Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10243 on 7 September 2022. The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of enquiries relating to the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF).

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 .

Paul McLennan: Homeowners who are concerned about their finances should contact their lender as soon as possible to discuss the options available to help them.

HOSF is a scheme of last resort that is offered to home owners who are most in need. The scheme is aimed at low-income households in Scotland, who own properties within the bottom 20% of the housing market and are at risk of repossession and eviction from their home. Applicants must have either mortgage arrears or have an interest only mortgage that has reached the end of its term with no option to repay the loan or to re-mortgage.

Those who need it can access the scheme through accredited money advice services. Suitably qualified money advisers are best placed to determine if a home owner will benefit from applying to the HOSF scheme. Money advisers ensure all options are considered as part of holistic advice.

The change in budget allocation to the Just Transition Fund is due to a reduction in capital and financial transactions funding allocations from the UK Government which the Fund relies on.

The UK Autumn Statement was the worst-case scenario for Scotland. The Chancellor had £27bn of fiscal headroom for the Autumn Statement, but rather than provide the funding needed in services and infrastructure, he cut taxes. These decisions have meant that the Scottish Government’s block grant has fallen in real terms by 1.2% since 2022-23 across resource and capital combined. Capital is due to contract by almost 10% in real terms over five years.

These decisions are not just an issue for the Scottish Budget. The UK Government’s ‘mini-budget’ in Autumn 2022 turbocharged the cost of living crisis, inflicting misery on individuals, communities and businesses. People have seen their living standards fall as a direct consequence of UK Government mismanagement of the economy over the past 13 years.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the 10-year Just Transition Fund programme and existing projects will continue to be funded in 2024-25. We will undertake an evaluation of phase one in this financial year aiming to commence the next phase in the following financial year.

Of the 36,100 premises connected so far through the R100 contracts, 1,600 have been connected through Fibre To The Cabinet broadband which can provide a minimum of a superfast service. The remaining 34,500 connections have been delivered utilising Fibre To The Premises which is capable of delivering a gigabit broadband service.

Of the 114,869 premises currently expected to be connected through the R100 contracts, only 1,600 will be connected through Fibre To The Cabinet broadband. The remaining 113,269 will be connected with Fibre To The Premises which is a gigabit-capable technology.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to support delivery of improvement programmes, including the Urgent and Unscheduled Care collaborative, to ensure sustainable ways of delivering services, improving access for patients, and reducing unnecessary demand for services. While we monitor progress through discussion with CFSD and NHS Boards, we will provide updates on progress against specific pathways in our NHS Recovery Plan annual update.

Following open competition, the Picker Institute has been awarded the contract to evaluate the Redesign of Urgent Care pathway. The cost of the project was £90,000 and final report will be published on the Scottish Government website in the summer.

Sections 52 and 53 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 provide Scottish Ministers with powers to request information and carry out inspections. Reports are not made to Scottish Ministers using these provisions therefore none have been received.

Ministers have decided that the £5.8m allocated to the Scottish Government, as consequentials arising from spending on the Regional Innovation in England, will be used to support university research and innovation in Scotland within the current financial year.

Building regulations already require that, in residential buildings, a proportion of rooms intended to be used as bedrooms must be accessible to a wheelchair user. Guidance offered within the Building Standards Technical Handbooks promotes an inclusive approach to design, generally aligning with the good practice recommendations detailed in British Standard 8300. As such, the ratio of accessible accommodation sought in such buildings is one bedroom in 20, or part thereof, which directly aligns with the one room or five percent (whichever is greater) of the total number of bedrooms recommended within the British Standard.

However, building regulations do not apply to mobile homes or other structures which are capable of being moved from one place or another. Smaller types of accommodation, such as holiday pods, may not be subject to the above provisions. The Standard described above therefore cannot be directly applied to these structures.

Nevertheless, building owners and service providers should be aware of the duties imposed under the reserved legislation of the Equality Act 2010, including a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled people can use a service as close as it can be reasonably possible to a standard usually offered to a non-disabled person. Other policy areas such as development or licensing may also have potential to address this issue.

While this issue goes much wider than the regulatory scope of building standards, I would welcome an opportunity to discuss the matter further to explore potential solutions.

I thank the Member for their question. The SPCB will consider this suggestion in due course.