consultation: Call for evidence: Non-Statutory flexible working. Flexible working is a change to an employee’s working hours, location or pattern. It is a broad term, and can relate to working hours or pattern: part-time, term-time, flexi-time, compressed hours, or adjusting start and finish times. It can also include flexibility over where someone works. Arrangements for flexible working can be agreed between employers and employees on a contractual or non-contractual basis. Through this call for evidence, the Department for Business and Trade are seeking responses from individuals and employers on their experience of non-statutory flexible working, including how it has worked in practice. They are particularly interested in hearing about examples of best practice. This call for evidence follows commitments made in last year’s response to the consultation “making flexible working the default” and the Chancellor’s Spring Budget statement, in relation to helping people into employment. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 7^th November.
• Consultation: Building Warrant Fees. Following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower, London in June 2017 a Ministerial Working Group (MWG) was set up to oversee a review of building and fire safety through the creation of two expert Review Panels. One panel considered Fire Safety and the other focussed on Compliance and Enforcement. Technical requirements and processes to meet building regulations are also becoming increasingly complex reflecting the evolving technological solutions. This consultation seeks to obtain the views on proposed increases to the building warrant fees required to deliver change to strengthen the building standards system and the development of a new building warrant fees model in Scotland. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 24^th October.
• LAST CHANCE TO RESPOND: Consultation: Enabling industrial electrification: a call for evidence. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is gathering evidence to understand how to enable industry to switch away from fossil fuels to electricity. They are specifically looking for evidence to establish the role of electrification for industrial fuel switching, update the evidence base on electrification technologies, identify the issues that sites are facing to electrify, understand whether there is a case for electrification specific interventions and to test early policy thinking. The evidence gathered will enable the department to design an optimal policy framework. For more information or to respond to the call for evidence, please click here. The closing date for responses is 20^th October.
• Consultation: Mandatory training on planning for elected members. Elected members have a crucial role in the decision-making process within the planning system, carrying out specific functions including the determination of certain planning applications for their local authority. However, elected members don’t always come from a planning background and therefore don’t necessarily have the knowledge or understanding to allow them to make decisions that are robust and sound in planning reason. The Scottish Government intends to implement mandatory training for elected members as part of a wider package of measures to improve the performance of the planning system as a whole and, once in force, will prohibit elected members from carrying out certain specified planning functions if they have not completed training specified by Scottish Ministers. This consultation is seeking views on the proposed approach to implementing this training. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 26^th October.
• LAST CHANCE TO RESPOND: Consultation: Enhancing the accessibility, adaptability and usability of Scotland’s homes. This consultation aims to improve housing accessibility through the review of Part 1 of the Housing for Varying Needs design guide and by introducing a Scottish Accessible Homes Standard through updates to building standards and guidance. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 19^th October.

• Support: Develop your workforce with Skills for Growth. Skills for Growth is a diagnostic service that helps you identify skills gaps in your business and find ways to fill them. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will work with you to understand the skills your business needs, help you create a detailed people skills action plan and direct you to the right support. For more information or to apply, please click here.
• Support: Techscaler. Techscaler is a Scottish Government programme that helps people to start and scale tech businesses. Techscaler membership provides tailored support for founders and leaders of tech start-ups. For more information or to apply, please click here.
• Support: DigitalBoost Health Check. Take a Digital Health Check to find out how your business could improve its digital performance. Just answer 12 questions about your current approach to discover where you could do more with technology and how to boost your online presence. For more information, or to do your own check, please click here.
• Support/Training: The Princes Trust Explore Enterprise Course. The Prince’s Trust Explore Enterprise Course consists of up to seven online sessions providing information and support on the basics of self-employment, HMRC and finance, pricing and sales, marketing, networking, cashflows, and business plans. These sessions are open to individuals aged between 18-30, who are resident in Scotland and been trading for less than 2 years. For more information, or to sign up, please click here.
• Support/Funding: Guidance on how to apply for Innovate UK funding opportunities. Innovate UK provides grant funding, loans and procurements for UK-based businesses to support research, development and innovation. This guidance explains what types of funding opportunities are available and how to apply through their Innovation Funding Service. For more information, or to access the guidance, please click here. Details on the various live funding options are available here.
• Support/Funding: UK Tradeshow Programme. The UK Tradeshow Programme offers government support to help UK businesses attend or exhibit at overseas trade shows more effectively. For more information, or to apply, please click here.

• Funding: Low Emission Zone Support Fund for Businesses. Eligible Scottish micro businesses and sole traders can apply for a £2,000 grant when they dispose of a vehicle that is not compliant with the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee. For more information or to apply, please click here. The closing date for applications is 31^st March 2024.
• Funding: Scottish Co-Investment Fund. The Scottish Co-investment Fund (SCF) is designed to address a finance gap (up to £1.5million) alongside Scottish Enterprise's accredited co-investment partners. This fund is designed for Scottish start-up, early-stage or growing companies seeking investment to develop products and/or markets. For more information, or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: Innovation Funding Service. Innovate UK supports UK-based businesses to invest in research, development and innovation through grant funding, loans or procurements. A variety of innovation competitions are currently open, with the full list and details of eligibility available here.
• Funding: Foresight Scottish Growth Fund. The Scottish Growth Scheme is a package of financial support of up to £500 million for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland. Backed by the Scottish Government, it aims to help businesses grow. This equity funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including working capital, capital expenditure and growth funding. For more information or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: SME Loan Scheme. This loan is for small to medium-sized businesses in Scotland and can be used for the installation of energy-efficient measures such as lighting and heating upgrades, double glazing, insulation and more. For more information or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: UMi Debt Finance Scotland. This funding is managed by UMi Debt Finance Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government and provides loans of £25,000 to £250,000 to eligible small and medium enterprises to help them grow. Loans can be used for a variety of purposes including working capital, capital expenditure and growth funding. For more information or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: District Heating Loan Fund. The District Heating Loan Fund is managed by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government. It provides capital loan funding of more than £1 million to organisations in Scotland that use renewables technologies to build out heat networks. For more information, or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: Heat Network Fund. This Scottish Government fund encourages commercial interest and investment that will help make the most of Scotland's vast potential in the low carbon sector and contribute to the positive progress already made in reducing Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions. Eligible projects must be large-scale and based in Scotland. As well as helping reduce emissions, successful projects should also have positive social and economic benefits for Scotland. For more information or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: Workforce Innovation Voucher. The Workforce Innovation Voucher scheme can be used to support innovation to develop a company’s workforce in partnership with a college or university – for example, a new or enhanced workplace business processes, workplace practice or innovative business expertise. Interface provides support with finding a suitable academic partner who has the right specialist expertise to progress your Research and Development project. For more information, or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: National Lottery Open Fund of Organisations – Creative Scotland. The National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations is a funding programme for artistic, creative and cultural organisations based in Scotland. Organisations can apply for between £1,000 and £100,000 to support creative activity that lasts up to 18 months. For more information, or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: National Lottery Extended Programme Fund – Creative Scotland. The National Lottery Extended Programme Fund is a time-limited funding programme for non-profit artistic, creative and cultural organisations based in Scotland. Organisations can apply for between £100,000 and £200,000 for programmes of creative activity that last between 18 and 24 months. For more information, or to apply, please click here. Deadline to apply is 14^th November.
• Funding: Green Heat Innovation Support Programme. The Green Heat Innovation Support Programme provides grant funding, competitive procurement and other forms of support to help Scottish-based companies or companies looking to invest in Scotland develop innovative products, services or business models that address the challenges of green heating. For more information, or to apply, please click here.