Seòmar agus comataidhean

The majority of funding local authorities receive for tackling homelessness is provided through the annual local government finance settlement. The distribution of the local government settlement for 2022-23 was discussed and agreed with COSLA and the City of Edinburgh Council will receive its fair formula share. The Scottish Government remains open to a review of the local government finance distribution formula but any suggested changes must, in the first instance, come from COSLA on behalf of its member councils.

Since March 2020, funding has been provided to NHS boards and integration authorities by the Scottish Government’s health and social care portfolio to support the additional costs of COVID-19. As agreed between COSLA and the Scottish Government, this is temporary financial support to all services delegated to the integration authorities.

The decision of whether or not to delegate responsibility for homelessness services is for the local authority and the health board. The City of Edinburgh Council has not delegated homelessness services to Edinburgh City integration authority and so funding provided to the integration authority cannot be used to tackle homelessness.

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact the necessary public health restrictions have had on businesses. We announced £375m of support for businesses impacted by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron and this includes £19m for close contact businesses. This close contact fund is targeted at those who have been the most affected by the updated public health guidance introduced from 9 December 2021 to 24 January 2022, for example beauty services, hairdressers and wellness services. Driving instructors are not in scope at this stage.

We continue to see Common Housing Registers as a key way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing and support their development by directing local authorities, housing associations and co-operatives to the Scottish Government website, Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

While the site continues to operate on the basis of the current operational functions there is no cause to look towards any environmental remediation. As outlined in the previous answer, any environmental remediation follows in a situation where operational licences are being handed back and are dealt with on a regulatory basis. The polluter pays principles are used to ensure that the land can be remediated to another purpose if this is required. When dealing with potentially contaminated land through either the development planning system, or if voluntary remediation is undertaken, it is for the developer or landowner to investigate and assess the extent of contamination and undertake any remediation that would be required. These remain hypothetical scenarios as the current site is operating and continuing to produce steel.

In August 2021, the first six pilots commenced, meeting the 100 day commitment set by this government. A further four pilots have been launched since then. These pilots will run for up to 12 months, testing different approaches and delivery models to help inform a national rollout. The latest figures calculated show that 988 free bikes have been issued across the ten pilots so far.

All local authorities have been informed of their potential allocations from the up-to-£5 million fund. Our funding letter makes clear that remedial action should be undertaken in line with guidance on ventilation, with problematic spaces prioritised for action.

We have also agreed updated reporting arrangements with local authorities to ensure an appropriate understanding of how and to what extent funding is being used to support remedial action.

We will provide an update to the Education, Children and Young People Committee in due course, subject to receipt of local authority returns.

We have not assessed the impact that on-site solar generation can have on reducing household energy bills. However, we are currently undertaking research (due to published this year) to examine the extent to which building level storage technologies could help to reduce householder energy costs, when installed alongside zero emission heat technologies. The research, although not specific to solar PV or the savings made by solar PV installations, does take into account pairing solar PV with storage.

We also continue to support microgeneration measures as part of our Heat in Buildings Delivery schemes such as Area Based Schemes, Home Energy Scotland, Warmer Homes Scotland, the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP).

We published a high level statement of intent on biodiversity on 14 December 2020 in order to take account of delays in agreeing a new global biodiversity framework at CoP15. We are closely engaged in discussions with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations on negotiation of the new framework.

The Statement of Intent signals our ambitions for biodiversity in Scotland, our international action, and announces our commitment to publish a new biodiversity strategy by October 2022 which will define high level outcomes to address the ongoing decline in biodiversity. This will be supported by a delivery plan published within six months of the new strategy.

The direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss identified by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services provide a useful high-level summary framework, and alongside other analyses such as Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 and the State of Nature report for Scotland provide a substantial evidence base around which to design our new strategy. However, it is a thorough and comprehensive understanding of Scotland’s particular needs which will most effectively shape our strategic framework and enable us to deliver improvements in biodiversity in Scotland.

The ScotWind process is administered by Crown Estate Scotland and therefore Crown Estate Scotland is the body who has the responsibility to undertake all relevant checks.

Budget allocations are agreed and published as part of the annual Scottish Budget process, with option fee income expected to be recognised over a number of years, to a maximum of ten years in line with the lease period.

To date a prudent estimate of ScotWind fees has been included in the 2022-23 budget of circa £41 million. The total figure will be finalised once leasing payment recognition has been confirmed.

These monies support the 2022-23 budget and underpin projects set out within the budget in line with the Programme for Government commitment to invest some of the ScotWind revenues to help tackle the twin crises of biodiversity and climate change as we transition to Net Zero.