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The draft budget for 2025-26 proposes planned investment of £768 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, an increase of more than £200m compared to the 2024-25 published budget. This will help tackle the housing emergency while contributing towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be social rented homes and 10% in rural and island areas.

Discussions on the use of the Financial Transaction (FT’s) funding for the 2025-26 financial year are ongoing and no decision has been made at this time.

The Scottish Government continues to support home ownership and have interventions in place to help first time buyers through our Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme which helps people on low to moderate incomes to buy their first home.

The Scottish Government has no plans to implement the ‘Right Care, Right Place’ model. Instead we are working with our partners, including Police Scotland, through the Mental Health Unscheduled Care Network to ensure that anyone in need of mental health care and support gets the right care, in the right place, at the right time, regardless of where or what time of day they present – there should be No Wrong Door. Through this work, we have supported Police Scotland with:

• Directing calls received by Police Scotland’s C3 Division to the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub where they have identified that the caller is requiring mental health support, thereby avoiding the need to deploy officers; and
• accessing 24/7 clinical advice on the best onward care outcomes for the individual when police officers are supporting an individual on scene, thereby avoiding the need to attend A&E unless that is where the individual needs to be cared for.

We continue to build on these developments. On 12 February the Scottish Government published the Framework for Collaboration and the Partnership Delivery Group’s Collaborative Commitments plan, which outline the principles and actions which will contribute to our aim that resources are deployed appropriately and that unnecessary demand on officers is reduced.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with Peel Ports regarding a potential development of a cruise ship berth on the Upper Clyde. Transport Scotland officials communicate with ports, including Clydeport, on a wide range of issues including development opportunities. Ports are deemed to be commercial businesses, and decisions on how best to utilise their resources are the responsibility of the port authority.

A breakdown of the funding support provided by the Scottish Government to the Energy Transition Zone project over the past three financial years is provided in the following table.

The Scottish Government understands from current training providers that 215 individuals have completed the online and practical course. We do not hold information on the number of land managers who are planning to complete the training.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The needs and welfare of all those in our care remains a key priority for SPS as we continue to manage our highly complex population with a person-centred approach.

SPS continually assess risk, including that presented by an increasing population. Establishment specific indicators are analysed and assessed with identified risks mitigated where possible, this includes but is not limited to the utilisation of our existing estate.

The Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Government are committed to the replacement of HMP Inverness with HMP Highland to create better environments for people to live and work, to aid rehabilitation, reduce the risk of reoffending, and support safer communities.

SPS are unable to publish the full breakdown of costs as disclosure would be commercially prejudicial to the management of the contract, and to the contractor.

SPS can confirm that the contract contains liquidated damages for any delays.

The SPS engaged the services of legal advisers, cost consultants, insurance brokers and geo-technical consultants to advise on cost controls within the contract. It would not be appropriate for SPS to publish this advice as it is commercially sensitive information, however SPS will publish a summary of their Business Case on their website.

The Scottish Government’s 2024 Addressing Depopulation Action Plan sets out our strategic approach to supporting communities facing population decline. We have established an Addressing Depopulation Fund and, as part of this, provided five local authorities with £60,000 each in 2024-25 to trial locally-identified measures to support population retention in affected communities. These are focused on key issues such as childcare, housing and skills. We have also continued to offer part-funding this year for three Community Settlement Officer roles in rural and island local authorities, to support people currently living in, or moving to these areas.

The Scottish Government has additionally awarded £125,500 in 2024-25 to the Rural Youth Action Network, which is delivered in partnership between Scottish Rural Action and Youth Scotland. The network mobilises and networks with young people across mainland rural Scotland, and works closely with youth-led groups such as the Young Islanders Network, Scottish Rural & Islands Youth Parliament, and Youth Local Action Groups.

This is a matter for ScotRail as the train operating company. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly for these details.