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We continue to see Common Housing Registers as a key way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing. It is up to individual local authorities and housing associations to determine the most effective application process and allocation policy for allocating their housing stock. Guidance on Common Housing Registers can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We have no plans to provide support to Glasgow City Council to expand their Common Housing Register which is a matter for them.

The cost crisis represents an unprecedented challenge to which the UK Government must respond.

The Scottish Government is taking action to prioritise support for Scotland, within the constraints of its limited budget and powers. On 7 September I wrote to the Finance and Public Administration Committee and I set out our progress to Parliament, including the savings taken to date. Here is a link to the Committee letter - Cost crisis: letter to Scottish Parliament committee .

The Scottish Government’s Emergency Budget Review is an ongoing budget process and I have committed to publishing its outcome within two weeks of the UK fiscal event planned for later this month.

Following the first Oversight Group meeting in June, David Strang, former chair of the Drug Death Taskforce, has accepted my offer to become Chair of the group, ensuring its independence from government. I will of course continue to attend as a member of the group. This will begin from the next meeting scheduled for 22 September 2022.

To ensure independence from government, a steering board of members has been nominated to co-ordinate the agenda for Oversight Group meetings.

The Scottish Government has no plans to produce an updated full business case addendum at this time.

Circularity Scotland Ltd is a private, not-for-profit business. As such, the Scottish Government does not have access to this information.

The following tables 1 to 4 show breast screening uptake from January 2019 to June 2022 for each of the breast screening centres. Uptake is defined as the proportion of eligible patients invited who receive a technically adequate and complete screen. 2019 data is provided as a baseline. Note that table 2 reflects a period when the programme was paused due to COVID-19.

It is important to note that the data provided was collected and used for management purposes for monitoring the recovery of the program and has not been subject to quality checks for official publication. Public Health Scotland publish breast screening programme statistics every year; the last publication was in April 2022 and the next publication is due in April 2023.

Table 1 – Breast screening uptake (% of eligible participants) by screening centre, January to December 2019

The Scottish Government provided an evidence paper to the Education, Children and Young People Committee ahead of its meeting on 25 May 2022. This paper covers many of the issues subsequently raised in the written evidence submitted by the Scottish Private Nursery Association (SPNA) for that session.

The SPNA separately shared their written evidence with Scottish Government officials directly. Officials provided a detailed response to the SPNA on 3 August 2022. I would be happy to share this, and would invite the member to contact my office to request a copy.

Regular engagement with the childcare sector is a vital part of the Scottish Government’s approach to policy development and monitoring delivery of the 1140 expansion, and I am grateful to the SPNA for sharing their members’ concerns.

a) The number of mergers and transfer of engagements of RSLs based in Glasgow between 2014 and September 2022 is 5.

b) The number of mergers and transfer of engagements of RSLs based in Glasgow between 2010 and 2014 is 0.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing water pollution at beaches across Scotland.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for protecting and improving water quality at Scotland’s 87 designated Bathing Waters. This bathing water season Scotland has more bathing waters rated as ‘excellent’, ‘good’ or ‘sufficient’ than at any point since tighter bathing water standards first came into force in 2015. Last year, 99% of designated bathing waters achieved the bathing water quality standards.

SEPA has analysed 1,297 water quality samples from 87 designated Bathing Waters this season and 93% were found to be at safe levels. Short term fluctuations in water quality do though occur following heavy rainfall – causing sewer overflows, agricultural run-off from land, and surface water discharges from roads, car parks, and pavements etc., which are all sources of bacteria.

SEPA investigates poor water quality results and works with partners to reduce “short-term pollution” after heavy rainfall. Bathers are also advised on its website or electronic beach signs at 29 Bathing Waters if the water quality is predicted to be poor so they can make an informed choice before entering the water.

To help address the impact of sewer overflows, Scottish Water is investing up to £70m in 1000 new Combined Sewer Overflow event monitors across Scotland, including those at designated Bathing Wates, by December 2024. This spill monitoring information will be used to inform and prioritise investment to improve bathing water quality as well as informing the public.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many street lights could presently be retrofitted to include electric vehicles charging points broken down by local authority area. Whilst electric vehicle charging technologies exists for such an application, not all street lights will be suitable for a number of reasons including their proximity to the public road.

Supporting those without access to off-street charging will require a range of approaches. We have invested almost £60m to develop a public EV network and this year announced a new £60m EV Infrastructure Fund that aims to double the size of the public charging network in the next few years. We are also taking forward legislation to ensure developers provide electric vehicle charge points in the construction of new residential and non-residential buildings, to increase both the convenience and number of charging opportunities across Scotland.