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Scotland has a long history of welcoming people of all nationalities and faiths, including those seeking refuge and asylum from war and persecution. The New Scots refugee integration strategy was informed by engagement across Scotland, including refugees and people seeking asylum from the LGBT+ community. The strategy recognises that people seeking safety on the basis of their LGBT+ identity can face particular challenges within the asylum process and as refugees. We are committed to supporting the integration of asylum seekers and refugees into our communities and working with our partners to refresh the New Scots strategy.

LGBT Health & Wellbeing’s LGBT+ Refugee Project received £277,000 from the Scottish Government’s Investing in Communities Fund from 2019-2023 and an additional £30,000 from the Equality and Human Rights Fund in March 2023.

The recent report from LGBT Health and Wellbeing raises significant concerns relating to asylum accommodation. Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support. I hope the Home Office and its contractors will be engaging with LGBT Health and Wellbeing on their report to understand the issues people have experienced.

Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These statistics relate to the number of approvals, site starts and completions of social and affordable homes, and can be accessed using the following link : https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/ .

A table showing the number of affordable homes approved under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in each of the last five financial years, broken down by local authority area, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 64393).

The Scottish Government commissioned an expert group to make recommendations on action to reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation and the length of time spent there, with a strong focus on households with children. The Scottish Government is thankful to Alison Watson, Director of Shelter Scotland, and John Mills, Head of Housing for Fife Council, for co-chairing the discussions which informed the group’s recommendations.

The Scottish Government published its response to the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group report on 19 July 2023. In our response, we have set out how we will prioritise action with partners in local government and across the housing sector on the recommendations that will have the most immediate impact on reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation.

Our national acquisition plan is backed by £60 million and will offer all local authorities, including Dundee, various routes to increase the supply of affordable housing, including through the purchase of privately owned properties. Increasing their supply of larger properties will support local authorities’ efforts to ensure households with children who have lived in temporary accommodation for a number of years are supported into suitable permanent housing.

Recognising that challenges vary from authority to authority, the Scottish Government will work with local authorities to take targeted action to bring about a more rapid reduction in the use of temporary accommodation in the areas where this is concentrated. This could include increased allocations of social homes to homeless households, reducing the number of long-term empty homes and more effective void property management. Large-scale flipping of temporary accommodation to a permanent home could also help to reduce the length of time households spend in temporary accommodation.

We will continue to work with all local authorities, including Dundee, on routes to increase their affordable housing supply, which is key to relieving the pressures on temporary accommodation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12786 given previously.

I have accordingly asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a reply to his question in writing.

The Scottish Government remain committed to investing in the professional development of our valued social services workforce. A Graduate Apprenticeship for the profession is part of a range of options in consideration to widen access into social work. Officials are working with sector partners over the summer to provide Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Funding Council with updated evidence of employer interest and demonstration of the added value of an additional work-based qualification route for the social work profession in Scotland by Autumn 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that every school aged child has access to a device by the end of this Parliamentary term. We recognise that access to technology is a fundamental aspect of a modern education system and the commitment in the recently published Policy Prospectus to “improve digital access for learners” reaffirms this.

In 2020-21, we provided £25 million to local authorities across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion, directly providing devices and internet connections to children and young people to support their learning. We have also supported local authorities to directly invest in devices.

Information from local authorities indicates that a total of up to 280,000 devices have already been distributed to learners across Scotland. We do not hold detailed information on how those devices have been distributed across primary and secondary settings within individual local authorities.

In 2023-24, we are continuing to work with COSLA and other partners on delivering this commitment.

The Scottish Government delivered this commitment on 12 July 2023 when the enhanced Forestry Grant Scheme support for planting trees around rivers and streams was announced and became operational. The ‘Woodlands for Riparian Benefits’ grant is targeted to areas of land around rivers which has the greatest potential to deliver multiple benefits. Approximately 175,000 hectares are now eligible for enhanced grant support for tree planting where there can be benefits for enhancing biodiversity and reducing river temperatures, diffuse pollution, and flood risk.

Information regarding superfast broadband coverage in Scotland can be accessed on Ofcom’s website. Ofcom’s most recent figures, published in May 2023 , show that as of January 2023 the percentage of residential and commercial premises able to access superfast broadband (30 Megabits per second or above) in each local authority area in the Highlands and Islands region was as follows:

The Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband. This is being delivered through three strands of activity – the £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and commercial coverage.

As of 31 May 2023 the Reaching 100% contracts have delivered to 24,194 premises. Of those premises, 20,666 were in rural and remote areas.

As of 01 July 2023 the R100 SBVS has delivered to 3,288 premises. Of those vouchers, 2,807 vouchers in remote and rural areas.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting integration of former Hong Kong residents into our communities. We have published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website.

We continue to provide significant levels of funding to a range of organisations supporting the integration of migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum. This includes supporting organisations, such as COSLA, the Scottish Refugee Council and British Red Cross. We aim to ensure that all arrivals to Scotland are welcomed and supported to integrate into Scottish society from day one of arrival. This work will continue.

The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities currently provides funding to a number of national organisations to provide support to people arriving from Hong Kong across the UK, including Scotland. For 2023-2024 this includes:

Hongkongers in Britain Limited £300,000

Barnardo’s £300,000

Good Neighbour Church £300,000

Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers £170,921

The UK Government set up a network of ‘Hong Kong Welcome Hubs’ across the UK. These are hosted by existing ‘Strategic Migration Partnerships’ (SMPs). There are 12 SMPs across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland . SMPs have a coordinating and supporting role in delivering key national priorities on migration across the UK and play an integral role in the delivery of the Hong Kong UK Welcome Programme and VCSE projects. The Welcome Hub in Scotland is operated by COSLA, and is directly funded by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities.