Today's political diary: Tuesday, August 15

The SNP's former Westminster leader has claimed the party's pact with the Scottish Greens will stay in place until 2026.

Ian Blackford said the Bute House Agreement "remains the right thing to do" while speaking at a live talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Some figures in the SNP have called for a fresh vote on the alliance, chiefly former minister Fergus Ewing.

Scottish Greens co-leader and minister Patrick Harvie said his party being in government "scares some people".

The Bute House Agreement, which was signed in 2021, is used as the framework for the coalition government.

However, the two parties have clashed on key issues like gender reform as well as policies in agreement, such as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs).

Speculation

Over the weekend there was speculation about the future of the coalition in the press. Former Scottish Greens leader Robin Harper said it was "highly likely it will not last".

He also said the Bute House Agreement would result in both the SNP and Greens losing votes.

Fergus Ewing, who previously called the Greens "fringe extremists", stated they should "never be anywhere near government".

Reiterating his call for a vote on the deal, the MSP for Inverness and Nairn added: "The Greens are seen as primarily responsible for a whole series of policy disasters over the last two years.

"It's time to end this dreadful deal before it brings us down."

But Mr Blackford said: "The Bute House Agreement was the right thing to do, and it will remain in place over the lifetime of this parliament."

What's happening in politics today

Scottish Parliament:

No scheduled business – Parliament in recess

UK Parliament:

No scheduled business – Parliament in recess

Aberdeenshire Council:

No scheduled business

Aberdeen City Council:

Today’s business includes:

• Special, Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee

News/Funding/Consultations:

• NEW: Consultation: Border security: minimum service levels during strike action. The introduction of Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) is designed to enable people to continue to attend their place of work, access education and healthcare, and to protect the UK’s security and infrastructure during strikes, whilst preserving the ability to strike. Where MSLs are applied, there should be a more consistent level of service for the public from strike to strike, as well as minimising the circumstances in which there are no services at all. This will help protect the public and guard against disproportionate risks to lives and livelihoods. For more information, or to respond to this consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 21^st September.
• NEW: Consultation: Occupational Health: Working Better. Tackling economic inactivity due to long-term sickness is a top priority for the government. Increasing labour force participation supports the aim of halving inflation and growing the economy. In the 2023 Spring Budget, package of measures was announced to support disabled people and people with health conditions to work. Through this consultation, the government intends to seek views on establishing an agreement and partnership between government, employers and occupational health providers. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 12^th October.
• NEW: 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.
• NEW: Consultation: Ban on cold calling for consumer financial services and products. Criminals often use telecommunication networks and services to commit fraud, including through cold calling the public. Banning cold calling for financial services and products will help block fraud attempts before they can cause harm. The public will know that no legitimate firm would cold call them to market financial services or products, and should feel empowered to terminate and report these calls. This consultation paper explores how best to design and implement this ban to prevent scam calls from reaching the public, while allowing legitimate and beneficial communications from businesses to continue. The consultation also includes a call for evidence to collect information and data that will allow a more rigorous assessment of the impacts on businesses. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 27^th September.
• NEW: 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.
• NEW: 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.
• NEW: Consultation: Introducing Fixed Price Certificates into Renewable Obligation schemes. The Renewables Obligation (RO) has incentivised UK renewable electricity generation since 2002. The scheme puts an obligation on UK electricity suppliers to present a certain number of RO certificates (ROCs) to Ofgem in respect of each MWh of electricity they supplied to their customers during an obligation year. This Call for Evidence outlines the case for transition to a Fixed Price Certificate (FPC) model in 2027, to provide cost and revenue certainty to stakeholders in the latter part of the scheme, as price volatility is expected to emerge when generating stations start to retire from the scheme. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 9^th October.
• NEW: Consultation: Oil and gas fiscal regime review: call for evidence. In June 2023 the government published a terms of reference for the oil and gas fiscal regime review and committed to engaging with interested stakeholders as part of this review. The terms of reference confirmed that the review would focus on how the fiscal regime can support the country’s energy security while also realising our net-zero commitments in the medium and long term. This call for evidence seeks views on the evolving context of oil and gas production and how the design of the long term fiscal regime has an impact on the activity of the sector. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 11^th September.
• NEW: Consultation: Draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024. The UK Government and component Devolved Administrations are committed to protecting the environment and have all signalled their strong intent to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. EPR will require that businesses pay the full costs of dealing with the packaging they supply and use when it becomes waste. The basis of this policy is to improve efficiency by placing responsibility on businesses for the environmental impact of their packaging. This to incentivise recyclability and reuse of packaging, and in turn encourage more domestic reprocessing and overall system improvements and savings. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is now consulting on whether the draft regulations achieve the policy intentions. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 9^th October.
• NEW: 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: Energy Performance Certificate Reform. The purpose of this consultation is to set out the Scottish Government’s final proposals for Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Reform and to seek stakeholder views ahead of the introduction of new legislation. They are consulting on reforms to both domestic and non-domestic EPCs. Later in this parliamentary term, the Scottish Government intend to introduce further legislation around the energy performance of buildings and heat in buildings, and this consultation feedback will feed into both of these. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 16^th October.
• Consultation: Towards a more innovative energy retail market. The ongoing transformation of the energy system will substantially alter the landscape of the retail market. By the mid-2020s we expect to see progress towards rebalancing the relative prices of gas and electricity, further expansion of the smart meter rollout, the implementation of Market-Wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS), new technical standards for energy smart appliances and energy tariffs through the Smart and Secure Energy Systems1 (SSES) programme, as well as the continued growth in intermittent renewable generation and electrification of heat and transport. The retail market, however, is not currently set up to support the changes that this progress will bring. This call for evidence is about looking at how the market framework needs to evolve. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 18^th September.
• Consultation: Domestic consumers with non-domestic energy contracts. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has launched a call for evidence to increase their understanding of domestic consumers who receive their energy via a non-domestic contract (defined as contracts which are typically used to serve non-residential properties, such as businesses or charities), the reasons for those arrangements and what prices they face. This information will help them determine if any longer-term protections are required for these consumers. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 18^th September.
• 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.
• 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: Energy Profits Levy and the Energy Security Investment Mechanism. This consultation seeks views on the technical details and practical application of the Energy Profits Levy’s (EPL) Energy Security Investment Mechanism (ESIM). For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 1^st September.
• Consultation: Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2024 to 2025: call for evidence. The role of Director of Labour Market Enforcement was created in 2017 to bring together a coherent assessment of the extent of labour market exploitation, identifying routes to tackle exploitation and harnessing the strength of the three main enforcement bodies: HMRC National Minimum Wage; the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA); and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS). Each year the Director submits a Labour Market Enforcement Strategy to Government to set priorities for the three main enforcement bodies. The Director is now collating evidence on the four main identified themes. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 8^th September.
• Consultation: Plastic Packaging Tax – chemical recycling and adoption of a mass balance approach. This consultation explores the application of a mass balance approach to determine the amount of chemically recycled plastic in a plastic packaging component for the purposes of the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT). It seeks views on whether a mass balance approach should be accepted as a way of allocating recycled plastic content to packaging, and, if so, the controls and standards that should be adopted to ensure the integrity of the tax. For more information or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 10^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.
• Consultation: Consultation on a Fairer Council Tax. The Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA - on behalf of local government) are seeking views on changes to the council tax system, specifically around the council tax charges (also referred to as multipliers) for properties in valuation bands E to H. The present council tax system is perceived by some stakeholders as unfair and regressive because it levies a higher tax rate on lower value properties, and a lower rate for higher value properties. A chargeable property in a Band H has a council tax liability of about three times that of a Band A property, but is, on average, worth about fifteen times the value. The focus of this consultation is addressing the balance of burden within the system, and views are sought as to whether those in properties in the highest bands should be making a greater contribution. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 20^th September.
• Consultation: Licensing of activities involving animals. This consultation seeks views on proposals to introduce new licensing regulations in Scotland covering a range of animal-related activities when carried out in the course of a business. The consultation also seeks views on proposals to licence greyhound racing in Scotland, and updating existing legislation covering animal boarding (including day care) and riding establishments. For more information or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 26^th September.
• Consultation: Assessing the impact of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced duties on public bodies to consider how procurement could be used to improve the wellbeing of their local areas. Those duties include looking at the impact on the economic, social and environmental health of the area. The Act also looked to make it easier for small businesses, third sector organisations and supported businesses to be a part of public procurement. The Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee are looking at whether the Act is achieving these aims, and what the process (including the administrative burden) is like for bidders.. For more information or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 3^rd October.
• Consultation: Just Transition for the North East and Moray. The Scottish Government set up The Just Transition Fund to “accelerate the development of a transformed and decarbonised economy in the North East and Moray.” The Economy and Fair Work Committee of the Scottish Parliament want to know if this fund is achieving that stated aim. The Committee also wants to know how well placed and supported Scottish businesses are to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the transition. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 26^th September.
• Consultation: Reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision. This consultation sets out four potential models for reform of the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervisory system. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 30^th September.
• Consultation: Phase 2 merger investigations. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) is inviting interested parties to provide views on aspects of the Phase 2 investigation process that could be revised to ensure that the process operates as effectively and efficiently as possible. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 25^th August.
• 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.
• Consultation: The future of customs declarations. This call for evidence is seeking views on potential simplifications to customs declarations and the way that businesses use technology to facilitate the completion of customs declarations and other customs processes. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 8^th September.
• Consultation: Bringing goods into the UK temporarily. This call for evidence seeks views from individuals, businesses and intermediaries on how the Temporary Admission (TA) procedure is working and, in particular, their experience of using TA in the UK. The government would like to gather and consider a wide range of views on how the TA procedure could be simplified for users. The government also welcomes views on potential improvements to the UK’s TA procedure to make it more accessible. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 22^nd September.
• Consultation: Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill. The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee of the Scottish Parliament are looking into the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill that would give local authorities the power to introduce a small additional charge to overnight visitors. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 1^st September.
• Consultation: British Industry Supercharger: Network Charging Compensation Scheme. This consultation addresses 1 of the 3 elements of the package of measures announced as part of the British Industry Supercharger (BIS) for Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs). The package of measures includes: an increase from 85% to 100% relief through the exemption scheme from the costs of the renewable levies; a 100% indirect exemption from capacity market charges; and compensation on network charging costs through an EII Network Charging Compensation (NCC) scheme. The consultation seeks feedback on the proposed NCC scheme, as well as its funding mechanism. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 24^th August.
• Consultation: A Human Rights Bill for Scotland. The Scottish Government is gathering views to help inform how they will take forward the Human Rights Bill, which will incorporate international human rights standards already signed and ratified by the UK into domestic law in Scotland. Embedding international human rights in Scotland will further emphasise the importance of all people being treated with dignity and play a central roles in the strategies, policies and decision-making processes across all levels of government. The Bill will incorporate a range of economic, social and cultural rights into Scots law for the first time, as far as possible within devolved competence. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 5^th October.
• LAST CHANCE TO RESPOND: Consultation: Smarter regulation non-financial reporting review: call for evidence. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT), working with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK regulator for corporate reporting, is conducting a review of the non-financial reporting requirements UK companies need to comply with to produce their annual report. This builds on the Smarter regulation to grow the economy policy paper which set out how the government would improve regulation across the board to reduce burdens and drive economic growth now that the UK has left the European Union. The departure from the UK allows the UK the opportunity to shape rules and processes so that they work for the UK’s specific circumstances, including for non-financial reporting. The review will also consider if current company size thresholds (micro, small, medium and large) that determine certain non-financial reporting requirements, and the preparation and filing of accounts with Companies House, remain appropriate. This call for evidence is the first stage of the review process. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 16^th August.
• Consultation: Scottish Government Review of Permitted Development Rights – Phase 3. The Scottish Government is carrying out a review of permitted development rights (PDR) as part of our wider planning reform programme. The PDR review is being taken forward in phases, with each phase focussing on specific development types. Phase 3 of the review considers PDR in relation to renewables equipment, thermal efficiency improvements, development by electricity undertakers, reverse vending machines and the temporary use of land for shooting ranges. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 23^rd August.
• Consultation: Effective community engagement in local development planning guidance. This consultation is about guidance on effective community engagement in the local development planning process. It is for planning authorities and communities. The guidance forms part of the Government’s work on reform of the planning system and implementation of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. For more information, or to respond to the consultation, please click here. The closing date for responses is 13^th September.

• 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: 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: 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: Marine Fund Scotland. This fund will support investments and jobs in seafood sectors, the marine environment and coastal communities in Scotland. It replaces the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) following the UK’s exit from the EU. For more information, or to apply, please click here.
• Funding: Feasibility Funding (Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre). The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC)'s Feasibility projects provide members with the opportunity to tap into the expertise of Scotland’s academics to assist with a biotech-focused proof of concept study to support a future funding application for a larger scale research work programme. Feasibility projects should focus on innovative applications of industrial biotechnology and address a real market need or commercial opportunity through collaborative knowledge exchange and research between industry members and at least one of Scotland’s talented higher education institution (HEI) research teams. 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.