Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Digital Planning Transformation programme is a £35 million programme to transform the planning service and realise £200 million economic benefits to the sector. Work is progressing to deliver outputs from five missions as set out in the

Digital Strategy for Planning that underpins the programme.

Table 1.21 of Scottish Transport Statistics provides information on the number of Blue Badges on issue by each local authority from 2014 to 2021 and is available via the following web link https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-2021/chapter-01-road-transport-vehicles/ .

The information for 2022 will be published by Transport Scotland on 14 March 2023.

From our latest review of the trunk road network there are 35 bridges which have been identified as requiring upgrades. These are located within the following Local Authority areas:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15120 on‎ 20 March 2023. 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

Licensing authorities have wide discretion in granting temporary exemptions or temporary licences within the powers of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and the Licensing Order.

Temporary licences of up to six weeks are permitted under the 1982 Act. The Licensing Order also makes provision for licensing authorities to grant temporary exemptions on application for a specified single continuous period not exceeding 6 weeks in any period of 12 months. Licensing authorities can make the temporary exemptions process light touch by offering a reduced fee, shorter application form or not applying some of the mandatory licence conditions.

These powers give licensing authorities the flexibility to cater for home sharing arrangements or large local events through the provision of short-term let accommodation.

The Homes2Fit accessible housing register was set up and is run by Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL). The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.

The UK Government Apprenticeship Levy is a reserved tax on employers which was implemented by the UK Government. The Scottish Government has no direct control or responsibility for its operation

The Scottish Government has been clear that significant funding will continue to be invested in skills, training and employability to meet the needs of employers, the workforce, young people and Scotland’s economy. The overwhelming majority of funding, which includes investment in employment support and our apprenticeship programme, is available to employers regardless of their size or whether they pay the Levy.

Statistics published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) confirms the following number of Modern (MA), Graduate (GA) and Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) starts/ enrolments in each of the last five years.

While data on the number of people in Scotland who have consented to participate in the range of clinical research studies that are supported by Health Boards in Scotland are routinely collected, data on the number of people referred to and screened for enrolment into the range of clinical research studies supported by Health Boards in Scotland are not. Therefore, the percentage of patients put forward for all clinical trials in Scotland that subsequently consent to be enrolled into those trials is not known.

The number of households in each local authority that are experiencing fuel poverty is published annually (based on a three-year average) from the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS).

The latest published set of tables for 2017-2019 are available at:

Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analysis 2017-2019 .

As the 2020 SHCS was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and results from the 2021 External+ SHCS are not yet published and unlikely to be consistent with previous years, the 2017-2019 results are the latest available at Local Authority level.

More recent estimates of fuel poverty at a national level based on scenario modelling have been produced. These reflect the Energy Price Guarantee of £2,500 from April to June 2023 and the end of the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme with differing levels of additional support for various households. These estimates show fuel poverty increasing from 613,000 households (24.6%) in 2019 to 920,000 households (37%) by April 2023. This 50% increase in the number of fuel poor households will also be reflected across all local authorities in Scotland, albeit with some variation based on the characteristics of dwellings and households in each local authority.

The SHCS recorded households who reported receiving CWP in 2018 and 2019. As three years of data are needed to provide analysis at local authority level, this is not currently available.

At a national level, the SHCS estimates that about 10% of fuel poor households received CWP in 2018 and 2019, as shown in the following table. 2019 is the most recent year for which SHCS data is available.

Fuel poor households self-reporting receipt of CWP

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15129 on‎ 7 March 2023. 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