Rural Delivery Plan: Ministerial Working Group

Overview

A Ministerial Working Group (the group) was established in June 2023 to oversee the development of the Rural Delivery Plan:

”showing how all parts of the Scottish Government are delivering for rural Scotland. As well as policies on agriculture, land reform, marine, and our Islands Plan, this will cover areas such as transport, housing, social justice, repopulation, digital connectivity and economic development.”  

The group will be jointly chaired by the Deputy First Minister (DFM) and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands.

The purpose of the group is to:

• leverage all areas of government to inform the plan
• oversee alignment with other strategies and policies
• ensure that Government delivers in a cohesive way, making best use of our collective resources to deliver sustainable outcomes for rural, islands and rural coastal communities.

The group will meet approximately quarterly, and the Rural Delivery Plan will be published by the end of the current Parliament

Members

• Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic(Joint Chair)
• Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (Joint Chair)
• Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
• Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice 
• Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy
• Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
• Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills 
• Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture
• Cabinet secretary for Transport
• Minister for Housing
• Minister for Business
• Minister for Public Finance
• Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity
• Permanent Secretary
• DG Net Zero
• DG Strategy and External Affairs
• DG Health and Social Care 
• DG Communities
• DG Economy
• DG Education and Justice
• Chief Executive Transport Scotland
• Director Agriculture and Rural Economy
• Director Performance, Delivery and Resilience
• Director Marine Scotland
• Director Environment and Forestry 

By invitation - other Directors or expert advisers may attend the Ministerial Working Group depending on the items on the agenda.

Publications

Rural Delivery Plan: Ministerial Working Group minutes - February 2024

Rural Delivery Plan: Ministerial Working Group minutes - October 2023

Rural Delivery Plan: Ministerial Working Group minutes - June 2023