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The majority of divorce actions are undefended and therefore do not require the non-applicant party to incur the expenses involving in entering the proceedings.

Where a divorce action is defended, either party may be eligible for civil legal aid.

The courts may make orders on how legal expenses incurred in a case should be met. The Scottish Government’s understanding is that in doing so the court can take account of a party’s behaviour in making or defending their case.

If the member wishes to write to me with additional information, I may be able to offer further comment.

Housing to 2040, sets out our plans to continue delivering quality homes for private rent. Over the next decade, we will continue to support the provision of homes for private rent with a focus on maximising delivery of these homes at the affordable end of market rents, working with private sector investors and partners whose business models match our ambition to improve quality and affordability for tenants.

For the social rented sector, we are committed to delivering on our target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70% will be available for social rent and 10% will be in our remote, rural and island communities. We have delivered 118,124 affordable homes since 2007, over 83,000 (83,291) of which were for social rent, including 21,313 council homes. And we are pleased that housebuilding completions are at their highest annual rate since 2008, up 10% on last year, and that the number of affordable homes delivered is above the pre-pandemic year 2019.

Our ‘New Deal for Tenants’ draft strategy consultation set out that both private and social rented homes have a role to play in delivering affordable, quality housing which gives people choice and flexibility about where they live.

The New Deal for Tenants consultation set out the importance of attracting new investment to the private rented sector, acknowledging the important role of Mid-Market Rental properties and the Build to Rent sector. It was also acknowledged in the draft strategy consultation, that there is a clear need to improve the evidence base on the private rented sector in Scotland, in order to provide key evidence to support future policies. In the meantime, we continue to closely monitor available evidence and data in the private rented sector.

Finally, it is important to acknowledge the interconnections of second homes and Short Term Lets on the rental market. On 17 April, we launched a consultation on Second and Empty Homes – seeking views on giving powers to local authorities to increase the rate of council tax on second homes and empty homes. Nationally, we want to encourage more residential accommodation to be used as homes for living in and for these to be occupied for more of the time. Locally, councils should decide how to achieve the right balance in the use of housing to meet local needs and to support thriving communities.

Our Short Term Lets licensing scheme will allow local authorities and communities to take action to manage issues more effectively, without unduly curtailing the many benefits of short-term lets to hosts, visitors and the Scottish economy whilst ensuring short-term lets are safe and the people providing them are suitable. Powers to designate control areas will allow local authorities to manage high concentrations of short-term lets and help them ensure that homes are used to best effect in their areas. We consider the legislation is appropriate for the whole of Scotland, including island and rural communities, and offers considerable flexibility to local authorities on how it is implemented.

Nine additional Urology Practitioners have been recruited to NHS Scotland since the publication of the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan.

Seventeen Nurse Endoscopists have been signed off for independent practice since 2021 and we anticipate that a further three new Practitioners will sign off in Spring 2023. This would represent an achievement of 80% against the commitment of 36 Nurse Endoscopists by 2025.

The General Practice workforce survey 2022 collected information based on sessional commitment by GPs not hours worked. While GP sessions have sometimes been defined for the purposes of various payments, there is no contractual definition of GP sessions.

GP contract regulations require practices to ensure provision of services Monday – Friday 0800-1830. It is up to the practice to agree how that is covered by GPs and the number and length of sessions.

From responding practices to the General Practice workforce survey 2022, totalling 2,480 GPs, it was estimated that 22% of GPs had commitments of up to 4 sessions per week. 55% between 5 and 7 sessions per week and 23% of 8 or more. Dashboard - General practice workforce survey 2022 - General practice workforce survey - Publications - Public Health Scotland ”

The amount raised by the victim surcharge is entirely dependent on the number and value of fines imposed by the courts. Only individuals or organisations who have been cautioned after the Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 came into force on 25 November 2019 are affected. Such cases take time to progress through the court, and the pandemic also impacted on court capacity and therefore court disposals including fines.

An estimate that £800,000 per year could be collected in the fund after four or five years, based on collection rates at that time, was shared with the Justice Committee in October 2019.

I have written an introductory letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury which was copied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I will meet with the Chief Secretary on 2 May to discuss matters such as the cost of living crisis, NHS funding and the Scottish Government’s priorities.

I would welcome a meeting with the Chancellor to discuss the key issues facing Scotland, including how the UK Government might use its reserved powers to provide more support for our people, businesses and public sector through these difficult times.

In response to the recommendations from ‘Impact of Scotland’s Developing Young Workforce Strategy on Education’ we are working with partners, including the employer led DYW network, to develop a delivery plan. The plan will build on the progress that we are making in supporting a record number of school leavers into an initial positive destination.

I am absolutely delighted that today, Japan based cable manufacturer Sumitomo has announced plans to establish a manufacturing plant in Scotland to supply the country’s growing renewable energy sector. This is a real statement of intent that demonstrates the strength of confidence that investors have in our vision for a net zero economy.

Sumitomo have a proven track record in renewables technology which will be invaluable to supporting Scotland’s rapidly expanding offshore wind sector and the Scottish Government, together with our partners, will continue to work closely with Sumitomo to foster this important partnership and unlock the opportunities the global renewables revolution presents.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to achieving the elimination of Hepatitis C in Scotland by the end of the 2024/25 financial year.

Scotland already has a renowned approach for tackling Hepatitis C, with NHS Tayside eliminating it within the health board area, 11 years ahead of the World Health Organisation (WHO) target.

The last Public Health Scotland report (2022) demonstrated the major progress that has been made so far; for example, the prevalence of a chronic Hepatitis C infection amongst people who inject drugs has almost halved between 2015 and 2020 and there has been as much as a 70% reduction in some parts of Scotland. In addition 80% of individuals with a chronic hepatitis C infection have also been initiated onto treatment, exceeding the World Health Organisations treatment target.

However, we know that to achieve elimination and meet our target will take a concerted effort on a national scale. We will continue to proactively collaborate with the Hepatitis C Elimination Implementation Strategy Group to ascertain where our support is most required as we work towards our goal of elimination.

SafeDeposits Scotland has a duty to provide a quarterly performance report of the scheme’s performance measured against the key performance indicators (KPIs) in the Schedule to the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 .

The latest quarterly performance report indicates all KPIs have been met, with the average call response time was 12 seconds and email response time was 8 minutes.