Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Homes for Ukraine scheme offers two routes by which displaced people can match with hosts in Scotland. Through the Home Office private sponsor scheme, people match directly with hosts in Scotland and make an application on that basis. The requirement for people to match with a private sponsor before entering the UK undoubtedly delays their progress.

This is why the Scottish Government offered to become a ‘super sponsor’. Through the Scottish super sponsor scheme, people apply to come to Scotland without being required to find a host first. Once people are safely in Scotland, they are accommodated in temporary accommodation before being matched to long term accommodation that has been through appropriate safeguarding and suitability checks.

The length of time these processes take can vary on a case by case basis. The key determinate of time remains the pace at which visas are processed and issued. If the UK Government will not follow the example of the EU and waive the requirement for visas, then they must grant them quickly. We stand ready to welcome people when they arrive in Scotland.

I can confirm that my officials and I met with members of the Life After Essure support group on 31 March. I was grateful for the opportunity to hear the experiences of the women first hand, and found the meeting very helpful.

What became clear was the need for a consistent approach for any women experiencing complications as a result of this device. As such, I can confirm that I have agreed to write to GPs and other relevant clinicians in order to highlight the concerns that have been raised. In addition, I have also undertaken to give consideration to what further action can be taken to ensure that there is increased awareness amongst both patients and clinicians.

I will be happy to provide further updates in due course.

The High Level Group on Planning Performance aims to improve the performance of the planning system for all types of development. The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and new planning application fee levels came into effect on 1 April 2022 which will increase the financial resources available to planning authorities.

Performance is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities: all parties, including applicants, have a role to play in ensuring that applications are determined efficiently and effectively. Accordingly, extending the membership of the High Level Group to include applicants has been considered on a number of occasions. It is important to recognise that the planning system is used by a wide range of applicants across a variety of sectors, so to include all industry and business representative bodies would be unmanageable. However, given the importance of performance, active consideration is being given to how the views and concerns of applicants can be more directly fed into the High Level Group. This will be investigated during the summer and we will be making contact with industry representatives shortly to discuss possible options.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a moratorium on windfarm development.

To achieve a net zero, nature-positive Scotland, our planning system must be rebalanced so that climate change and nature recovery are the primary guiding principles for all our plans and all our decisions. Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) set out new Universal Policies that should apply to all planning decisions to help us tackle the climate and nature crises and ensure Scotland adapts to thrive within the planet’s sustainable limits. It also included green energy policies which support renewable energy development other than in National Parks and National Scenic Areas, subject to an assessment of their impacts on a case by case basis.

The Parliamentary scrutiny period and public consultation on Draft National Planning Framework 4 has now concluded. Responses received are now being analysed and will inform the finalised NPF4, which will be submitted for Parliament’s approval, prior to adoption by Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government’s draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) set out how our approach to planning and development can achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045. The draft NPF4 included green energy policy 19 which would support renewable energy development other than in National Parks and National Scenic Areas, subject to an assessment of their impacts on a case by case basis. Criteria for assessing proposals were also set out, including impacts on communities and individual dwellings.

The Parliamentary scrutiny period and public consultation on Draft National Planning Framework 4 has now concluded. Responses received are now being analysed and will inform the finalised NPF4, which will be submitted for Parliament’s approval, prior to adoption by Scottish Ministers.

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) set out a spatial strategy based on how our approach to planning and development can help to achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045. This included a new policy on community wealth building, supporting a more people-centred approach to economic development. This draft policy proposed that individual proposals in national and major categories of development should contribute to community wealth building objectives.

The Scottish Government also encourages renewable energy businesses and communities to utilise its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (and Shared Ownership of Onshore Renewable Energy Developments) (May 2019) which sets out national standards for implementing community benefits.

The Parliamentary scrutiny period and public consultation on Draft NPF4 has now concluded. Responses received are now being analysed and will inform the finalised NPF4, which will be submitted for Parliament’s approval, prior to adoption by Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Budget prevented a cliff edge return to full liability on 31 March 2022 for businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors, by continuing relief at 50% for the first three months of 2022-23, capped at £27,500 per ratepayer. This follows 100% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure premises for the past two years without any cap, which has saved Scottish businesses around £1.6 billion. We were the only Government to offer the relief at 100%, uncapped in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, when businesses needed it most. We have no current plans to alter the relief already being delivered for 2022-23.

The Scottish Budget also delivered another below-inflation increase to the poundage, providing the lowest poundage in the UK for the fourth year in a row, and ensuring that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK. We have further maintained a competitive package of reliefs worth an estimated £802 million, including the UK’s most generous Small Business Bonus Scheme which takes over 111,000 properties out of rates altogether.

Scottish Government officials continue to meet at least monthly with SEPA and Scottish Ministers are provided with regular update briefings. In addition, the Minister for Environment and Land Reform has met on a number of occasions with the SEPA Chair, Board and Interim CEO.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08445 on 6 May 2022. 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 is providing the £150 Cost of Living award to every household in receipt of a reduction under the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, across council tax bands A to H; and to all households in council tax bands A to D who are not receiving a reduction under the CTR scheme. These criteria mean that 73% of all households in Scotland will receive financial support through a reduction in their council tax bill, or as a direct payment. Local authorities are also being provided with funds from which to make Cost of Living award payments to the estimated 38,000 low income households which are exempt from council tax, including those accessing housing support services of living in temporary accommodation. In addition the CTR scheme is there to ensure nobody has to pay a council tax bill they cannot be expected to afford, and reduces a household's council tax liability based on an assessment of their income, capital, and circumstances. Currently over 450,000 households receive some level of CTR, and on average recipients save over £750 a year.