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The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

Private landlords in Scotland are required to register with their local authority which has responsibility to investigate and take any necessary action arising from complaints from tenants of private rented properties.

Where a tenant believes their rented property does not meet the legal repairing standard, they can take their landlord to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing & Property Chamber). The Tribunal can enforce repairs by issuing the landlord with a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order (RSEO) which compels the landlord to carry out specific repairs within a set timeframe.

Where a landlord fails to comply with an RSEO the Tribunal will send a copy of the failure to comply decision to the local authority. The Tribunal may also issue a Rent Relief Order restricting the rent payable until the RSEO has been complied with. A local authority has powers to apply to the tribunal on behalf of vulnerable tenants.

Consumer Scotland, as the statutory independent consumer body in Scotland, has responsibility for overseeing scams prevention and awareness work. In addition, the Scottish Government funds a post in Trading Standards Scotland to help minimise the scale and impact of energy efficiency related scams before they cause any consumer detriment.

The Scottish Government funds the Home Energy Scotland (HES) advice service, which provides free, impartial and bespoke advice and support for energy efficiency, clean heating and fuel poverty for all households in Scotland. HES is also the route for access to various Scottish Government grants and loans. No Scottish Government funding schemes participate in cold calling. We recommend that households call HES if they are unsure if a Scottish energy efficiency scheme is genuine.

Consumers can also contact the Scottish Government-funded consumer helpline, Advice Direct Scotland, to report any suspicious schemes and seek guidance on action.

VAT is a reserved matter and outwith the responsibility of the Scottish Government. This includes decisions on the interaction between VAT and the visitor levy. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act allows for local authorities to make the levy not payable by accommodation which has an annual turnover below the VAT threshold. This in effect, exempts small businesses from the visitor levy.

In 2023 we published a Heat in Buildings Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Heat in buildings monitoring and evaluation Framework - gov.scot). This described the different elements that need to come together to enable us to deliver the heat transition and indicators to track progress in each of these areas.

Our annual Heat in Buildings Progress Reports (last published on 10 October 2024: Heat in Buildings: progress report 2024 - gov.scot), reported against the indicators described in the Framework and described the action we are taking to support delivery.

We are continuing to work in partnership with the sector and with installers to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned locally with business needs and future demands.

Our proposed Heat in Buildings Bill will provide clarity and confidence to boost consumer demand for clean heat and build market confidence.

The website Air Quality in Scotland provides guidance on exempt fireplaces and stoves in Smoke Control Areas, and a link to the list of exempt appliances in Scotland, which is updated monthly. The Air Quality in Scotland website also provides a link to the Spatial Hub interactive map of all the Smoke Control areas in Scotland.

This information is not currently held centrally.

As part of delivering Section 15 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, we will prepare an annual report for parliament later this year covering the year of 2024-25. This will include both the characteristics of those involved and the specific prejudices shown by the perpetrators.

Police Scotland have published management information which details the total number of hate crimes recorded by them during 2024-25, by quarter and protected characteristic. This is available in Table 4 of their Quarter 4 Force Quarterly Bulletin 2024/25.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Police Scotland on matters of relevant and shared interest, including preventing and tackling hate crime in Scotland.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the work required to research, analyse and collate the data for each requested year would quickly breach the PQ cost threshold.

Some of the information is available on the Scottish Government website in the annual Budget documents, which will include budget allocations for some public bodies. Links to these are included below. The information only goes back to 2015-16 when Scottish Government revised its approach to provide greater transparency. Prior to this, spend on public bodies was generally amalgamated into portfolio budgets.

2023-24: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2023-24/documents/
2022-23: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2022-23/documents/
2021-22: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2021-22/documents/
2020-21: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2020-21/documents/
2019-20: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2019-20/documents/
2018-19: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-draft-budget-2018-19/documents/
2017-18: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-budget-draft-budget-2017-18/documents/
2016-17: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-finances-key-facts-figures/documents/
2015-16: https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/21090/1/00460440.pdf

Further information may also be found on some public bodies’ funding in their published audited accounts, which can be found online on their websites. Links to these is provided in the National public bodies directory (https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-public-bodies-directory/).

The Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill seeks to make permanent a number of measures introduced over five years ago through emergency legislation designed to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This includes the greater use of virtual attendance at criminal courts which has made our criminal justice system more modern, responsive and accessible. The Scottish Government has consulted extensively on the continued use of virtual attendance since 2020 including through the pre-legislative consultation on the Bill.

Since the conclusion of the Stage 1 debate, the Scottish Government has engaged further with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Lord Justice General and the Law Society of Scotland on the provisions relating to virtual attendance

Emissions in the buildings sector have decreased 31% since 1990 - mainly due to heating system and energy efficiency improvements. However, we know we need to go further and faster. That is why we will introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill this year which sets a target for decarbonising heat by 2045.

The Bill will result in a blueprint for the transition to clean heating and better energy efficiency, based on collective measures as well as individual action. Our plan sets out a positive and fair approach that supports a just transition and keeps us on track to deliver the heat transition.

In the meantime, our schemes continue to support the public to access funding to decarbonise their homes. It is also down to the UK Government to ensure that the transition to clean heat is attractive to consumers by taking action on energy prices.