-  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
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                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023
                                    
                            
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided to (a) Historic Scotland and (b) Historic Environment Scotland in each year since 2007.
                                
Answer
                                    Details of Scottish Government funding for Historic Scotland, from 2007-08 until it became part of Historic Environment Scotland, can be found in the following table. These figures come from the annual Scottish Budget publication.
| Year | Historic Scotland Funding £m | 
| 2007-08 | 47.7 | 
| 2008-09 | 51.7 | 
| 2009-10 | 49.3 | 
| 2010-11 | 49.8 | 
| 2011-12 | 47.0 | 
| 2012-13 | 45.3 | 
| 2013-14 | 43.6 | 
| 2014-15 | 37.8 | 
| 2015-16 | 40.1 | 
Details of the Scottish Government funding for provided Historic Environment Scotland since 2016-17, the first full year of its accounts, can be found in the following table. These figures come from the annual Scottish Budget publication with the exception of the revised budget in 2020-21 which took account of the effect of pandemic closures on its commercial income.
| Year | Historic Environment Scotland Funding £m | 
| 2016-17 | 45.0 | 
| 2017-18 | 45.5 | 
| 2018-19 | 41.1 | 
| 2019-20 | 39.8 | 
| 2020-21 (pre-pandemic) | 42.8 | 
| 2020-21 (revised) | 80.4 | 
| 2021-22 | 75.9 (including £20m in COVID consequentials) | 
| 2022-23 | 70.1 | 
| 2023-24 | 72.7 | 
 
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023
                                    
                            
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Historic Environment Scotland in its efforts to preserve historic buildings.
                                
Answer
                                    In 2023-24 we are providing Historic Environment Scotland with £72.7m in funding, which is 82.6% higher than the £39.8m level of support before the impact of the pandemic in 2019/20. As its commercial income continues to recover strongly from the impact of the pandemic, this will ensure it can continue to care for our heritage in communities across Scotland.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
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                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government how it will work with the Scotch whisky industry to restore Scotland's peatlands.
                                Answer
                                    The Scottish Government is providing significant funding for peatland restoration and our delivery partners are working with the Scotch Whisky industry to explore how they can contribute to this restoration work.
 
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Maree Todd on 11 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been issued to local authorities on planning for the implementation of a National Care Service. 
                                Answer
                                    Local authorities are important partners in delivering social care and will remain so as we develop new ways to deliver improved care across the country. At this stage, as the policy is still undergoing co-design with a range of stakeholders, it would not be appropriate to issue guidance to local authorities for the implementation of the National Care Service, therefore guidance will be issued in due course. I would further encourage local authorities to engage with us to ensure the development of the effective and responsive care system the people of Scotland have called for.
To support the transition towards the National Care Service and in acknowledgement of the high portion of social care service supports currently procured, we published  Preparing to transition towards a National Care Service for Scotland: SPPN 7/2021  on 6 December 2021.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Maree Todd on 11 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in social care in each year since 2016. 
                                Answer
                                    Scottish Government has provided additional funding for social care and integration as set out in the following table.
|  | £m | 
| 2015-16 | 130 | 
| 2016-17 | 380 | 
| 2017-18 | 487 | 
| 2018-19 | 551 | 
| 2019-20 | 711 | 
| 2020-21 | 811 | 
| 2021-22 | 884 | 
| 2022-23 | 1,603 | 
In addition, the Scottish Budget for 2022-23 included a further £125m of social care investment that had been included as part of the Care, Support and Rights lines in previous budgets.
This funding is in addition to funding provided through the Scottish Government's annual local government settlement. The vast majority of funding through the settlement is provided by means of a block grant which cannot be separated into individual service allocations, including social care.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Joe FitzPatrick on 6 April 2023
                                    
                            
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has held with housing developers regarding the implementation of the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).
                                
Answer
                                    Officials have met with housing developers throughout the preparation of NPF4. Most recently, Planning, Housing and Analytical officials met with members of the industry to discuss matters relating to Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) on 6 February 2023. This followed the Local Government and Housing Committee’s consideration of NPF4. We will continue to work with Homes for Scotland and their members as we move to deliver NPF4.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
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                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Graeme Dey on 6 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to colleges to help make them wind and watertight. 
                                Answer
                                    The Scottish Government, through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), provides colleges with capital funding for the purpose of college lifecycle costs and backlog maintenance. The 2023-24 budget has increased the college capital budget by over 10%.
SFC’s College Infrastructure Strategy: The Approach to Delivering Scotland’s College Infrastructure recognises that investment in college infrastructure is needed. It describes the principles and approach to determining future investment needs in Scotland’s college estate and other college infrastructure and the need to explore new and existing funding arrangements to address the breadth of investment needed and this will be investigated as part of the work to develop the Infrastructure Investment Plan.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Joe FitzPatrick on 6 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government how many individual pieces of guidance have been issued to local authorities since May 2021.
                                Answer
                                    The Scottish Government has published 89 individual pieces of advice and guidance to local authorities since 1 May 2021. These can be found at  https://www.gov.scot/publications/  .
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Lorna Slater on 6 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what quantity of aluminium materials has been collected for recycling in each year since 2016. 
                                Answer
                                    Information on recycling of metals is publicly available through the SEPA Waste Discover Data Tool:  https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/WasteAllSources/  .
Please note, the impact of a cyber attack means there are data gaps covering 2019 and 2020.
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
                                        
- 
                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Joe FitzPatrick on 6 April 2023
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government and (b) Minister for Social Security and Local Government has attended with local government and council (i) leaders, (ii) chief executives and (iii) officials, in each of the last 12 months.
                                Answer
                                    Details of all Ministerial engagements are proactively published by the Scottish Government. The information can be accessed at the below link:  https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.