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The Scottish Government is working towards a launch date for the Changing Places Toilets fund and we will provide an update in due course.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing in Changing Places Toilets in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country, allowing people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

As you will be aware, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government’s statement to Parliament on 3 September outlined the challenging financial situation faced by the Scottish Government following the UK Chancellor's July statement. She confirmed that spending controls are in place to make sure the entire Scottish Government budget is being managed prudently. These additional controls set out that any activity undertaken, or commitment made, that generates expenditure in 2024-25 must only proceed if it is truly essential and unavoidable. “Unavoidable” means if the Scottish Government would otherwise breach its legal obligations, or fail to provide essential support to emergency situations, or cause significant economic damage across Scotland. The scale of the savings required means that these exceptional measures are being applied across the whole Government, with all policy areas having to think about what this means for them.

This means that whilst the Scottish Government had set out the intention to make CPT funding available across financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26, unfortunately it is no longer possible to launch the fund in the current financial year. However, funding will be reprofiled into future years.

The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 places legal duties on public authorities and provides legal protection for children’s rights that was not previously available in Scotland, and is not available in any other part of the UK.

The Scottish Government expects public authorities to ensure that they fulfil their duties within the Act, including under Article 23, to ensure all rights under UNCRC are respected, protected and fulfilled. We have supported public authorities with their approach to implementation through: non-statutory guidance; a children’s rights guide for senior leaders; an introduction to Children’s Rights e-learning and guidance on Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments. We have also provided funding to the Improvement Service and NHS Education Scotland to assist local authorities and health boards to fulfil their UNCRC duties. Statutory guidance will be published this month and a Children’s Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework will be available before the end of the year.

A range of work has been undertaken to prepare for the opening of the Changing Places Toilets fund. This has included scoping work, internal discussions and meetings with key stakeholders. We are working closely with PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society) and will continue to engage with wider interests, including the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Changing Places Toilets, as we finalise the details of the fund.

Within the Green Industrial Strategy, published on 11 September 2024, we set out how the people of Scotland will see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including identifying Scotland’s wind economy as one of the five opportunity areas.

Seabed leasing for offshore wind is administered by Crown Estate Scotland (CES), which sets the terms of lease. Leasing terms may vary between leasing rounds to ensure that such agreements remain fit for purpose and reflect the latest statutory requirements and policy positions.

As part of the ScotWind bidding round, applicants were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) to CES. The SCDS outlines the commitment and ambition for supply chain activity within Scotland, the UK and overseas, across four project phases – development, manufacturing and fabrication, installation, and operations & maintenance.

The Scottish Government and CES will continue to review the leasing requirements for future leasing rounds, informed by best practice to deliver the best outcomes for Scotland and in line with our social, economic and environmental principles, including the need for any legislative changes to support the updated leasing conditions.

The Scottish Government publishes detailed flag flying guidance annually on the Scottish Government website Guidance - Flag flying on government buildings: 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and a link to the guidance is also available on the Scottish Government’s intranet pages, available to Directorates and other government departments. In addition, this flag flying guidance is issued to local authorities and government agencies.

The guidance sets out the relevant flag to be flown in recognition of national anniversaries and Royal events. It also provides advice on the half/masting of flags following national/international tragedies and events.

This guidance applies to Scottish Government buildings only and is provided to non-Scottish Government organisations for information purposes. It remains the prerogative of each organisation to set their own flag flying programme.

Separate communication was issued by email to Scottish Government external flag flying contacts in June 2024 in relation to the 80th anniversary of D-Day and for the Coronation of Their Majesties in May 2023.

ScotRail Trains Ltd routinely monitors patronage on its services to identify trends, opportunities and to best match its resources with the passenger demand. Following the Ministerial decision to end the 12 month trial removing peak fares, the Scottish Government intends to repeat the analysis undertaken to assess the pilot, as detailed in the published report, after an appropriate period has elapsed.

The Minister for Housing visited the Wester Hailes pilot on 4 July 2023 and met with local councillors, members of the City of Edinburgh Mixed Tenure Improvement Service (MTIS) Team and local tenants living in flats affected by the MTIS. Scottish Government officials meet City of Edinburgh Council regularly to discuss progress with the MTIS and any issues arising, most recently in July 2024 with another meeting expected in September.

Living Rent Edinburgh gave a deputation at the City of Edinburgh Council’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee on 27 August 2024, after which they shared their concerns with council officials. The council have extended an invitation to Edinburgh Living Rent to hold regular meetings with them to discuss and agree options to improve local engagement.

MTIS is the responsibility of the City of Edinburgh Council and decisions related to service delivery are best discussed with the council.

The Scottish Government is aware of the Community Social Work pilot undertaken by Fife Council and recognises the approach is known to support positive outcomes. Ms Ewing will be aware of the challenging fiscal climate we are operating in at this time, which means that we are currently unable to provide additional resources to local authorities to pilot such an approach.