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The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of national rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis, and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures, by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of rent control. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

Once we report on the 2021 and 2022 fishing seasons, we will undertake discussions with stakeholders via our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group network in order to help determine the effectiveness of existing management measures, and what if any improvements could be made.

There are already a range of measures in place to protect fish stocks and their habitats, including a network of Marine Protected Areas, controls on fishing gear and catch limits. Work is already underway to develop fisheries management measures for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and protection for the 11 Priority Marine Features most vulnerable to mobile bottom-contacting fishing gears outside of MPAs.

Stakeholder engagement is being undertaken at the moment prior to full public consultation next year. All proposals to manage the MPA network and Priority Marine Features are evidence-led, based on Sustainability Appraisals and underpinned by stakeholder engagement at all stages.

The Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan was developed through close engagement with our delivery partners highlighted in Chapter Two.

To inform our understanding of the sector and support the development of the plan, we utilised feedback gained though published reports from expert groups including our Heat Pump Sector Deal Expert Advisory Group and the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce.

We have also utilised extensive feedback on supply chain issues received through a number of wide ranging public consultations in relation to our heat in buildings programme, namely, our consultation on the Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, and our scoping consultation on the New Build Heat Standard.

We continue to engage with the sector on a routine and informal basis alongside our delivery partners and, as outlined within the Plan, we have committed to carrying out a formal public consultation to seek views on our proposal to develop a new supplier led funding scheme for green heat works.

The Scottish Government currently provides significant support through Business Energy Scotland (BES) and the SME Loan and Cashback Scheme to help SMEs implement renewable heating technologies such as air source heat pumps. We have also recently enhanced support for Scottish organisations to decarbonise through expanding the capacity of the Business Energy Scotland advice service.

In the Bute House agreement the Scottish Government committed to transition the cashback element of the BES SME loan schemes to standalone grants. Officials are working closely with delivery partners to develop this improved scheme for SMEs in Scotland to access both loan and grant support for the installation of renewable heating technologies.

Local authorities are responsible for the development and delivery of flood protection schemes. The 2015-2021 Flood Risk Management Strategies included 42 formal flood protection schemes. Local authorities were expected to start work on development of these schemes by 2021. However as flood protection schemes can have significant impacts on individuals, communities and the environment, and so require careful and detailed planning and consultation, it was recognised that construction work may not be completed within the 2015-2021 timeframe.

Schemes (a) under construction are as follows:

Scotland will receive £24.6 million from within the £484 million package of support announced by the UK Government. This will be distributed to the sector via the Scottish Funding Council. Universities and research institutions may be eligible for other aspects of the package announced by the UK Government.

This allocation is intended to address the shortfall in research funding caused by delays in negotiating association to the Horizon Europe Research programme. The funding awarded reflects Scotland’s previous track record of success and influential position in this prestigious and highly competitive research programme.

We highly value European partnerships and collaborations, built through initiatives like Horizon, which help drive Scotland’s strength and excellence in research. The impact of Brexit has risked our ability to continue to access funding and compete as a world leading research nation. Therefore, the Scottish Government’s position remains that maximising participation in Horizon Europe is the best outcome for Scotland.

We urge the UK Government to work together with the European Commission to limit the damage caused by their ideological pursuit of a ‘hard’ Brexit. Finding a mutually beneficial solution for our research and innovation communities remains of pressing importance.

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s fourth thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report. This not only includes a narrative, context and additional information about key recommendations but, importantly, also has a tracker showing what progress has been made.

This shows that 55 of the non-legislative recommendations are now complete leaving only 16 non-legislative recommendations still in progress and one to be kept under review.

Through their leadership and commitment, policing partners have delivered major business transformation and service redesign to improve how complaints are handled, bringing greater transparency, fairness and accessibility to systems, policies and processes.

Building on this and as announced in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government will introduce a Police Complaints and Misconduct Handling Bill in this Parliamentary year to further strengthen public confidence in policing in Scotland.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for their dedication to this important work.

The report can be accessed here: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781805252610

The Scottish Government and its agencies support many of our festivals and events in a multitude of ways as set out in the following table:

Financial Support – financial year 2022-23

The Scottish Government proposes to take a phased approach to the alignment with the recast Drinking Water Directive. This prioritises the health based standards that can be implemented now and recognises that some parts of the Directive apply at a later date.

A more detailed description of the approach to alignment is provided in the policy note which accompanies The Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 (draft). This is contained in the Clerk’s papers for the 32 nd Meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee ( 4647 (parliament.scot) ).

Consultation will be undertaken with relevant stakeholders as the various parts of the Directive are introduced to ensure that they are proportionate and in Scotland’s interests.