Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) met with the Accountable Officer (AO) to discuss the gateway review recommendation suggesting a "Portfolio approach". After due consideration it was deemed that at this moment in the programmes development it was not the appropriate course of action to take and would be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17543 on 12 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 .

The safety of residents and homeowners in Scotland is our priority as we work to tackle cladding safety issues. We are undertaking a programme of work to identify, assess and remediate building with potentially unsafe cladding. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are members of the Cladding Remediation Stakeholders Group which meets regularly, the last meeting being on 29 March 2023. Work has been undertaken between the UK Government and UK Finance to develop a solution which reflects the situation in England and we are in urgent discussion with UK Finance about adapting that solution for Scotland as quickly as possible.

The following table shows a time series for the number of registered private sector businesses in the construction of domestic buildings sector, split into Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. The construction of domestic buildings sector is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (“SIC”) code 41.202 and is a sub-category within the construction sector, Section F. A SME here is defined as a business with 0 – 249 employees, whilst registered businesses are businesses that are registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The data covers the period from 2010 to 2022, earlier data are not readily available and, also not comparable due to changes in SIC definitions and methodology over time.

The number of registered private sector businesses by employee size band in the construction of domestic buildings (SIC 41.202) in Scotland, March 2010 – March 2022.

Several of the projects funded by the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund have been awarded funding involving the replacement of a traditional gas boiler. The Scottish Government can provide an estimate, based on the applications received since 2020, that the amount of properties that have been awarded funding involving the replacement of a gas boiler with a zero emissions heating system is an estimated 826 properties.

It should be noted that several of the projects awarded funding from the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund involve intervention that is dependent on the specific needs of individual properties. This can include properties that do not have a gas boiler, and in rural areas that are off gas. In these cases, the interventions required may involve the replacement of another heating source for example wet electric central heating systems, storage heaters, oil and solid fuel, with an appropriate zero or low emissions heating system.

Alongside this, several projects funded through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund involve “Fabric First” Energy Efficiency Only Projects. In order to be eligible for “Fabric First” funding, social housing projects must commit to installing zero emission heating. Registered Social Landlords receiving “Fabric First” only funding will be able to apply for subsequent funding to install zero emission heating systems.

We note the recent publication by the British Property Federation, assessing the impact of the emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.

We recognise the importance of the private rented sector in the provision of rented housing, including homes provided through the Build-to-Rent sector, and we believe that a well-regulated private rental sector is good for both tenants and landlords.

The temporary, emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 is providing additional protections for tenants during these challenging and uncertain economic times. It is important to note that there are no restrictions on a landlord setting rents at the start of a tenancy and the legislation could only ever be in place for a total of 18 months, if the circumstances demand it and with Parliamentary approval, and therefore the temporary protections should not be a deterrent to new housing development.

Scottish Ministers have a statutory duty to ensure that the emergency powers taken are proportionate in order to respond to the costs crisis and will only last as long as required. In addition, the Scottish Parliament has continued oversight of the necessity of those powers through our regular reporting on the necessity and proportionality of the measures.

In the longer term, we have committed to introducing a national system of rent control, informed by views from tenants, landlords and investors through an advisory group. We intend to introduce a rent control system which is compatible with encouraging investment and we will continue to engage with stakeholders from across the sector on our long-term commitment to develop an effective system of rent controls for Scotland.

The best way to deliver a strong rented sector is to build more affordable homes and Scotland leads the way in this area, having delivered more than 118,000 affordable homes since 2007, with 83,291 of these for social rent. We’re now working towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which 70% will be for social rent.

The full-year information regarding how many (a) Electronic Power of Attorney Registration (EPOAR) and (b) postal power of attorney submissions were received by the Office of the Public Guardian in 2022-23 now that the financial year is complete is as follows (the table also indicates numbers received in previous years):

My visit aimed to cover a number of areas in the Scotland/US relationship. It had a particular focus on trade and investment, culture, higher education and – linking all of these things – Scotland’s network in the US. This visit offered an opportunity to build upon my visit to the US in April 2022, as well as other Ministerial visits over the past 12 months. It also presented an opportunity to launch our Scottish Connections Framework, Scotland’s new diaspora strategy, in perhaps the most populous (alongside Canada) diaspora location. (Link Scottish Connections Framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )

I attended Tartan Week, supported by my Private Secretary, the Scottish Government Deputy Director for International, and two supporting officials. Five members of staff based in the US also supported my visit and attended events. The full costs of my visit, and those of all Ministerial travel costs, are routinely published on the Scottish Government website. I would encourage you to look there for more details (Link: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

You also requested the costs for travelling officials who accompanied me from Scotland. Please find these in the following table.

In summer 2022, Scottish Government commissioned a social research company, The Lines Between, to recruit and engage a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland. The Lines Between were selected by means of a competitive Invitation to Tender (ITT) process, which is a formal, open and recognised SG process, for which their submission was the highest scoring entry. Recruitment of the panel was undertaken by The Lines Between and their recruitment partner Taylor McKenzie.

The total cost of the contract was £40,000 exclusive of VAT. The Scottish Government made no direct payments to Taylor McKenzie or the members of the Panel for this work.

The cost of formatting the report for publication on the Scottish Government website was £516.58.

The Pain Panel has carried out a second exercise on the chronic pain information held on the NHS Inform website. This report will be published shortly on the Scottish Government webpage

The Deposit Return Scheme has already delivered hundreds of millions of pounds of investment across Scotland, and is creating over 500 new green jobs which includes those via third party operators. While some of these jobs may be filled already the majority will become operational as the scheme goes live on 1 March 2024 .