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For financial years 2020-21 to 2023-24, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17940 on 30 May 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.

For 2024-25, the allocated budget for Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme is:

The Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme was launched in April 2020 to support landlords with the cost of installation of energy efficiency improvements, renewable systems and energy storage systems. It is a demand-led scheme open to landlords who choose to apply.

The following table outlines the number of landlords who received a loan offer in each financial year since the launch of the scheme:

There are no plans to mandate the installation of solar panels on all new buildings in Scotland.

Standard 6.1 (energy demand) of Scottish building regulations set challenging overall energy targets for new homes. This has, in recent years, contributed to an increased presence of solar panels on new buildings and new homes in particular. These regulations do not, however, require the installation of such technologies.

Energy targets are set through application of a ‘notional building’ specification for domestic and non-domestic properties. Where the heating system proposed has an efficiency of no greater than 100%, this specification includes an element of onsite generation in the form of photovoltaic panels, which contributes to improved energy targets.

Following revision of standards on 1 February 2023, building regulations encourage the proportionate and effective use of on-site generation of power as part of a new building specification, recognising only that portion of generation which can be used or stored at the building, excluding any energy exported to the grid.

We are aware of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, enforceable in England and Wales but, as yet, have no intelligence on how effective it has been in preventing this sort of crime.

The theft of agricultural plant and machinery is a significant concern to our rural communities and can have serious consequences for the agricultural sector in terms of cost and confidence. The Scottish Government continues to work with partners across the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) and through the continued expansion of the local partnerships against Crime (LPARCS) across Scotland with this sort of theft a priority for the group.

SPARC and the local partnerships share intelligence on organised crime groups operating across borders, providing specific information to the rural and farming community on how to best secure and prevent theft of equipment, as well as other crimes. They also demonstrate crime prevention measures in relation to the marking, tracking and securing of farm machinery and tools, including in the highest impacted areas.

Routinely collected data on the waiting time for a diagnosis of endometriosis are not available.

However, in 2024 Endometriosis UK published a report based on a survey of 4,371 people who received a diagnosis of endometriosis from a medical practitioner or following a diagnostic intervention. The report suggested that the current average waiting time for a endometriosis diagnosis in Scotland is now 8 years and 10 months.

Endometriosis has two stages of diagnosis, a working diagnosis at primary care level and a confirmed diagnosis via laparoscopy at secondary care. Not everyone with endometriosis will want to have a laparoscopy to confirm their diagnosis, particularly if their symptoms can be well managed.

We know that excessively long waits for laparoscopy are not acceptable and we apologise to all patients waiting too long. We are determined to drive improvements in this area and continue to work closely with NHS boards and stakeholders on a number of actions which will see patients treated as quickly as possible.

We want people to achieve a working diagnosis as soon as possible to enable swift access to appropriate care and treatment. Through the actions set out in our Women’s Health Plan we have taken steps to support both women and health professionals to learn more about endometriosis, the symptoms and treatment options.

All new homes, regardless of tenure, are required to comply with Scottish building regulations, which set minimum standards for a wide range of building function and performance topics. Responsibility for compliance rests with the party commissioning the works (the owner or developer).

Our guidance for Registered Social Landlords and local authorities on the grant-funded element of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (MHDGN 2023/01) outlines the specific quality standards that new build affordable homes receiving funding are required to meet. For example, new build homes which are delivered directly by Registered Social Landlords and local authorities should meet, as a minimum, the design criteria indicated as a ‘basic’ requirement within the Housing for Varying Needs design guide.

Individual Registered Social Landlords and local authorities may also have their own additional design and quality standards which they require affordable homes that they procure to meet.

Police Scotland have confirmed that the increase in claims received by NFU Mutual from Scotland for the 2022/23 period can largely be attributed to a particular 'spike' during that period including the theft of farm machinery, GPS units and an increase in quad bike thefts. A significant proportion of the machinery that was taken with investigations ongoing.

The Scottish Government continues to work with partners across the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) and through the continued expansion of the local partnerships against Crime (LPARCS) across Scotland.

These partnerships share intelligence on organised crime groups operating across borders, providing specific ‘target hardening’ information to the rural and farming community on how to best secure and prevent theft of equipment. They also demonstrate crime prevention measures in relation to the marking, tracking and securing of farm machinery and tools, including in the highest impacted areas.

The ALACHO report reflects the significant pressure and increasing demand for homeless support in some local authority areas. However, these challenges are experienced differently across the country and are not universal across Scotland. Although 10 local authorities have declared housing emergencies, which is reflective of the pressures they are experiencing, the report states a number of local authorities are showing an improvement compared to the results in November 2023.

There are many variables for the reasons behind the increased pressure in some areas and local, targeted solutions that consider the needs of each locality are required. Since taking up my role as Housing Minister I have been meeting, and I will continue to meet, with Housing Convenors from across local authorities to discuss issues that are particular to their area and how the Scottish Government can best support them.

The report shows that, although the early prisoner release programme presented a risk in terms of potential impact on homelessness services, this was largely mitigated by early involvement of ALACHO in discussions throughout the planning and delivery of the emergency release processes. This was in addition to information on planned releases shared by the Scottish Prison Service with each local authority area prior to each tranche of releases.

This report highlights the increased demand for temporary accommodation, but not all temporary accommodation is unsuitable. Most households living in temporary accommodation are living in local authority or housing association properties. Some households chose to wait for an offer that fully meets their needs and, in some circumstances, this can take time.

Every local authority in Scotland has the legal duty to provide accommodation for people facing homelessness but we know demand for housing has been exacerbated by the pandemic, which has led to increased pressures for local authorities. When the Scottish Government declared a housing emergency in May earlier this year, we were clear that there needs to be an all-agency approach from partners – including the UK, national and local governments – to address the challenges in the housing and homelessness sector.

Scotland has an effective strategy to end homelessness (Ending Homelessness Together) and an ambitious housing strategy (Housing to 2040). There is widespread support for both from across the sector and there is confidence that they remain the right long-term plans.

We are progressing activity across the three pillars I set out in my statement to Parliament on 20 June 2024:

• delivering more high quality, permanent homes – growing the economy and supporting affordable housing as a vital public service through increased private and public sector investment;
• ensuring that the homes we are delivering are the right homes in the right places - working with local authorities so that that the Affordable Housing Supply Programme continues to support assessed investment priorities based on Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans and that the programme has maximum impact on local pressures; and
• ensuring there is a settled home for everyone who needs one#x200f#x200f – with continued effort to address high numbers of people – and particularly children – in temporary accommodation and preventing homelessness before it happens. 

In 2023-24, we invested £83 million of the Affordable Housing Supply programme to enable local authorities and registered social landlords to acquire almost 1,500 properties of the right types and in the right places for use as high quality, affordable, permanent homes. In 2024-25, we will invest almost £600 million in affordable housing, including an additional £40 million to bring existing homes into affordable use through acquisitions and, where appropriate, also bring long term voids back into effective use. By utilising these routes to boosting affordable supply we can deliver homes at pace and scale helping to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation and the pressures local authorities are experiencing. 

However, the financial constraints we are working within requires actions to be prioritised. There are things we are doing to make the best of the resources we have, alongside taking actions which do not rely on finance, and there is lots of work already underway across the sector. Ministers and COSLA have taken action to address issues around energy supply to void and new build properties. ALACHO has agreed to work with us to take this forward national guidance on flipping and we continue to engage with stakeholders on the Housing Bill.

Work continues to support housing supply and looking for the most effective and efficient ways to deploy our resources. We want to target our efforts where the greatest harms are being experienced while considering the wider operating environment for housing and how we best sequence and phase activity. The review of the deliverability of the AHSP and the work of the Housing Investment Taskforce are also underway and will give us a further set of actions to work towards.

The action we have set out provides a solid strategic and action-focused approach from which we hope all of the key partners are willing to work together.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-28955 on 28 August 2024.

Building regulations set out technical requirements applicable to building work to protect the public interest. The Scottish Government publish technical handbooks which explain how to achieve the requirements set out in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. Work to improve compliance with building regulations is at the core of the current work of the Building Standards Futures Board. Information on this work can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/groups/building-standards-futures-board/.

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 have committed to consider the justification for and practical operation of Compulsory Sales Orders and to reform the existing compulsory purchase process. We need to properly and fully consider the justification and benefits of introducing Compulsory Sales Orders, against a complex practical and legal background, and to make sure they would be compatible with Convention rights.

Local authorities already have broad compulsory purchase powers, which can and are used for a range of purposes including to bring vacant and derelict property back into productive use. As part of our work to reform and modernise compulsory purchase, a Practitioner Advisory Group was set up in February 2024, and we are engaging with it and wider stakeholders to help us develop our reform proposals, with the aim of a public consultation in autumn 2025. Further information on the reform programme is available at https://blogs.gov.scot/planning-architecture/2024/07/09/compulsory-purchase-reform/