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The Scottish Ministerial code is clear that Ministers must not divulge either the source or content of legal advice. However, the Scottish Government has committed to being as open and as frank as possible – with the Scottish people, as well as with the Scottish Parliament – as it explores all options to protect Scotland’s relationship with the EU.

The Survivor Support Fund for people who were abused while in care as children will not require vouchers to gain access.

This Government established Scotland’s inquiry into the abuse of children in care with statutory powers and independence from the outset and this will continue.

As in this and all previous public inquiries, the Scottish Government has specific, focussed statutory duties, particularly under the Inquiries Act 2005. This does not change the independence of the Inquiry to deliver on its remit including, for example, in deciding what issues to pursue, what material to require from public authorities and others, and what witnesses to take evidence from.

The In Care Survivor Support Fund for people who were abused while in care as children has a total budget of £13.5 million over the next five years.

The consortium of organisations who won the tender to administer the fund, Penumbra, Health in Mind, The Mental Health Foundation and Glasgow City Health and Care Partnership will work together to deliver the fund. The fund is supported by a further 26 individual survivor support organisation from across Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling fuel poverty. Last year we designated energy efficiency as a National Infrastructure Priority, which will be delivered through Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP).We will now develop a longer-term approach to tackling fuel poverty as part of SEEP, and set this out in legislation by introducing a new Warm Homes Bill.

This new approach will be informed by stakeholders, in particular the Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group and the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force, which are both due to report by the end of 2016 and make recommendations on, among other things, the effective use of newly devolved powers (both obligations on energy suppliers and fuel poverty related benefits), the current definition of fuel poverty, and how to deal with the particular issues facing rural and remote households.

The Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum is chaired independently by Alan B Ferguson. Representatives from the following organisations are members of the group:

Age Scotland

Association for the Conservation of Energy

Child Poverty Action Group

Citizens Advice Scotland

COSLA

Energy Action Scotland

Energy Saving Trust

Existing Homes Alliance Scotland

Public Health Scotland/NHS Scotland

Poverty Alliance

Scottish Gas

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

Scottish Power

Shelter

SSE

Scottish Housing Energy Efficiency Network (SHEEN)

Ofgem (as observers)

ScottishPower Energy Networks (as observers)

Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution Networks (as observers)

Chair of Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force (until group is dissolved)

Chair of Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group (until group is dissolved)

The Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum last met on 27 April 2016 and will meet again on 24 August 2016.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with stakeholders, including the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum to tackle fuel poverty.

The most recent statistics on fuel poverty were published in December 2015 Scottish House Condition Survey: Key Findings 2014 http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/8460) and show that there were around 845,000 fuel poor households in Scotland in 2014.

The Scottish Housing Regulator publishes a directory of all registered social landlords which can be found at:

https://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/find-and-compare-landlords/directory-social-landlords

Information on housing associations currently developing and in receipt of grant is published annually within the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme Outturn Reports, the most recent of which is for 2014-15. Outturn information for 2015-16 will be published in due course. The outturn reports can be found at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip

For information on the number of planned projects for each of the next five years I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01393 on 26 July 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government works closely with all housing stakeholders to ensure that we make the best use of all our resources and expertise to deliver more affordable homes. The Joint Housing Policy and Delivery Group brings together stakeholders from across housing and the group’s delivery plan captures a crucial set of delivery actions which we collectively agree are vital at this time.

We have listened to what housing partners need to increase the pace and momentum of housing delivery. These discussions have helped us to develop our More Homes Scotland approach.

Through this approach, the following additional measures will further support the increase in the supply of homes with focus on four key areas:

more investment for more housing - we will invest over £3 billion in affordable housing to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over the next five years - a 76% increase on our current five-year investment;

a flexible grant and loan Housing Infrastructure fund with up to £50 million available in 2016-17

a wide-ranging review of the planning system to improve the effectiveness of planning processes; and identify with stakeholders any critical skills and expertise gaps that could prevent delivery of our ambition

We are determined to increase and accelerate housing supply across all tenures and support the industry and local authorities to deliver their housing priorities with quality homes in mixed communities that fit local needs.

Over the next five years, the Scottish Government will deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes. While the majority of these will be new build homes, the Affordable Housing Supply Programme includes initiatives such as the Town Centre Empty Homes Fund which encourages owners of empty homes to bring these properties back into use as affordable housing. The Open Market Shared Equity Scheme allowing people on low to moderate incomes to buy existing homes for sale on the open market also contributes towards the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

The exact number of homes delivered in each year of the next five years is dependent upon progress made by councils and housing associations in each local authority area over the five year period. For the current year, we expect to deliver around 8,000 affordable homes. All councils are required to submit their strategic housing investment plans in November 2016, and this will give a clearer indication of delivery in future years.