Seòmar agus comataidhean

We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70% of these for social rent and 10% in rural and island areas, including new build, rehabilitation and acquisitions.

Backed by £768 million of investment this year, we are continuing to work with partners to increase the delivery of more affordable homes. We will report on all homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme via our quarterly official statistics. Official statistics for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are available on the Scottish Government website at Housing statistics - gov.scot.

Local authorities, as strategic housing and planning authorities, are responsible for assessing affordable housing needs in their area and setting out their investment priorities in their Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs). These plans set out planned proposals for affordable housing supply over a five year period, and should be available on each local authority’s website.

From 23 March 2022 to 31 December 2024, a total of 26,039 affordable homes have been delivered towards the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, consisting of 19,945 (77%) homes for social rent, 3,644 (14%) for affordable rent, and 2,450 (9%) for affordable home ownership.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of skills provision to realising the potential of Project Willow, and to securing an industrial future for Grangemouth more widely. We are prioritising skills development through the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan which will be published shortly.

This complements the support the Scottish Government is providing to Grangemouth refinery workers to retrain into in-demand industries, including those associated with Project Willow.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), like all public inquiries, is independent of all organisations including the Scottish Government. Under s17 of the Inquiries Act, procedure and conduct of the inquiry is a matter for the Chair. The appointment of inquiry staff is a matter for the SCAI.

Forestry in Scotland is guided by the principles of sustainable forestry management set out in the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) requirements and guidelines and must also operate within the legal requirements regarding biodiversity and wider environmental impacts. Scottish Forestry is the Scottish Government’s agency tasked with regulation and policy advice for forestry. Any felling must either comply with a felling permission granted by SF or be carried out as part of an approved long term management plan. Techniques, such as whole tree harvesting, are only suitable on certain sites and guidance is available to ensure that it is carried out in a sustainable manner. All new woodland creation projects are assessed against the evidence-based UKFS which represents the governments approach to sustainable forestry.

The deliverability and value for money of different options to achieve our climate change targets are assessed through the climate change planning and budgetary processes.

The Scottish Government has committed to make available £80 million to support the Acorn Project and Scottish Cluster, subject to the UK Government providing a full funding package and timeline towards a Final Investment Decision. This funding commitment is subject to the guidance provided in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

Scotland is firmly committed to woodland creation, planting 75% of all new woodland across the UK in the past five years. This amounts to 55,000 hectares of woodland, approximately 40% of which is native. The Government will continue to use the Forestry Grant Scheme and other levers such as the Woodland Carbon Code to maximise the resources available for woodland creation.

Scottish Ministers remain firmly committed to peatland restoration and have pledged £250m to restoring 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030.

Coastal and marine projects that aim to protect and restore important habitats for climate change and biodiversity received support from restoration and enhancement funds, including the Scottish Marine Environment Enhancement Fund (SMEEF).

Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs) support the delivery of local authority priorities as identified in their Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP). Due to the challenging post-Covid delivery climate, delivery partners were not able to use the £724.268 million available capital allocated through resource planning assumptions in 2021-22, and actual spend was £613.169 million. In 2025-26 we are making available £660.064 million through resource planning assumptions for local authorities. Affordable Housing Supply Programme: resource planning assumptions - gov.scot

Information on actual spend by local authority compared to RPA is available in Table 2 of our 2021-22 annual out-turn report: Affordable Housing Supply Programme: out-turn report 2021-2022 - gov.scot. Whilst the published RPA for Glasgow City in 2021-22 was £120.578 million, in the 2021-22 out-turn report it is recorded as £129.030 million as this included £3.741 million for the Govanhill Acquisition Programme and £4.711 million for the Glasgow Housing Association Wheatley Bond.

The 2025-26 Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget of £768 million represents an increase of more than £211 million (38%) when compared to the 2024-25 original published budget of £556 million. This is an increase of more than £181 million capital (44%) and an increase of more than £30 million (63%) in financial transactions. The 2025-26 budget more than reinstates the affordable housing supply programme to 2023-24 levels, with £15.8 million more being available to invest when compared to 2023-24.

We continue to work with partners to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including meeting the existing commitment to the targeted use of £40 million for acquisitions.

When finalising the plan, the Scottish Ministers must have regard to any representations that are made during the 60 day period of parliamentary scrutiny, which starts on the day the proposed plan is laid before Parliament. Therefore, the deadline is the end of the 60th day of this period.

To the extent such systems are addressed under Scottish Building regulations, such provisions form part of the current review of energy standards.

This review will consult on detailed proposals for change later this year, with the intent of confirming changes in mid 2026 and implementing them in early 2028.

Our Operational Improvement Plan is clear that the Scottish Government will support an additional 10,000 National Treatment Centre (NTC) procedures in 2025-26.

In 2024-25 cataracts represented 36.5% of the total NTC capacity allocated. This year, this has increased to 44.9% of the total NTC capacity allocated. All of this ophthalmic activity is cataract procedures.

Reforms to electricity transmission infrastructure and grid capacity reforms are reserved to the UK Government. We welcome the UK Government’s mission to accelerate development of grid infrastructure to deliver Clean Power by 2030. Actions to increase capacity and facilitate quicker connections to the grid are critical to enabling our just transition to net zero.

A grid that is fit for the demands of the future is vital and long overdue. We need to ensure the power generated from increasingly renewable sources can be transported to where it is needed – to our homes, businesses, and communities across Scotland and Great Britain. The Scottish Government will play its part in ensuring the Energy Consent Unit has the capacity to deal with all future applications regarding transmission and electricity generation development.