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The Scottish Government does not provide loans to home owners for the purpose of installing fire alarms that are compliant with the new standard. Local authorities have broad discretionary powers to provide assistance to home owners, in connection with work on private homes, including assistance by way of loans. Local authorities are best placed to determine what types of assistance are provided in their area, subject to local resources and priorities.

We recognise that some owners will have more difficulty, particularly with the option to fit alarms themselves, and we have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled home owners. We have also provided £1 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to provide alarms for owners who are considered most vulnerable to the risk of fire.

There is existing provision on celebrants not contravening provisions on gender reassignment discrimination by refusing to solemnise a marriage if the celebrant reasonably believes the gender of the person getting married has become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. This provision is contained in paragraph 25 of schedule 3 of the Equality Act 2010: Equality Act 2010 (legislation.gov.uk) which is generally reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government’s intention is this provision would continue to apply under the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has a Policy in place regarding the treatment of Trans Prisoners in custody. This Policy is in line with the Equality Act 2010. The SPS carry out comprehensive risk assessments to assess risks to both prisoners and staff in determining how individual transgender prisoners are managed. The 2010 Act is generally reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government’s intention is this Policy would continue to have effect under the provisions in the draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The £0.5 million funding has been granted to Care and Repair Scotland to provide assistance in the business year 2021-22. Information on the number of homes assisted will be collected, and will be available at the end of this period.

As of 28 October 2021 the Scottish Government is aware of four companies based in the Highlands and Islands who are currently approved to carry out insulation work to the BSI retrofit standards.

These companies are certified to install insulation as per the British Standards Institution (BSI) Publically Available Specification (PAS) 2030. There are a larger number of companies accredited to BSI standards to install insulation that operate in the Highlands and Islands. For our example, our national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland has 12 approved sub-contractors covering the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Government is working with industry to co-produce a new 'Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan' by Summer 2022 specifically focussed on strengthening the broad supply chains needed to deliver at the pace and scale we need.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is operated on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government, in compliance with our obligations under the Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU.

It is for the airport’s management team to consider all potential business opportunities to maximise the use of the assets of the airport. Handling military flights has been a key part of Prestwick’s business for decades and remains an important and specialised part of its overall offering.

The Scottish Government provides funding to local councils through our Area Based Schemes to deliver energy efficiency improvements to households living in or at risk of fuel poverty. The guidance for the scheme specifies an average amount per property for the intensity of grant-in-aid that can usually be provided for fabric improvements.

This maxima was increased by £500 for all categories of property from 1 April 2020. This reflected feedback about increased costs of providing insulation received from all 32 councils and managing agents involved in delivery of the programme in
‎ 2019-20. Local councils can provide a higher intensity of grant-in-aid for households in extreme fuel poverty or other relevant factors, for example where there are additional costs due to non-standard construction type.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03712 on
‎ 4 November 2021. 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

Once the Clyde 2020 initiative’s remit is agreed then the appropriate level of financial and administrative support will be identified along with the associated timeframe for this support.

Successful and unsuccessful applications to Energy Saving Trust’s E-bike Loan Fund, broken down by month since November 2020, are summarised in the following table.