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We recognise that language is a critical element of integration and that this may be challenging for displaced people and hosts alike. We appreciate those that have opened their homes to guests from Ukraine.

We have published guidance to support hosts who have generously opened their homes to displaced people and we would suggest hosts make use of free online translation services. The Scottish Refugee Council also provides helpful guidance around interpretation here: Where to find help and information if you are from Ukraine - Google Docs

It may be helpful to note that when displaced people are accessing public services, such as GPs and social services, licensed interpreters are available.

Over the course of this parliament, we have committed to investing £1.8 billion into zero emissions heating and energy efficiency across Scotland. This includes the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme which currently provides households with up to £17,500 of combined loan and cashback funding for the installation of zero emissions heating systems.

The current Home Energy Scotland loan scheme has been operational and supporting households for some time, with the cashback element introduced in 2020. Through the Heat in Buildings Strategy we have also committed to replacing the cashback element of the scheme with a standalone grant during the course of 2022-23.

In developing the new grant scheme and setting grant levels, we are examining a range of evidence. This consideration will include the recent reports published by Nesta. This report and follow up report ‘how to increase the demand for heat pumps’ published in June 2022 by Nesta raises many informative findings, amongst them that a combination of incentives was found to be the most effective in increasing heat pump uptake, in particular a grant combined with lower running costs of the system.

The Scottish Government aims to make the installation of zero emissions heating systems both desirable and achievable for households across Scotland, and the future development of the Home Energy Scotland Loan and Grant scheme will play a large part in this.

The second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) does not prescribe what measures a landlord should install.

The Scottish Housing Regulator does not currently publish data on the value of investment on complying with EESSH2 nor on the individual measures installed in order to comply with EESSH2 milestones.

Between 2018 and 2021, £7 million was made available by the Scottish Government to Local Authority and Housing Association landlords through the Energy Efficient Scotland Transition Programme’s Decarbonisation Fund to assist in compliance with EESSH and EESSH2. The funding was for energy efficiency measures, such as insulation and internal works, within projects that included decarbonisation activity (e.g. ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, biomass, solar PV and storage) and the conversion of off-gas grid properties to these technologies. The Scottish Government did not provide direct funding for heating in these properties.

Since 2020, the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund has committed £14.33 million of grant funding to 20 social housing decarbonisation retrofit projects across Scotland. This includes the installation of zero emissions heating systems and “fabric first” energy efficiency upgrades. Non-zero-emissions solutions are not eligible for support under this fund. The Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) has provided a further £6.1 million of grant funding to two projects involving the installation of zero emissions heating.

Scottish Government has invested £2,959,658.23 in the Support in the Right Direction (SiRD) programme in financial year 2022-23. The SIRD programme is managed by Inspiring Scotland and has a presence in all 32 local authority areas, with each SiRD organisation providing services targeted to the needs of disabled people.

As all Self-directed Support Strategic Delivery partners support all people that require social care, Inspiring Scotland are committed to ensuring that all funding made available to SiRDS organisations either directly or indirectly support the needs of disabled people through accessing services provided by SiRD organisations

Latest HMRC (Regional Trade Statistics) RTS statistics show that in 2021, based on total trade in goods (imports plus exports), Scotland’s largest trading partner was the USA at £5.5 billion. Note this data only includes trade in goods and not services and excludes oil and gas (SITC 3 – Mineral fuels).

The Scottish Government are committed to continuing to improve the promotion, quality, and implementation of Self-directed Support.

Due to changes in SG accounting systems and SG Retention Policies it has not been possible to obtain details of all funding awarded since 1997. Since the Self-Directed Support Scotland Act 2013 came into force in 2014, Scottish Government has provided a total of £46.6m to strategic delivery partners which include Social Work Scotland, Inspiring Scotland, In Control, Self-Directed Support Scotland, The Alliance and Transformation a Funding to all Local Authorities. These Strategic Delivery Partners support the delivery of SDS and direct payments through, in excess of 1000, membership organisations.

It has not been possible to estimate funding spent solely on promotion of direct payments and Self-Directed Support since 1997. This is due to funding recipients not recording actual spend for direct promotional activities, however all funding recipients promote the use of direct payments and self-directed support in all activities funded. Therefore, as all the Self-directed Support Strategic Delivery partners support all people that require social care, the full amount of funding supports disabled people's organisations either directly or indirectly through our strategic delivery partners membership organisations throughout Scotland.

Promotion of direct payments and Self-directed Support has been different for each organisation and has taken many forms such as expenditure on communication, engagement with social work users and working with Local Authorities to raise awareness of available processes therefore making it difficult to define and determine exactly how much budget has been used towards it

The following table provides a breakdown by local authority area of all applications to the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme received in Round 1, for funding in financial year 2021-22.

The dataset on which these statistics is based does not record details of pay or contractual status.

The definition of employment used in school leaver destination statistics includes: those who consider themselves to be employed and in receipt of payment from their employers.

The Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022, to offer sanctuary in Scotland to displaced people from Ukraine. It works within the UK Government’s Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and provides a fast and safe alternative to private sponsorship, meaning people can travel immediately and be provided with temporary accommodation, meals and a range of support, from assessing medical needs to applying for benefits. The Scottish Government is extremely thankful for the generosity of everyone right across Scotland who has expressed an interest in hosting, or who has offered their support to people displaced by the current conflict.

Statistics published on 7 July by the UK Government show that, as at 5 July, 22,451 confirmed applications sponsored by the Scottish Government had been made under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and 17,377 Scottish Government sponsored visas had been issued. Scotland has to date welcomed 7286 displaced people from Ukraine – 11.5% of all arrivals in the UK – 4666 of whom arrived under the super sponsor scheme. Scotland has welcomed the highest number of applications, visas issued and arrivals per head of population of the four nations of the UK.

The rate of visa applications, visas issued and arrivals in Scotland under the super sponsor scheme continues to rise. As at 5 July, visa applications listing the Scottish Government as sponsor were up 21% on the previous week, with visas issued up 27% and arrivals under the super sponsor scheme up 20%. Based on applications submitted already, we could see between 9,000 and 18,000 additional arrivals in the coming weeks and months.

As set out in a policy position paper published today, the Scottish Government’s priority is to provide safe, comfortable accommodation and a wraparound support offer to the displaced people from Ukraine who have arrived in Scotland, and to those who will arrive in the weeks ahead, having applied for visas already.

In order to achieve that objective, the Scottish Government has taken the decision to pause the super sponsor scheme from 9:00am on Wednesday 13 July for a period of 3 months. This will allow us ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who will shortly be travelling to Scotland, are able to stay in appropriate temporary accommodation and get the right support ahead of moving into safe, sustainable longer-term accommodation.

The pause on new applications will not affect anyone who has already made an application or had their visa granted.

We will review our position in three months, but of course if circumstances change during that time we will bring that date forward.

This is a humanitarian crisis requiring a whole of Scotland response, and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local councils and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who have applied and are granted permission to travel, will be safe, secure and supported for as long as they need, after the dangers they have faced at home.

The Scottish Government welcomed Professor Muir’s recommendation in relation to the creation of a shared framework for the inspection of early learning and childcare (ELC) to be developed between the education inspectorate and the Care Inspectorate. We have today launched a consultation to seek the sector’s views on current inspection arrangements in ELC and school-age childcare and a proposal for a shared inspection framework. This can be accessed at the consultations page of the Scottish Government’s website until 28 October.