Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is reviewing the Competition & Markets Authority’s ‘Housing Markets Study’ which was published on 28 February 2024. The report recommends consideration by the Scottish, Welsh and UK governments of standardised approaches to bond calculations, inspections, and approvals. We are considering the recommendations for Scotland and will respond in a way which respects the Verity House Agreement.

The Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Programme for Government announced that we would be seeking the devolution of powers to introduce a levy equivalent to the UK Government’s Building Safety Levy for England, the revenues from which will be used to provide funding for the Scottish Government’s Cladding Remediation Programme.

As the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate for a new national tax in Scotland without devolution of powers from the UK Parliament, the Scottish Government has formally requested the transfer of powers from the UK Government under Section 80B of the Scotland Act 1998.

To inform the UK Government’s decision on this request, the Scottish and UK Governments launched a joint consultation on 8 January. The consultation ran for eight weeks, from 8 January 2024 to 19 February 2024. Respondents were asked to provide evidence that devolving the power may impose a disproportionate negative impact on UK macroeconomic policy or impede the single UK market in housebuilding. They were also asked whether the powers for a Building Safety Levy in Scotland should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish and UK Governments agree that the consultation has surfaced no evidence to prevent the transfer of powers from proceeding. As such, the UK Government has confirmed that it will proceed to legislate for the transfer of powers. An Order in Council will now be subject to scrutiny in both the UK and Scottish Parliaments.

The Scottish Government has been clear that it will do what is right and necessary to fix the issue of unsafe cladding fully and from the outset. This is a significant step towards ensuring that the appropriate funding is in place to meet the associated costs of doing this.

In line with our New Deal for Business, the Scottish Government will now proceed to engage with the residential property development sector and wider stakeholders to ensure that the design and delivery of the Levy is informed by the widest possible range of views. Our approach to design and delivery of tax policy will also be guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Tax.

We recognise the ongoing impact that adverse weather conditions are having on Scotland’s agricultural industry – conditions that are a direct result of climate change.

The poor weather conditions experienced in the early spring will be presenting challenges to farmers and crofters at the time of peak lambing and calving, and will be impacting the ability to sow crops. The Farm Advisory Service, funded by the Scottish Government, provides resources for farmers and crofters in responding to the wet weather this year.

The Farm Advisory Service is also signposting people towards the charity RSABI. RSABI provide practical, emotional and financial support to all people involved in the Scottish agricultural industry.

The Scottish Government provided £2,896,309 of funding to Sistema Scotland in financial year 2023-2024. The Scottish Government are working with Sistema Scotland to finalise their grant allocation for financial year 2024-2025.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee and remains fully committed to delivering net zero by 2045. As published alongside the statement to the Chamber on the Climate Change Bill, we will develop measures to accelerate the switch from ICE to zero emission vans and other vehicles in order to help reduce ICE van kms, with the intention of achieving early progress with the largest companies while ensuring appropriate support mechanisms for smaller businesses and independent traders.

We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations in relation to van traffic and provide a response in due course.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The information requested on how many full-time equivalent administrative support posts provide support to consultants across the NHS is not centrally available.

Since Sept 2007, administrative services have increased by 21.5% or by 5,316.9 WTE, from 24,737.2 WTE as at Sept 2007 to 30,054.1 WTE as at Dec 2023.

Support to clinical staff, up 45.4% since Sept 2007 to 9,600.5 WTE as at Dec 2023.

Further Information on the administrative services workforce, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: 05 March 2024 Workforce | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

The Scottish Government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with their rightful owners, should they be separated.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s (SAWC) Responsible Cat Ownership Working Group is currently considering responsible cat ownership including microchipping and we will carefully consider the SAWC’s report and its recommendations once published before taking further action.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The information requested on how many cancer nurses have been employed in each year since 2011-12, broken down by NHS board area is not centrally available.