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According to the 2019 Scottish House Condition Survey, 17% of all households in Scotland have a pre-payment meter and 33% have a smart meter.

35% of owner occupied households have a smart meter and 5% have a pre-payment meter. Around 20% of private rented dwellings have smart meters and 21% have pre-payment meters. In the social sector, 33% of households have smart meters and 43% have pre-payment meters.

However, the Scottish Government does not collect any data on households with standard credit meters.

Scottish Ministers take decisions on wind farm applications that are made to them under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. There are two sites for which two or more applications, under section 36 or section 36c of the Electricity Act 1989, have been submitted in the last 5 years. Site is defined ordinarily as an area delineated in red on an application site map, within which the wind farm development will take place.

These applications have been made to vary the proposed wind farm developments which had previously been granted section 36 consent in the last 5 years. These applications are made to Scottish Ministers under section 36c of the Electricity Act 1989. If the variation is approved, it is the varied development that will be built and operated i.e. it cannot be constructed and operated in addition to the originally consented wind farm.

In the last 5 years there have also been four applications made to Scottish Ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to extend wind farms, which had previous applications submitted and consented in the last 5 years, by adding additional wind turbines. Some of these applications will use part of a site already consented as the wind farm they are extending.

More detail on these applications can be found by using the search options/fields at Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit

Wind farms that generate less than 50 megawatts of electricity do not require section 36 consent from Scottish Ministers but are instead determined by the local planning authority. Detailed information on wind farm applications which have been made to local planning authorities over the last five years is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The right to appeal certain decisions made by local planning authorities is an important part of the planning system. The vast majority of appeals are decided by an independent reporter from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) of the Scottish Government. In the last five years there have been four wind farm appeals on sites for which there had been an earlier appeal on the same site. In two appeals the later appeal related to a smaller scheme and in the other two appeals the later appeal related to appeals against conditions imposed on the earlier decisions.

Regulation of energy markets and consequently smart meter policy is reserved to the UK Government.

There are currently no requirements on landlords, whether social or private, to undertake installation of smart metering equipment as energy suppliers are responsible for undertaking this work. Suppliers are required to aim to install smart metering equipment in all homes and are required to do so at no up front cost. It would be for the energy supplier to arrange with the account holder to install the required equipment. In the majority of cases the account holder would be the tenant.

Given this, there are currently no plans to amend the Scottish Housing Quality Standard or the Repairing Standard to introduce requirements on landlords to install smart meters.

Smart meters have an important role to play in helping the Scottish Government achieve our aim of increasing energy efficiency across Scotland as well as helping consumers manage their spend on energy. At the recent energy summit chaired by the First Minister, we committed to working with partners to increase the number of households with smart meters in Scotland, with a focus on rural areas, by highlighting the benefits they can deliver in terms of both energy bills and energy efficiency. As part of this work, we will continue to call upon BEIS and Ofgem to take the necessary action to ensure all households eligible for a smart meter have the opportunity to install one in their home.

Scottish Ministers take decisions on wind farm applications that are made to them under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. The three most common reasons for refusing consent to a proposed wind farm, made to Scottish Ministers in the last five years, were landscape and visual impacts, impacts on the qualities of a National Park or National Scenic Area and impacts on the qualities of a wild land area.

More detail on the reasons for the decisions can be found in the decision letters which are published on our website Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit by using the search tool to find wind farm applications that have been refused.

Wind farms that generate less than 50 megawatts of electricity do not require section 36 consent from Scottish Ministers but are instead determined by the local planning authority. Information on the reasons why wind farm applications were refused planning permission by local planning authorities is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The right to appeal certain decisions made by local planning authorities is an important part of the planning system. The vast majority of appeals are decided by an independent reporter from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) of the Scottish Government. The three most common reasons for refusing an appeal relating to a proposed wind farm in the last five years were: landscape, visual and residential amenity impacts.

Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness legislation in the world and local authorities have a legal duty to provide support to anyone at risk of homelessness, including veterans.

Preventing homelessness from happening in the first place is the best and most effective way to end homelessness. We commissioned the Veterans Scotland Housing Group to set out specific strategies to prevent homelessness for veterans and their report was published in January 2022. We accepted the 24 recommendations in principle and are engaging with partners on next steps.

Additionally, we continue to support the charity Housing Options Scotland to provide its Military Matters project, helping veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces to find the right home in the right place. We also published a guide on the Scottish Government website with housing in Scotland information and contacts of organisations who may be able to help veterans obtain housing suitable for their needs.

The Women’s Health Plan includes a variety of short, medium and long-term actions. Since the publication of the Plan in August 2021, we have prioritised actions that we know will have an immediate impact on health inequalities. Our first report on progress will be published in early 2023, and will set out the progress made since the publication of the plan.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13514 on 16 January 2023 for an update on the development of a menopause and menstrual health workplace policy for NHS Scotland. 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 Scottish Government are currently working with a steering group comprised of key stakeholders from across the sector to develop an updated Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus (SHBBV) Framework. It is anticipated that the Framework will be published in Spring this year.

Anyone supporting a family in desperate need should refer them to their local authority or a health professional such as a health visitor or midwife in order to make sure they are getting the holistic support they need, including financial advice and a referral to cash-first crisis supports such as the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Prioritising cash-first in response to food insecurity is in line with a human rights approach and consistent with UNICEF guidance. Following on from last year’s consultation, we are publishing our plan on ending in the need for food banks later this winter – this restates our commitment to this ambition and to continuing to work urgently with partners to strengthen cash-first support available.

The UNICEF guidance does not prevent the purchase and distribution of milk where there is no immediate alternative. UNICEF note that in certain circumstances food banks can make use of crisis funding to support families to purchase the right supply, but they discourage the redistribution of donated milk as this is not a secure, sustainable or appropriate route for ongoing supply.

The Scottish Government accepts that this statistic needs revising and we have already committed to undertake further work to quantify Scotland’s offshore wind potential. In response to the issues raised in the UK Statistics Authority’s letter, dated 7 December 2022, the Scottish Government has engaged directly with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) setting out the steps that have been taken to ensure the statistic is not used further, and provided an update on the analytical work that is underway to produce a replacement statistic.

The Scottish Government recognise the benefits of Scottish Racing to the economy and the positive impact it has on employment in communities across Scotland.

While we have not undertaken a direct assessment of the potential economic growth that the Scottish horse racing sector can contribute to the economy, we are aware of Scottish Racing’s 2018 Annual Review, which highlights that the sport generates £306 million to the Scottish economy as well as sustaining 3,400 FTE jobs.

Through our emergency sports funding package, we provided Scottish Racing with £2.265 million, recognising the value of sustaining and supporting Scotland’s racecourses.

The Scottish Government continue to engage with Scottish Racing and look forward to their 2022 Review and Prospectus, which will be published shortly with updated figures.