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The Office for National Statistics confirmed Scottish Canals as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) effective from April 2020. Scottish Canals has a responsibility to ensure that it conducts its core business of maintaining and improving Scotland’s canal network and is resourced by the Scottish Government to do so. Since 2019, the Organisation’s capital Grant in Aid allocation has increased by 87% and this is enabling the Organisation to plan, progress and successfully complete projects of large scale as an NDPB.

Scottish Canals also retains the ability to operate commercially when appropriate and work is currently being undertaken by the Organisation to analyse the success of its investment activities in recent years. This analysis will be shared with the Scottish Government in due course alongside recommendations to Ministers on how the Organisation takes forward its investment activities as an NDPB.

The National Mission Oversight Group met for the first time on 30 June 2022. The next meeting is scheduled for 22 September 2022. The Group will meet every three months and dates of meetings will be agreed in advance for the following year. The National Mission Steering Group will advise accordingly.

In the lead-up to Scottish Canals’ formal recognition as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) in April 2020 and continuing since then, the Scottish Government has sought to provide as much assistance as possible to assist the Organisation in familiarising itself with the financial reporting processes and accountancy practices that all NDPBs have to follow. In addition to providing advice on a number of related areas, Transport Scotland officials facilitated meetings with the Office for National Statistics, Audit Scotland and Scottish Government finance colleagues to assist in this process.

Support was mainly provided around how NDPB status would impact on Scottish Canals preparing its annual accounts, the authority delegated to its Accountable Officer, the change in the Organisation’s ability to carry across reserves from one year to the next and its investment strategy. Officials also highlighted the need for Scottish Canals to familiarise itself with the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual, the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) and the HM Treasury Consolidated Budgeting guidance.

We continue to see Common Housing Registers as a key way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing. It is up to individual local authorities and housing associations to determine the most effective application process and allocation policy for allocating their housing stock. Guidance on Common Housing Registers can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We have no plans to provide support to Glasgow City Council to expand their Common Housing Register which is a matter for them.

Following the first Oversight Group meeting in June, David Strang, former chair of the Drug Death Taskforce, has accepted my offer to become Chair of the group, ensuring its independence from government. I will of course continue to attend as a member of the group. This will begin from the next meeting scheduled for 22 September 2022.

To ensure independence from government, a steering board of members has been nominated to co-ordinate the agenda for Oversight Group meetings.

a) The number of mergers and transfer of engagements of RSLs based in Glasgow between 2014 and September 2022 is 5.

b) The number of mergers and transfer of engagements of RSLs based in Glasgow between 2010 and 2014 is 0.

It is for Glasgow City Council as the statutory housing and planning authority to set out local housing requirements. The Glasgow Local Housing Strategy 2017 sets a Housing Supply Target of 15,000 new homes over five years, including 7,500 new affordable homes. Scottish Government published new housebuilding statistics, based on private-led completions data provided by Glasgow City Council along with social sector housing association new build completions data from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, and these show a total of 4,923 all-sector completions over the four year period 2017-18 to 2020-21, with more than half of these being social sector housing association homes.

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown significantly impacted the construction sector across Scotland with associated delays to delivery of homes.

There are a range of responsibilities on Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to engage and provide information to their members and service users about proposed mergers or transfer of engagements.

RSLs are required by legislation to consult and seek the approval of tenants if it proposes to transfer its homes to another landlord. The regulator has published statutory guidance for RSLs to ensure RSLs consider and act in accordance with the views of their tenants and that tenants interests are protected.

An RSLs constitution will also set out how it should engage with its members regarding these decisions.

Standard 2 of the SHRs Regulatory Framework requires RSLs to be open and accountable and give tenants and service users information that meets their needs about the RSL, its services, performance and future plans.

Additionally, the Scottish Social Housing Charter sets the standards and outcomes all social landlords should aim to achieve when performing their housing activities, this includes that social landlords manage their business so that tenants and other customers can get the information they need about their landlord, how and why it makes decisions.

The Scottish Government is aware that the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) publishes an engagement plan for every Registered Social Landlord which is publicly available on their website. Their engagement plan for Reidvale Housing Association covering the period up to 31 March 2023 states that they are engaging with the Association on its strategic options appraisal.

As an independent Regulator it is for the SHR to make decisions about how they regulate. Their Regulatory Framework sets out how they perform their functions and regulate social landlords.

Like all Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Scottish Canals are required to seek approval from the Scottish Government for funding proposals above agreed threshholds. This ensures that larger projects are both affordable and in the best interests of wider public funds spend.

Proposals relating to Stockingfield Bridge will be subject to this process and will require Scottish Government approval before any undertaking can be made. I have yet to receive such a proposal from Scottish Canals but will of course give any such proposal full consideration.