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The recruitment of police officers is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland has set out in its recently published Corporate Strategy, plans to diversify its workforce through the promotion of attractive, inclusive and responsible practices including exploring alternative, flexible recruitment options to build a more diverse workforce. Police Scotland also set out in its 2013 Equality and Diversity Report, that Police Scotland will continue its commitment to the principles of positive action in respect to recruitment, retention, progression and development in order to achieve an equitable work environment.

The recruitment and promotion of police officers is an operational matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland has set out in its recently published Corporate Strategy, plans to diversify its workforce through the promotion of attractive, inclusive and responsible practices including exploring alternative, flexible recruitment options to build a more diverse workforce. Police Scotland also set out in its 2013 Equality and Diversity Report, that Police Scotland will continue its commitment to the principles of positive action in respect to recruitment, retention, progression and development in order to achieve an equitable work environment.

One of the recommendations of the Sensory Impairment Strategy is that local partnerships should audit service patterns on sensory impairment.

This information is not currently held at local authority level.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20941 on 8 May 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

An additional £2 million has been made available over two years for the implementation of the Sensory Impairment Strategy which was launched on 24 April 2014.

Implementation will be led by local partnerships and driven by local partnership leads with support from Scottish Government officials.

Outcome measures will be agreed to allow measurement and reporting of improvement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20941 on 8 May 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Funding is available to support the implementation of the strategy over the next two years.

£2 million over two years has been allocated to the implementation of the Sensory Impairment Strategy.

Data collected from local authorities on a monthly and quarterly basis is used to monitor HEEPS: ABS delivery by Scottish Government officials. This monitoring process provides assurances that projects are proceeding on the basis agreed between the Scottish Government and local authorities. In the event that projects run into difficulties, that funding can be quickly re-allocated between projects or across local authorities.

Given the flexible nature of HEEPS projects we do not publish monthly or quarterly progress data. In May 2013 we advised local authorities that HEEPS: ABS funding for 2013-14 did not need to be spent by local authorities until the end of September 2014, in line with standard financial practice with projects of this nature. This means that full details on what have been delivered via HEEPS: ABS funding will not be known until after the end of September 2014. The publication of final outcomes for 2013-14 will then follow.

There are no plans to change the definition of fuel poverty in Scotland. In its final report on the Scottish Government’s fuel poverty strategy, published in March 2014, the independent Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum recommended “that the definition currently used in Scotland is still relevant, but that it needs to be reviewed and updated to reflect a more accurate assessment of the energy demands with in homes in a modern age.”

Research into the robustness of the assumptions underpinning the current definition of fuel poverty was commissioned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the Fuel Poverty Forum and members of the forum are currently considering the results of this research and will make recommendations to Scottish Ministers in due course. The four assumptions being considered are the heating regime, the definition of vulnerability, the treatment of under-occupancy and the definition of household income.

The forum led on the research and is responsible for the final report.