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The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 is a key part of the Scottish Government’s help for tenants facing the impact of the cost crisis. The Act introduced a temporary rent cap and moratorium on the enforcement of evictions, along with increased damages for unlawful evictions – until at least 31 March 2023.

The Scottish Government has made clear it will retain and use the provisions in the Act only where they remain necessary and proportionate in connection with the cost of living crisis. This is demonstrated in the regulations laid before Parliament today, which:

• expire the rent cap provisions for the social sector on 26 February, so that it allows landlords to implement changes from the end of March; and
• also suspend the rent cap provisions for purpose-built student accommodation, recognising that new tenancies in the academic year
  ‎ 2023-24 would not be covered by the Act as it stands in any case.

In light of the differences in how the social and private rented sectors operate and the clear economic evidence demonstrating the continued pressure being placed on private rented households due to the ongoing cost crisis, the Scottish Government will bring forward regulations to extend the remaining provisions in Part 1 of the Act for a further 6 months to 30 September 2023, provided it remains necessary and proportionate. Subject to the approval of Parliament, this will mean that the rent cap for the private rented sector will continue, along with the moratorium on enforcing evictions - which will continue to apply across all sectors.

In order to ensure the provisions are proportionate, the Act gives powers to vary the level of the rent cap. And whilst the focus of the emergency measures continues to be on protecting tenants, the Scottish Government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the cost crisis may also be experienced by some landlords.

The Scottish Government is of the view that it would be proportionate to raise the rent cap in the private rented sector to allow within-tenancy rent increases of up to 3%. Landlords will continue to be able to apply for an additional rent increase based on prescribed property costs and the maximum increase on this basis will be raised to 6% of overall rent in these specific and limited circumstances, in effect preserving the existing landlord safeguard which allows rent rises of 3% above the rent cap if prescribed property costs can be evidenced.

Finally, the 2022 Programme for Government set out the intention to bring forward a new Housing Bill in 2023 and that exact timings would be kept under review, in light of our emergency work to support tenants through the costs crisis.

Having reviewed that work and recognising the extension of our emergency legislation, the Scottish Government can confirm that it intends to introduce that Housing Bill – which will include long-term rent control measures – as soon as possible after the 2023 summer recess.

The Gateway Review was undertaken more than six months ago and has been superseded. A review carried out in October 2022 concluded that “the DRS Programme has gained increased momentum and is in a much improved position” and that go live in August 2023 is now “feasible”. This is testament to the efforts being made by industry, Circularity Scotland, and the Scottish Government, who are working together to ensure the scheme is implemented in full.

We are committed to a pragmatic approach to implementation. For example, in November 2022, we updated the return point exemptions guidance and in December the application forms to make it easier for retailers to apply for an exemption from acting as a return point, and streamlined the process for retailers and hospitality providers.

Also in December, I announced that we will bring forward amendments to the regulations so that initially only the largest grocery supermarkets will be obliged to provide an online takeback service; all other businesses will be exempt from online takeback obligations.

The Scottish Government remains committed to a mandatory supported first year in practice for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs). This is part of the ambition to create a strategic framework from qualifying education through to advanced practice for all social workers and social work employers in Scotland.

The Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor (OCSWA), the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and Social Work Education Partnership (SWEP) are working together to develop the infrastructure required to support this ambition. The indicative timeline to begin national implementation of the NQSW Supported Year is September 2024 to align with required regulatory change, regional developments and the advanced practice workstreams.

We have reached an agreement with social landlords on below-inflation rent increases for the next financial year.

Organisations representing social landlords have announced their members’ plans for average rent increases for 2023-24, which will keep rents significantly below private market levels.

Under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 2022, rents are effectively frozen in the social rented sectors until 31 March 2023. Decisions on future plans for the private sector rent freeze, as well as other measures contained in the Act, will be announced in the coming weeks.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13597 on 19 January 2023. 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 .

This information is not held by The Scottish Government.

We do not have the information requested as we are still in the testing and policy development phase of the free bikes programme. In this government’s first 100 days, we established six pilot schemes with a further four running by the end of 2021. The pilot programme will run until the end of March 2023, testing different approaches and delivery models, including eligibility, to help inform a national rollout.

We do not record data on bike numbers at local authority level. However, considering bikes issued and associated training and promotion sessions, free bikes activities have taken place in 20 of 32 local authority areas. The pilots are running across a range of locations including in urban, rural and island communities.

Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on workforce as part of the Workforce Information quarterly publications.

As published in the latest release, Social Security Scotland - Social Security Scotland – workforce information: September 2022 , Social Security Scotland had a headcount of 81 temporary workers who were directly employed in September 2022.

In September 2022, Social Security Scotland had a total of 313 contingent workers, of which 208 were Temporary Agency Workers and 105 were other contingent workers.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will ensure a higher percentage of glass sent for recycling. Analysis from Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) shows that presently only around 59% of mixed glass is recycled. DRS is expected to capture 80% of glass bottles in the first year of DRS, increasing to 90% thereafter, this will therefore increase the amount of overall glass sent for recycling.

ZWS supports local authorities to assess their recycling collection options to help align services with the Household Recycling Charter Code of Practice, as well as future proofing those services by understanding the impact of other measures such as DRS and Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility.

In October 2019, we reached our final policy position of no support for the development of unconventional oil and gas in Scotland. This means no support for development connected to the onshore exploration, appraisal or production of coal bed methane or shale oil or shale gas using unconventional oil and gas extraction techniques, including hydraulic fracturing and dewatering for coal bed methane.

Following the devolution of onshore oil and gas licensing in February 2018, Scottish Ministers are now the licensing authority for onshore oil and gas development in Scotland. These devolved powers extend to the granting, regulation and administration of onshore licensing. It is wholly within the scope of our powers to decide whether or not to invite new applications for licences for the purposes of exploring and developing unconventional oil and gas (which includes fracking and de-watering for coalbed methane extraction). Given our policy of no support, it is not anticipated that we will offer any new licensing rounds for unconventional oil and gas development in Scotland.

There are currently 2 Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences held in Scotland. We do not consider that new legislation is necessary, at this time, to control unconventional oil and gas development under these existing licences in Scotland. We believe a strong policy position enacted through planning and onshore oil and gas licensing is sufficient (however, that option remains open if there is evidence that further action is required). The finalised policy of no support for unconventional oil and gas development enables us to set a framework for the exercise of planning functions and our functions in respect of onshore oil and gas licensing.

We recognise that applications for planning and other necessary consents may be made by those holding these licences. Any such application will require to be determined by the relevant authorities, or decision-makers, according to the law and policy in force at the relevant time. As a matter of law, all planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Planning decisions must be determined on their individual merits but our final policy of no support for unconventional oil and gas development will be a material consideration for decision makers in the consideration of planning applications and appeals. Should a planning authority receive a planning application for unconventional oil and gas development, and should the authority subsequently propose to grant planning permission, the authority is required to notify Scottish Ministers, and we can consider whether to call the application in for our own determination.

The final policy of no support for unconventional oil and gas is reinforced in the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 11 January 2023. The next steps are set out in a Chief Planner letter issued on 16 January, which confirms our intention of adopting and publishing NPF4 on 13 February. Once adopted, NPF4 will form part of the statutory development plan, meaning its policies will be highly influential in day-to-day planning decision making.