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The number of full time equivalent staff employed by the Scottish Government varies throughout the financial year, so figures provided represent a snapshot. On 16 February 2023 the Scottish Government employed 53.7 full time equivalent frontline communications (press office) staff whose role includes media relations.

The recruitment of media relations staff by public bodies and agencies is a matter for those organisations and the information requested in regard to this is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold the full level of information requested for reasons outlined in the answer to S6W-15113 on 8 March 2023. Each Fuel lnsecurity Fund partner is distinct in terms of their delivery with the use of funding and targeted support measures and approach, which will determine their level and volume of applications, proportionate on a case-by-case basis.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We plan on consulting on proposed updates to Housing for Varying Needs to uplift standards applicable to homes delivered with support through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in the Spring of this year. This consultation will also include proposals for the introduction of an all-tenure Scottish Accessible Homes Standard which is planned to be implemented through changes to building standards and guidance from 2025-26.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on local authority expenditure for the provision of emergency accommodation to households experiencing homelessness. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly.

The majority of homelessness funding since 1999 has been provided to local authorities through the annual local government finance settlement, which is £13.2 billion in 2023-24. Each local authority is responsible for managing and administering their own budget on the basis of local needs and priorities, and have discretion as to how they use this resource to prevent and respond to homelessness, including providing emergency accommodation. This has been supplemented in recent years by £5.5 million from the Scottish Government’s health and housing budgets for the Housing First pathfinder and identifiable resource as follows:

Since being established in the winter of 2020, as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, a total of £33.595 million in support has been distributed from the Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) through our third sector delivery partners, namely Advice Direct Scotland, the Fuel Bank Foundation and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. This includes the full £20 million budgeted for in 2022-23, all of which has been drawn down by delivery partners.

We have agreed an approach to monitoring and evaluation of support provided by delivery partners which seeks to avoid excessive demands for data gathering and reporting, in order to ensure the FIF can be distributed to those most in need. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold this information, although we are aware of the unprecedented demand for support from the Fuel Insecurity Fund, which our partners are providing to households. Based on evaluation reports received to date and ongoing monitoring, we estimate over 100,000 households will have received some form of support.

Further information, including FIF partner publications and evaluations, can be accessed directly on their respective websites linked to below.

The Fuel Bank Foundation - Fuel-Bank-Fuel-Crisis-Report-2023.pdf (fuelbankfoundation.org)

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations – 92717.pdf (sfha.co.uk)

Advice Direct Scotland - Publications – Advice Direct Scotland

This is a matter for local government. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Provision of school libraries, which deliver a wide range of benefits and access to learning materials and resources for pupils, is a matter for local decision making in each local authority area.

We support the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) to deliver the School Library Improvement Fund and support Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools – A National Strategy for School Libraries in Scotland 2018-23 .

Scottish Government expenditure is allocated across portfolios to various sectors, including the third sector, to improve a wide range of outcomes. Spending is not all specifically classified as to whether or not it is allocated to third-sector organisations to deliver services. Consequently the figures requested are not available.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information at this level of detail. Latest published Scottish Government annual estimates on demolitions from 1999-00 up to the year 2020-21 are available on the Housing statistics: Conversions and demolitions webpage. This information is provided by local authorities but does not include a breakdown by houses or flats.

Note that these estimates are not considered comprehensive. Estimates of demolitions of local authority housing are thought to be generally accurate, however local authorities differ in their ability to provide comprehensive estimates of demolitions of private sector and housing association homes. As such, these estimates should be considered as the minimum level of demolition activity in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold this information. You may wish to contact individual Local Authorities who collect a range of information from applicants for social housing.