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In my statement to Parliament on 2 September, I set out a suite of urgent actions to be taken in response to the housing emergency. Some of the measures to reduce homelessness include:

• Committing to a multi-annual, multi-billion pound affordable housebuilding project worth up to £4.9 billion over the next four years, capable of delivering up to 36,000 affordable homes or put another way, providing 24,000 children with a safe, warm and affordable home.
• Doubling investment in our immediate acquisitions fund from £40 million to £80 million this year. This will support the acquisition of at least 1,200 homes over the 18 months of the fund, helping families move out of temporary accommodation and into permanent tenancies without waiting on the construction of new homes.
• Investing a £3 million capital grant to expand Housing First and create new tenancies, alongside a £1 million uplift to local authorities to accelerate existing Housing First programmes.
• Extending rapid rehousing transition plan funding to 2026-27 to enable local authorities to prioritise settled housing for homeless households.
• Rolling out a £1 million new national ‘fund to leave’. This could help up to 1,200 women and their children to leave abusive relationships.
• Investing up to £2 million through the discretionary housing payments scheme to support households currently in temporary accommodation to find settled homes in the private rented sector. This is in addition to £97 million already being invested in discretionary housing payments in 2025-26 including £79m to mitigate the UK Government’s Bedroom Tax.

I called on partners across the housing sector and beyond to support work to accelerate the delivery of high-quality homes of all tenures, with a focus on the delivery of affordable and social homes. I have also set out the government’s expectation that local authorities, in compliance with ALACHO guidance, should contact every family in good quality temporary accommodation to explore opportunities to convert those temporary tenancies to permanent tenancies.

The Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill includes an exemption for new homes intended for social or affordable use, defined as homes let under Scottish secure or short secure tenancies and those funded under the Housing (Scotland) Acts of 1988 or 2001. The Bill also includes an exemption for developments occurring on islands.

The Scottish Government recognises that smaller developers can face proportionately higher development costs compared to others operating in the sector. Therefore, section 12 of the Bill enables Scottish Ministers to introduce a levy-free allowance. This is an annual number of units that will not be subject to the Levy, which will apply over and above any units covered by other exemptions. The Scottish Government is working with developers and industry stakeholders to gather evidence to inform the decision on where to set the allowance, which will be legislated for in secondary legislation.

The Bill as introduced includes build-to-rent developments within the scope of the Levy, consistent with the arrangements in place for the Building Safety Levy in England. The Scottish Government will continue to engage stakeholders throughout the legislative process to gather evidence and assess whether exemptions should be extended to include, for example, build-to-rent and mid-market rent properties.

Decisions concerning future Scottish Government funding programmes will be considered and addressed through the Scottish Budget and Scottish Spending Review processes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40144 on 10 September 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40144 on 10 September 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40144 on 10 September 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40144 on 10 September 2025. 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.

The Scottish Government is committed to doing all it can to secure the future of the business’ operations at Grangemouth. As such, Scottish Ministers engage regularly with the management of INEOS O&P. Most recently, the Deputy First Minister met INEOS O&P UK CEO, Stuart Collings, on 22 August to discuss the challenges that the business continues to face and the role that the UK Government must play to support the business.

This is an operational matter for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Some of this information can be found in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh‘s (RBGE) Annual Reports and Accounts: Accounts | Corporate Information | What We Do | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

This is an operational matter for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.