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All planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Our Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), adopted 13 February this year, forms part of the statutory development plan alongside the relevant Local Development Plan (LDP).

NPF4 places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including onshore wind.

NPF4 policy 11 makes clear that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors remain important considerations in the decision-making process. Additionally, the policy requires that project design and mitigation will demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed. All applications are subject to site-specific assessments, including Environmental Impact Assessment where applicable.

NPF4 replaces Scottish Planning Policy (2014) ‘SPP’, including the approach to spatial frameworks for onshore wind previously set out in Table 1 of SPP.

On 16 June 2023, the First Minister represented the Scottish Government at the Summit meeting of the British-Irish Council hosted by the Government of Jersey. The meeting was attended by Ministers from seven of the eight of the BIC Member Administrations with Northern Ireland represented by senior officials in an observational capacity.

The Summit meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister of Jersey Kristina Moore, who welcomed delegates to Jersey at a dinner on the Thursday evening ahead of the Summit.

The Summit focussed on “Building for the Future: Green and Affordable” which offered the opportunity to discuss housing challenges faced by all of the BIC member administrations. This included affordable housing, decarbonisation of heat and modern methods of construction and whilst in Jersey, the First Minister attended a site visit to a building project in St Helier which employs offsite construction methods.

This discussion followed on from a meeting of the BIC Housing Ministers on 5 June at which I represented the Scottish Government. I welcome the opportunity that this forum presents the Governments of these islands for closer collaboration and look forward to increased engagement around the common challenges we face.

On the latest Political Developments item, the First Minster reflected on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the importance of re-establishing political institutions in Northern Ireland. The First Minister highlighted the continued importance of developing measures to help support households and business during the cost-of-living crisis, EU relations intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom, and voiced continued solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The First Minister also took the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with the Taoiseach, the Tnaiste, the First Minister of Wales, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and had introductory meetings with the Chief Ministers of the Crown Dependencies.

The Communiqué that was issued by the British-Irish Council after the meeting can be found on its website at: britishirishcouncil.org.

I am pleased to announce that the Scottish Government has today published a high-level response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review .

The Review, chaired by Lord Scott KC, recommended changes to mental health and capacity law, policy and practice to improve the protection and fulfilment of human rights in the short, medium and long term.

Our response outlines our intention to establish a new long-term programme of improvement and reform in response to the ambition set out by the Review. In it, we set out our vision for change and outline our priorities for reform.

The Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme will update and modernise our mental health and capacity legislation to better align with international human rights. It will be a long term programme that supports change to give people greater control over their own lives, care and treatment.

An early focus will be on strengthening rights protections for Adults with Incapacity, improving support for decision-making and the way in which human rights are put into practice. The response and early priorities have been informed by our initial engagement with a range of stakeholders.

A process of broader engagement will commence over the coming months to develop and refine the detail of our plans and support progress in putting these into action. Further detail about the Programme and plans for delivery will be published in stages from Autumn 2023. I will seek to secure a slot for a Ministerial statement at that stage to ensure that members can contribute to a discussion on our plans for a Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme.

Zero Waste Scotland will publish their report on the environmental impacts of single use vapes on 30 June 2023.

The review was commissioned by myself on 20 January 2023 in response to emerging concerns including litter, plastic waste and risk of fires. The report examines the impacts of single use vapes on the environment and considers potential policy options to tackle the issue. The report will be available on the Zero Waste Scotland website. Following publication, the Scottish Government will consider the review, with a view to setting out a preferred way forward as part of its response.

The detailed information requested is currently being collated by Skills Development Scotland and I will write to the member as soon as this data is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib number 64366).

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022 and offers homeowners the option of a grant, interest free loan or a combination of both to support the installation of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating.

The launch of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme fulfils our commitment set out in the Programme for Government 2022-23 to replace the cashback element of HES funding with a standalone grant, and offers applicants a straight forward, flexible and accessible way to access funding for priority measures.

For zero emission heating measures, grant funding of up to £7,500 is available, with an additional £7,500 of funding available as an interest free loan. For energy efficiency measures, grant funding of up to 75% of the combined costs of measures up to a maximum £7,500 is available, with an additional £7,500 of funding available as an interest free loan.

There is a rural uplift of £1,500 for both the zero emission heating and energy efficiency grants for rural and island homes, meaning rural households can claim up to £18,000 in grant funding.

From the launch of the HES Grant and Loan Scheme in December 2022 to April 2023, 3606 applications for the scheme were received.

We do not collect a breakdown of homes brought back into use by local authority.

The number of empty homes returned to use with support from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership for each year since it was established in 2010 is published in their annual report and is available to view on the website: https://emptyhomespartnership.scot/ 

I refer the member to the question S6W-17702 on 19 May 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government HL1 data collection does not gather information relating directly to referrals under section 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. This information is gathered by the Scottish Housing Regulator as part of the Annual Return on The Scottish Social Housing Charter and is published by local authorities in each year since 2013-14 on the their webpage .

The data for the latest year 2021-22 is available to download from the ‘Charter data - all social landlords dataset’ section, and section 5 referrals are found under indicator 24.1.

The following table shows how much the Scottish Government has spent on the SME Loan and cashback Scheme in each year since its inception in 2008.