Seòmar agus comataidhean

We are aware of the global issues affecting construction, which are impacting the pace of affordable housing approvals and starts. We are working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate these issues where possible.

We continue to collaborate with all our partners to achieve our shared goal of delivering more affordable homes for Scotland.

The 10,757 affordable homes delivered to the year to end June 2023 represents the highest annual figure since the statistical series started in 2000.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with justice partners to ensure effective implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 (‘the Act'); we are working together towards a 1 April 2024 commencement date. This is to provide enough time to allow justice partners to complete a number of key IT change programmes and for the delivery of a robust package of training and guidance for police officers prior to commencement.

Our recently published Hate Crime Strategy for Scotland makes a number of commitments including ensuring improved support for victims, improving data and evidence and developing effective approaches to prevention. It will also support the implementation of the Act. A delivery plan, setting out our immediate and longer term activity, will be published later this year.

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 (2013 Act) Statutory Guidance states that:

“The Statutory Guidance accompanying the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 sets out guidance for effective commissioning and procurement processes, including the putting in place of procurement plans providing specific detail to direct those responsible for contracting services.

In addition, best practice guidance on the procurement of care and support services provides further guidance on how procurement considerations can support SDS, where a public contract is the chosen form for funding social care provision.

The authority should seek to use the flexibility within the procurement regulatory regime to meet the legal duties of the 2013 Act. Local authorities should consider how best to develop a procurement strategy that ensure that the ability to ‘self-direct’ is not lost, and that the number of providers is not reduced unnecessarily.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21579 on 5 October 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

In Scotland, we have some instances where test results are available for patients already, including for those remote managing a condition through My Diabetes My Way and Patients Know Best (Renal). Learning from these digital tools will inform the development of the Digital Front Door for Scotland. The Digital Front Door is not currently a live service but will provide people with the ability to access, view and monitor their own information including medical records and test results over time. We expect the Digital Front Door to be available by the end of this parliamentary term.

If a supported person chooses to use option one and receive a direct payment they may then also choose to employ a personal assistant. The Social Care (Self-Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 Statutory Guidance states that, of the four SDS options, "Option 1 requires a level of responsibility that is greater than some of the other options. The local authority should make this point clear to the supported person. It should be transparent but it should also be supportive, explaining the additional support and information that can make the direct payment work for the supported person. The authority should ensure the supported person is offered independent advice and support where appropriate."

As part of their duty of care, the authority social worker should explain direct payment responsibilities to the supported person, relatives and relevant circles of support where applicable. They should also explain the additional support and information that the person can receive in order to manage their payment.

(a) Data provided by National Records of Scotland confirms that there have been three deaths in Scotland since 2010 where the underlying cause of death is being ‘bitten or struck by dog’.

(b) The information requested on the number of non-fatal dog attacks on humans is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. However the following table provided by Public Health Scotland shows the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for protecting Scotland’s water environment.

On Monday 11 September, SEPA responded to reports it received of large dead fish along a section of the River Spey. SEPA has conducted a range of additional water quality and ecology monitoring of the River Spey along with investigating local regulated activities. However, no water quality issues have been identified, no impact on other aquatic species and smaller fish has been observed, and the cause of the incident has not yet been identified. This would not be expected from a major pollution incident where there would be mortalities in all aquatic species and fish populations.

A multi-agency group has met in response to the incident to consider all potential causes of the incident. SEPA is continuing to work closely with partners, including the Fish Health Inspectorate who lead on fish mortalities. The group is assessing all reports in an effort to identify any possible factors responsible for the fish mortalities.

NHS Grampian and Moray Council are also part of the group providing support on human health aspects. Members of the public who feel acutely unwell after being in contact with the river are being advised to seek medical advice.

We take reports of this kind very seriously and encourage anyone who finds dead fish on or near any watercourse to contact SEPA via our Pollution Hotline 0800 80 70 60 or online at www.sepa.org.uk/report .

Resource planning assumptions are only one element of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget. Expenditure within a financial year will not correlate directly with approvals, starts and completions as, for example, some projects can span more than one financial year.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes financial information at Autumn and Spring Budget revisions, Provisional Outturn, Final Outturn and Final Accounts. As previously advised in the answer to question S6W-21015 on 20 September 2023, when annual financial year expenditure is concluded and finalised we publish an Affordable Housing Supply Programme annual out-turn report. This reports actual spend compared to original resource planning assumptions alongside wider programme performance information.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-20317 on 15 August 2023 for information on the approach taken across Scotland.

Scottish Water publishes details of individual projects on its website. Examples of investment in Dumfriesshire include https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/Kippford-Wastewater-Upgrades and https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/Gatehouse-of-Fleet-Sewer-Upgrade .

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .