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The final evaluation of the pilot will assess the effectiveness of the Pilot against the First Minister’s priorities of eradicating child poverty, growing Scotland’s economy, tackling the climate emergency and improving Scotland’s public services. The value for money assessment will take into consideration the impact on business travel costs in the normal manner.

The Scottish Government laid the proposed revised National Outcomes in Parliament for scrutiny on 1 May 2024. These proposals include a new National Outcome for Housing. Parliamentary scrutiny is expected to conclude in late 2024 .

The Scottish Government is engaging with Homes for Scotland and the housebuilding industry to discuss the findings of their recent work on SME housebuilders. Part of this work involves partnership discussions between Homes for Scotland, industry participants and the Minister for Housing and others to consider what actions can best support ongoing delivery from the SME housebuilding sector.

We value the contribution of SME housebuilders who provide homes across Scotland in both urban and rural areas. We will work with industry to consider where targeted action can support this work.

The Scottish Government wants to see a reduction in the number of households with children in temporary accommodation and works closely with local authority partners to ensure their Strategic Housing Investment Plans reflect their identified priorities including high quality homes for larger families where these are required. Homes for larger families can be supported through a variety of routes including new build and acquisitions of existing properties.

We are investing almost £600 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in 2024-25, which includes up to £40 million for acquisitions announced in April this year, and a further £40 million next year. This additional £80 million investment in acquisitions offers another option to secure larger family homes where they are needed and will help reduce the time spent in temporary accommodation, including by children. This £80 million builds on the success of our National Acquisition Programme which has invested more than £83 million in 2023-24 and delivered almost 1,500 affordable homes.

In its response to the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group recommendations, the Scottish Government committed to working with COSLA, ALACHO and the SFHA to develop national guidance to help maximise the impact of effective stock management and to support good flipping practice.

That engagement has highlighted the range of issues affecting different local authorities, each of which requires a different solution. Flipping of temporary accommodation into permanent homes has been taken forward in many areas, where possible, however, there are issues that limits some areas’ ability to take this practice forward.

In addition to continued engagement with local authorities to support this practice, the Scottish Government will discuss with ALACHO and COSLA what local areas need to support flipping and what they would find helpful from a national perspective, including national guidance if this is seen to be beneficial.

The Scottish Government continues to assess how we best share our data with partners. The Scottish Government publishes quarterly housing statistics on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme covering approvals, starts and completions by tenure and build form.

In Scotland, responsibility for all traffic management on local roads lies with local authorities. Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, local authorities have a general duty to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

The Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 set out the process that a local authority should follow when they are promoting Traffic Regulation Orders including the consideration of associated objections and when to refer for a Public Local Inquiry. The City of Edinburgh Council has referred a Redetermination Order to Scottish Ministers which has outstanding objections and is currently under consideration.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies and as long as they act lawfully and follow the relevant legislation, it is a matter for them to arrange their day-to-day business.

Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

Eligible owner/occupiers and eligible landlords can receive a minimum of £11,050 and a maximum of £16,900 as grant-in-kind funding as part of the Scottish Government’s Area Based Schemes allocation to the City of Edinburgh Council. Owners’ contributions to top up these grant levels are sometimes required. The council is working with Home Energy Scotland and the Energy Saving Trust to ensure that, where possible, owners are offered access to interest-free loans for these contributions. The council also offers payment instalment plans which are available to all participating property owners. The council is constantly reviewing its financial support for its Mixed Tenure Improvement Scheme.

Peak times on East Kilbride to Glasgow route currently see 4 services per hour. ScotRail advises that off peak services, which see 2 trains per hour are meeting the current passenger demand. With this in mind, there are no current plans to extend the 4 trains per hour service to off peak travel. However ScotRail keeps services under continued review to ensure the passenger demand is met.

The electrification of the of the branch line from Springburn to St Rollox works does not form part of current suite of rail enhancement projects funded by Transport Scotland. The member may wish to contact Network Rail directly to enquire if the current owner of the site has made any enquiries or proposals to fund such works.