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We understand the benefits of having a pet and sympathise with tenants who have to give up their pet when they move to a home where no pets are allowed. Decisions on whether pets are allowed in a tenancy are a matter for individual landlords and will be reflected in each tenancy agreement.

Landlords should however give careful consideration to policies that restrict pet ownership. We would encourage both social and private rented sector landlords to take a practical and considered approach to this and consider the benefits of reduced social isolation and loneliness that can come from pet ownership, particularly in cases where a tenant has a pet and needs to move to a new tenancy.

As part of the shared policy programme between the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party a new deal for tenants will be the focus of a Rented Sector Strategy we will publish by the end of 2021, and consult on in early 2022. This new deal will introduce new and strengthened rights for tenants, for example giving tenants greater flexibility to decorate their home and to keep pets.

We will work collaboratively with partners, communities and other stakeholders to take forward the ten-year £500m Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray. The delivery of the Fund will exemplify our co-design and co-delivery approach that will be supported by a programme of broad engagement in the area. This Fund is a new commitment which will require detailed policy design work and implementation planning. We will provide further information on the process in due course.

The Just Transition Fund will support and accelerate energy transition, create good, green jobs and maximise the region’s future economic potential. We are determined to tackle climate emergency and mitigate the impacts of the transition on communities across Scotland, and will work at pace to deliver our sectoral plans for a just transition.

The Scottish Government was deeply concerned to learn of the ongoing risk to jobs at both McVities and CalaChem. The member will be aware of the ongoing engagement between the Scottish Government and McVities, and I have already responded to the member in relation to engagements with CalaChem.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation will represent a coherent Green Industrial Strategy for Scotland, which, supported by the Just Transition Plans for industry, will include a vision for reinvigorating the Scottish manufacturing and industry, supporting Scottish supply chains and creating high-quality jobs.

Our overriding commitment is to the safe and secure transfer of disability assistance from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to Social Security Scotland, and this has been our priority throughout the development of our new social security system. It is essential that clients continue to receive the payments they rely on both in terms of disability benefit and the passported access this provides. To this end, the Adult Disability Payment criteria will remain largely the same as the existing Personal Independence Payment Framework during the case transfer process, but will be reviewed in due course. We also need to continue to safeguard against creating a system in which individuals paid by Social Security Scotland are subject to significantly different eligibility requirements from clients whose cases have not yet transferred to the Scottish system.

Changes we are making to the delivery of Adult Disability Payment, such as replacing assessments with person centred consultations, will improve the delivery and process of Adult Disability Payment and address many of the concerns raised by stakeholders, including on the 20 metre rule. In particular, the reliability criteria, which is applied to determine eligibility, will be enshrined more fully in legislation for Adult Disability Payment than it previously has been for Personal Independence Payment. This criteria requires a client to be able to carry out activities safely, repeatedly, in an acceptable manner and in a reasonable time, and these factors will be used to ensure that decisions will take full account of how the client experiences each activity – including moving around.

We have also committed to undertaking an independent review of Adult Disability Payment in 2023, one year after delivery has begun. The review will enable all of the eligibility criteria to be considered and will ensure that people in receipt of Adult Disability Payment will be able to provide their valuable feedback and experiences of the process so far. The DWP are aware of our commitment to review Adult Disability Payment.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the development of skills to realise the full potential of our screen sector. As set out in the Programme for Government 2021-22, working with Screen Scotland through its partnership with the skills agencies, we will continue to increase skills provision across the sector, including through increasing training and apprenticeship placements. Work is already underway to deliver training targeted at areas of skills needs. This includes two programmes backed by £426,500 from the Scottish Government’s National Transition Training Fund, one which supported trainees learning new skills in production and a second offering training in animation, visual special effects and production accountancy.

No information is collected on how many specialist dementia beds have been available in each year since 2007, either nationally or broken down by NHS Board.

Part 1: Committed costs of the advertising to date total £435,162.73. Part 2: The campaign is planned to run from 19 August-26 September 2021 with a further burst of activity from 25 October-14 November 2021. Part 3 :The campaign target audience is all adults in Scotland and the campaign is forecast to reach 95.2% of those.

The Scottish Government published guidance in August 2020 setting out the circumstances under which additional grant support requests would be considered for projects contractually awarded prior to the March 2020 lockdown and which were as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional grant support through this route from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme is discretionary and is dependent on the circumstances of the individual organisation, development and the contractual arrangements.

An assessment of applications can only conclude when all the appropriate evidence has been supplied to support the request for additional funding. In the case of a request for support in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government recently received sufficient evidence to determine the claim and the Housing Association has now been informed of the outcome of that assessment .

To raise awareness of the new Fire and Smoke Alarm regulations coming into force in February 2022, the Scottish Government’s extensive marketing campaign began on 19 August with a TV advert supported by ongoing radio and digital coverage.

Information leaflets are also available in libraries throughout the country. The leaflet provides information about the types of alarms such as battery operated and mains wired which can be used and the necessary kite marks they must carry in order to meet the legislation requirements. A factsheet is also available on the Scottish Government website - https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-and-smoke-alarms-in-scottish-homes/ . Our information leaflets - it explains that mains wired alarms should be installed by a qualified electrician and that battery operated alarms can be installed by the homeowner.

Home owners are responsible for the costs of on-going work needed to protect and preserve their own property, which includes the costs for the fire alarms to meet the new standard. We have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled homeowners on low incomes. 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. Local authorities also have broad discretionary powers to provide advice and support to owners.

Following the marketing campaign, and as the fitting of the new alarms in people’s homes progresses ahead of the standard coming into force, the Scottish Government will be able to provide an update on assistance provided to homeowners.

The Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that as many people as possible know about the new fire and smoke alarm regulations ahead of the February 2022 implementation date.

The Scottish Government has made clear its commitment to maintain or exceed EU standards, including air quality limit values, following the UK's departure from the European Union (EU). This commitment includes ensuring that EU environmental principles continue to sit at the heart of environmental policy and law in Scotland.