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We are currently considering the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2023-24 as part of ongoing budget discussions. We will communicate the outcome as soon as a final decision has been reached.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme supports delivery of homes across various methods of construction, including modular, but the factories the member mentions are not part of that.

Modular construction is one of a range of offsite methods used to build new homes in Scotland. It has been used in the delivery of affordable and private homes across the country in urban, rural and island locations.

The latest available information at national level relates to the position at 31 December 2022:

Ongoing waits: For those patients still waiting for a new outpatient appointment in Gastroenterology, the median wait was 130 days and 9 out of 10 waits (90th percentile) had lasted no longer than 382 days.

Completed waits: For those patients seen as an outpatient in Gastroenterology, the median wait was 58 days and 9 out of 10 waits were no longer than 509 days.

The publication, Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics provides details on the sources and calculations used to produce the offshore wind turnover and employment information. It also provides some summary information on the uncertainty present within this data as well as a link to the source, the Office for National Statistics' Low carbon and renewable energy economy survey, data which provides more details on the quality and uncertainty of this data. The Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics publication is currently an experimental statistics publication, which means it is under development. The offshore wind data is one of the areas that will undergo further work as data sources expand.

We have finished our investigation into whether it is possible to more accurately measure the offshore wind farm economic activity. We have concluded that currently there is no more accurate way to measure using existing data sources, however this will be reassessed in future. The reasons for this conclusion are:

• The main source for economic data for businesses is the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Business Survey. This uses Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes to classify businesses by main activity. There is a ‘Production of electricity’ SIC code, but the source of the electricity generation (e.g. offshore wind) is not separately identified within the SIC system.
• It is currently not possible to accurately calculate the gross value added of offshore wind using existing data or collecting it directly due to business structures. This is why the current source for the offshore wind economic activity, the low carbon and renewable energy economy survey, only estimates turnover and employment.
• Financial records at Companies House also use the same SIC codes as the ONS Annual Business Survey so it is difficult to identify relevant businesses. Even when identified their complex and interlinked business structures mean that is it not possible, using current sources, to separately calculate reliable gross value added associated specifically with offshore wind.

There is potential for future improvements in the measurement of the economic activity associated with renewables. As, for example, there is work ongoing led by the United Nations Statistics Division on a revision to the SIC codes, which were last updated in 2007. This planned update should better account for newer sectors such as renewables.

Our 2022 consultation on a new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy included proposals to explore the role of technology to obtain better data, deter litter and flytipping and aid enforcement of offences. ‘Littercam’ technology is currently being trialled on part of the trunk road network in a targeted scheme for the purpose of monitoring litter levels. The final National Litter and Flytipping Strategy will be published this year.

Electricity policy, including regulation of Great Britain’s electricity networks, is reserved to the UK Government.

According to the terms of their licence, network companies must treat all customers in the same way and cannot ‘ring-fence’ capacity for one group over another.

The Scottish Government has repeatedly called on Ofgem, the UK Government and the Electricity System Operator to ensure that networks are ready to support our just transition to net zero, including connection of community energy projects. Achieving this will require changes to the existing connection queue management processes to ensure that projects that are ready to connect are able to do so.

The Scottish Government wants to realise as many opportunities as possible for community energy and to maximise the benefits flowing to communities from our energy transition. That is why we continue to invest in CARES, which is currently putting a strong focus on heat decarbonisation while continuing to help communities assess their priorities for net zero activity, which can include potential opportunities for energy generation. Across all projects and technologies, CARES has advised over 900 organisations and offered £60 million in funding to over 680 projects. It has supported the installation of 57.9MW of renewable energy. In Na h-Eileanan an Iar, CARES has supported 44 projects and offered over £2.74 million in funding, which has supported the installation of 13.5MW of renewable energy.

The Scottish Government has commissioned independent research to consider how we create the right policy environment and target support in a way which maximises the contribution of community energy to a just transition. The outputs from this research will be used to inform future policy development and the support provided through CARES.

The Scottish Government’s National Treatment Centres (NTCs) programme will provide protected capacity for planned care for orthopaedic, ophthalmic and diagnostic activity. NTC Fife and NTC Highland have already opened this year with NTC Forth Valley and Golden Jubilee Phase 2 due to open later this year.

The original and actual / projected costs, as well as original and actual/projected opening dates are shown in the following table.

The Scottish Government welcomes the recent Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) report on handheld remote-controlled training devices (e-collars).

We are considering all their findings carefully as part of our ongoing commitment to improve and enhance animal welfare.

Our Fuel Poverty (Scotland) Act 2019 came into law in July 2019.

It is the most ambitious fuel poverty legislation in the UK and sets challenging targets that in 2040 (including at local authority level) as far as reasonably possible:

• no more than 5% of households in Scotland are fuel poor,
• no more than 1% of households in Scotland are in extreme fuel poverty,
• the median fuel poverty gap of households in Scotland in fuel poverty is no more than £250 adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money.

This includes interim targets for 2035 and 2030 (which only require to be met at national level).

2035:

• no more than 10% of households in Scotland are in fuel poverty,
• no more than 3% of households in Scotland are in extreme fuel poverty,
• the median fuel poverty gap of households in Scotland in fuel poverty is no more than £300 adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money.

2030:

•  no more than 15% of households in Scotland are in fuel poverty,
• no more than 5% of households in Scotland are in extreme fuel poverty,
• the median fuel poverty gap of households in Scotland in fuel poverty is no more than £350 adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money.

Our Fuel Poverty Strategy published in December 2021 sets out a comprehensive range of actions to address the four drivers of fuel poverty, especially for those at highest risk, and in working towards meeting our statutory targets. These actions have been informed by evidence, including lived experience, and learning from the changing context in response to the global pandemic and climate emergency.

In addition, we are presently consulting on the strategy’s next steps with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, established under the 2019 Act, and appointed in January 2022, to provide independent advice to Scottish Ministers on fuel poverty and scrutiny of our progress towards delivering 2040 fuel poverty targets.

The Scottish Government will continue to use the powers available to them to tackle fuel poverty, and has called on the UK government to assist in that goal by reforming energy regulation to address the root cause of fuel poverty which is the cost of fuel to households. The Scottish Government can mitigate some of the impacts of this root cause, but urgent action is required in reserved areas to bring the cost of fuel bills down.

The Scottish Government will continue to use the powers available to them to tackle fuel poverty, and has called on the UK government to assist in that goal by reforming energy regulation to address the root cause of fuel poverty which is the cost of fuel to households. The Scottish Government can mitigate some of the impacts of this root cause, but urgent action is required in reserved areas to bring the cost of fuel bills down.