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Since 2000-2001, the Scottish Government has funded a total of £4,785,000 of hardship rates relief. The Scottish Government funds 75% of the value of hardship relief, with the remaining 25% funded by councils. For properties affected by the Glasgow School of Art fire, the Scottish Government’s contribution was increased to 95% to reflect the exceptional circumstances.

We are unable to reliably estimate the number of awards granted; numbers of properties receiving any relief are derived from the annual Billing System Snapshot, and due to the nature of hardship relief, the final number awarded per year is not well reflected in snapshot data. The latest non-domestic rates relief statistics, derived from snapshot data, can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2022/ .

Hardship relief is a discretionary relief provided for in section 25A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966 which specifies that a council can award Hardship relief if it is satisfied that the relief applicant would sustain hardship if the council did not award the relief, and if it is reasonable for the council to do so, having regard to the interests of persons liable to pay council tax set by them. It is for councils to determine the criteria to ensure these requirements are met when awarding Hardship relief.

The Scottish Government cannot mandate that a proportion of GP surgeries offer enhanced services: GP practices are contracted to provide essential services with any enhanced services provided over and above that carried out on an optional basis. Practices which provide enhanced services are paid agreed rates for doing so in addition to their funding for essential services. These services are determined locally by Health Boards so that service planning reflects local needs and circumstances and makes the best use of GPs and other clinicians.

The Scottish Government does not intend to change this model.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing Health Board expenditure on drug treatment enhanced services by GPs to determine whether the existing funding arrangements for enhanced services are sufficiently prioritising drug treatment services.

Our veterans and armed forces community are an asset to our society and we want to make sure they have a suitable home that meets their needs. Funding can be made available through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme to deliver homes specifically for veterans where local authorities identify this as a strategic priority. Veterans and armed forces personnel also have priority access to the Low-Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers shared equity scheme. The Scottish Government continue to support Housing Options Scotland which includes their Military Matters project and our social housing allocations practice guidance includes a specific section on armed forces and veterans to help landlords consider the needs of this group and respond appropriately.

The Scottish Government is pleased to announce that the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal has been launched today at the Scottish Renewables Onshore Wind Conference.

Myself and the Minister for Energy and Environment have signed the deal on behalf of the Scottish Government.

A copy of the deal will be available on the Scottish Government website – https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835213810

As the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice updated in her statement to Parliament, local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that their schools are safe for pupils, staff and their users. In line with this responsibility, they continue to carry out assessments of their school buildings, and Ministers have been clear to authorities that those must be carried out as a matter of the highest priority. At present, I am meeting with COSLA on a weekly basis to review the position.

It is imperative that there is transparency around the schools where RAAC has been identified and the mitigations that are in place. This is why, on 8 September, a list of the 16 local authorities where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been found in some schools was published in a Scottish Government news release ( Local authorities publish RAAC data - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Local authorities have now published a list of any schools where RAAC has been identified, and it would be for those individual local authorities to decide if they publish the projected cost to remedy any issues within their school estate.

In our response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review we committed to establish a Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme to further enhance and protect human rights within legislation, policy and practice. This includes a commitment to enhance carers’ rights and role in practice through further developing and promoting carer awareness training for staff working with people with mental or intellectual disability across health and social care settings, by 2026.

These actions will also be set out in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan, which will be published in Autumn 2023.

We have funded NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to develop three training modules for the health and social care workforce, including those working with mental or intellectual disability across health and social care settings, to help them to identify, include and support unpaid carers. We expect those to be launched by the end of 2023.

We understand from regular contact with colleagues in UK Government that the third round of the Levelling Up Fund is in development however we have no further information or clarity on when or how the funds will be allocated.

The Scottish Government maintains that this funding should be devolved to us to distribute in line with our regional economic policy arrangements.

The Scottish Government attaches great importance to winter sports. Scotland’s fantastic outdoors is a huge draw for visitors and sporting enthusiasts, especially over the winter months.

The snowsports sector is a key part of Scotland’s rural economy, worth an estimated £30 million per year and providing over 600 jobs. sport scotland, our national agency for sport, is providing Snowsports Scotland with an investment of £424,350 this year, an increase of 2.6% from the previous year.

We also recognise the value of ice sports in Scotland and understand the important role that ice sporting facilities play in improving people’s lives, whether it is taking part socially, developing, progressing, or achieving success. sport scotland’s annual investment of £742,300 into Scottish Curling for the period 2023-24 represents an 8.3% increase in funding from the previous year.

The Scottish Government provided a £7 million ski centre fund during the pandemic to safeguard Scotland’s commercially run snow sport centres, including four of its five mountain resorts – Nevis Mountain Range, Glencoe Mountain Resort, The Lecht Ski Centre and Glenshee Ski Centre, and four artificial snow sport centres. In addition, thirteen ice rinks across Scotland also received £2 million financial support from the ice rink support fund.

The Scottish Government places great importance on leisure facilities, particularly swimming pools and believes everyone should have access to these services locally.

We are fully aware that local authorities are facing challenging financial circumstances, particularly in the maintenance and operating of facilities such as swimming pools and ice rinks, largely due to energy costs and other cost of living pressures.

The Scottish Government received consequentials of £5.816m from the UK Government from their swimming pool fund. These consequentials are added to the Scottish Block as a whole and it is ultimately for Ministers to decide how to utilise available funding in the context of a challenging financial backdrop and existing budgetary pressures.

In 2023-24 the Scottish Government provided nearly £13.5bn in the Local Government Settlement and increased the resources available to local government by more than £793 million, including £100 million of additional funding at Stage 3 of the Budget Bill, funded in part by consequentials provided at the UK Budget. This was a real terms increase of £376 million or 3% compared to the 2022-23 Budget figures. In addition, Scottish Ministers allocated a further £55m ahead of the summer. This follows on from the additional £1 billion of funding provided to Local Government in 2022-23.

The funding of local sports and leisure facilities, including swimming pools is the responsibility of our local authorities and, as independent corporate bodies, it is for local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will give careful consideration to any reports of alleged criminal conduct which are submitted by the police, or any specialist reporting agency.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has no policy whereby it will not accept offences reported to by the police, or any specialist reporting agency.