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As stated in my previous response to S6W-35365, Instrumental Music Tuition is offered in all local authority areas as an optional extra complementing classroom music lessons which form part of the Expressive Arts curriculum for all children.

Since 2021-22 the Scottish Government has provided dedicated funding to local authorities to remove fees for instrumental music. A further £12 million will be provided to councils in 2025-26, bringing the total funding since 2021-22 up to £51.3 million.

The Scottish Government continues to engage closely with a range of partners, including local authorities, teacher unions and the GTCS, to implement our commitments on instrumental music tuition. We intend to discuss detailed options in relation to GTCS Registration with interested parties in the coming months.

Alan Gray, Director of Health and Social Care Finance, wrote to Chief Executives of NHS Scotland on 04 December 2024 to provide the details of the indicative funding settlement for NHS Boards in the Scottish Government Budget 2025-26. This letter set out the Scottish Government position that brokerage would not be available in 2025-26.

NHS Borders are at Level 3 of the NHS Support and Intervention Escalation Framework. and the Board continue to receive enhanced monitoring and support commissioned by Scottish Government’s NHS Scotland Finance Delivery Unit; to support the Board to return to financial sustainability.

Under the terms of this support, the Scottish Government’s NHS Scotland Financial Delivery Unit maintain frequent contact with NHS Borders Executives regarding its financial position. At present, these conversations are focussed on securing a credible path to balance and, once this has been established and on course to be achieved, conversations will commence on brokerage repayment.

Alan Gray, Director of Health and Social Care Finance, wrote to Chief Executives of NHS Scotland on 04 December 2024 to provide the details of the indicative funding settlement for NHS Boards in the Scottish Government Budget 2025-26.

The letter confirmed that brokerage would not be available for 2025-26 and that NHS Boards would be expected to work towards a break-even trajectory in their three-year financial plans.

Following submission of three-year plans, Boards who are not anticipating to breakeven have been required to submit recovery plans for 2025-26 to achieve set levels of overspend. Should these not be agreed, these boards will be required to seek authority from the Scottish Government to spend above agreed levels.

NHS Board overspends in 2025-26, up to and inclusive of the agreed levels, are not repayable and will not be included in historic cumulative brokerage levels. For NHS Boards who are forecasting breakeven positions in their financial plan, no deficit is permitted and any overspend will be included as an overspend in their financial statements.

The amount of brokerage owed by each NHS Board is outlined in the following table:

The Out-turn report for the 2022-23 Affordable Housing Supply Programme was published on 17 January 2025.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/affordable-housing-supply-programme-out-turn-report/

As stated in the answer to question S6W-32145 on 18 December 2024, the 2023-24 out-turn report is still in progress and we do not, at present, have an identified publication date . 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

Fire Safety laws for all homes in Scotland, including non-traditional homes, are primarily governed by:

• The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004
• The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Guidance
• The Tolerable Standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987

The tolerable standard is a minimum standard for all houses in Scotland including houses constructed using non-traditional construction techniques. The tolerable standard sets out the basic requirements for a safe and habitable home including standards relating to electrical and fire safety. From February 1 2022, an amendment to the statutory tolerable standard requires that all houses, regardless of tenure (or method of construction), must have satisfactory provision for detecting and giving warning of fire or suspected fire.

All new build houses, including non-traditional housing must comply with the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 which includes requirements for electrical and fire safety.

The mandatory tolerable standard and building regulations do not differentiate between traditional and non-traditional housing. Detailed guidance on compliance with the tolerable standard and building regulations is available on the Scottish Government website: Fire and smoke alarms: changes to the law - gov.scot (www.gov.scot);Fire safety guidance - gov.scot: Building standards technical handbook April 2024: domestic - gov.scot.

The mandatory Tolerable Standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 do not differentiate between traditional and non-traditional housing. Detailed guidance on compliance with the Tolerable Standard and Building regulations is available on the Scottish Government website.

The mandatory Tolerable Standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 do not differentiate between traditional and non-traditional housing. Detailed guidance on compliance with the tolerable standard and building regulations is available on the Scottish Government website.

Furthermore, The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) deliver a programme of Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSV) which provide people with fire safety advice for their homes. The SFRS visits are based on the person’s vulnerability and how they live, not the structure of the home.

Takeaway meal containers (lunch boxes) and single use coffee cups in the Garden Level Restaurant are fully compostable, made from a fibrous by product of sugar cane.  Single use coffee cups at the coffee bar are made from paper, paperboard and recyclable materials and are designed for industrial composting.

Compostable items are placed in the food waste bins located throughout the building and are taken by a commercial food waste recycling company to the Anaerobic Digestion Plant at Millerhill just outside Edinburgh.

19 tonnes of food and compostable packaging were taken to the Anaerobic Digestion Plant at Millerhill in 2024/25. This represents 26% of our operational waste stream.

For the period of April 2024-March 2025, 36% of hot beverages sold were served in single use cups. And for the same period, 31% of sales made in the Garden Level Restaurant were in single use lunch boxes.

In partnership with our catering supplier we are implementing many measures to reduce the consumption of single use disposable items such as;

• continuation of the disposable hot drink cup charge to encourage colleagues to use their reuseable cups.
• Removal of disposable cutlery and placing collection caddies at each tea point to return metal cutlery back to the kitchen for cleaning
• Introduction of reusable take away food containers and various campaigns to encourage uptake.
• Actively exploring further options to support reusables and educating users on environmental benefits
• Holding a stock of reuseable hot drink cups for customers on a return basis
  

More information about our Sustainability Plan including waste minimisation is available on our website Sustainability | Scottish Parliament Website.

Sub-contracting arrangements within the Small Vessel Replacement Programme Phase One vessel contracts are ultimately determined by the main contractor and may reflect existing supply chain relationships. The wider programme of works to support the new vessel deployment and operation includes around £40 million of shore power upgrades, power connections and port improvement works. These works will be progressed across the network over the coming years to enable delivery from around summer 2027 and may present further sub-contracting opportunities.