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The Strategic Framework Business Fund made payments to businesses from November 2020 to March 2021. The Local restrictions fund made payments to businesses made from May to July 2021. The Scottish Government has regularly published management information and statistics on all Covid-19 business support funds covering payments made from January 2021 to January 2022: Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

A summary of business support funding paid out since the start of the pandemic is available on the Scottish Government website, providing Scotland-wide management information on the funds delivered up to January 2022: Coronavirus (COVID-19): summary of Scottish business support funding - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact the necessary public health restrictions have had on businesses. We announced £375m of support for businesses impacted by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron and this includes £19m for close contact businesses. This close contact fund is targeted at those who have been the most affected by the updated public health guidance introduced from 9 December 2021 to 24 January 2022, for example beauty services, hairdressers and wellness services. Driving instructors are not in scope at this stage.

The majority of funding local authorities receive for tackling homelessness is provided through the annual local government finance settlement. The distribution of the local government settlement for 2022-23 was discussed and agreed with COSLA and the City of Edinburgh Council will receive its fair formula share. The Scottish Government remains open to a review of the local government finance distribution formula but any suggested changes must, in the first instance, come from COSLA on behalf of its member councils.

Since March 2020, funding has been provided to NHS boards and integration authorities by the Scottish Government’s health and social care portfolio to support the additional costs of COVID-19. As agreed between COSLA and the Scottish Government, this is temporary financial support to all services delegated to the integration authorities.

The decision of whether or not to delegate responsibility for homelessness services is for the local authority and the health board. The City of Edinburgh Council has not delegated homelessness services to Edinburgh City integration authority and so funding provided to the integration authority cannot be used to tackle homelessness.

We continue to see Common Housing Registers as a key way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing and support their development by directing local authorities, housing associations and co-operatives to the Scottish Government website, Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

All local authorities have been informed of their potential allocations from the up-to-£5 million fund. Our funding letter makes clear that remedial action should be undertaken in line with guidance on ventilation, with problematic spaces prioritised for action.

We have also agreed updated reporting arrangements with local authorities to ensure an appropriate understanding of how and to what extent funding is being used to support remedial action.

We will provide an update to the Education, Children and Young People Committee in due course, subject to receipt of local authority returns.

While the site continues to operate on the basis of the current operational functions there is no cause to look towards any environmental remediation. As outlined in the previous answer, any environmental remediation follows in a situation where operational licences are being handed back and are dealt with on a regulatory basis. The polluter pays principles are used to ensure that the land can be remediated to another purpose if this is required. When dealing with potentially contaminated land through either the development planning system, or if voluntary remediation is undertaken, it is for the developer or landowner to investigate and assess the extent of contamination and undertake any remediation that would be required. These remain hypothetical scenarios as the current site is operating and continuing to produce steel.

Openreach’s Fibre Community Partnership is a commercial offering and, therefore, the Scottish Government has no remit to intervene in their operation of that scheme, given the reserved nature of telecoms in the UK.

Properties, including those in the R100 North lot (Lot 1), may be eligible for a voucher through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – either an interim voucher (worth up to £400) or a main voucher (worth up to £5,000), depending on connection status. People can check their eligibility using our online checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com .

There are a total of 3,374 properties in the KA24 postcode area. As of 11 February 2022:

• 3,061 properties are already able to access superfast broadband speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps) or above and, therefore, are not included within build plans for the Reaching 100% (R100) Central contract.
• 205 properties are within R100 Central contract build plans, with that build expected to be completed by the first half of 2023. They may be eligible for an interim voucher – worth up to £400 – through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and people can check their eligibility using our online checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com . The interim voucher portion of the R100 SBVS was recently extended to 31 March 2022, giving people more time to secure a connection.
• 101 properties are not included within R100 Central contract build plans and, therefore, are eligible for a main voucher – worth up to £5,000 – through the R100 SBVS.

• The remaining 7 properties are expected to receive superfast connections as a result of commercial coverage – they may also be eligible for an interim voucher through the R100 SBVS.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published guidance on what is reasonable for a policyholder to rely on to satisfy the burden of proof for claims against Business Interruption Insurance. This includes, but is not limited to, a range of publicly available data including the Public Health Scotland Daily Dashboard which provides information about the location of positive cases in Scotland.

We have been as open and transparent as possible, with professional analysts publishing available data seven days a week to inform the public on how the pandemic is progressing. The data made available will continue to evolve over time to ensure the most relevant information is included, and it is fit for purpose. This supports public scrutiny and transparency, providing timely and equal access to data for the public, media and other commentators.

Work is underway with Public Health Scotland and other partners to review the content and frequency of all Scottish Government current data reporting to identify what is required to support resilience and recovery in the future. This will involve prioritising the modelling, data and analysis that is essential to support the future monitoring and surveillance of Covid. We also need to establish the data and evidence required to monitor the wider harms of Covid in the future. A data and reporting strategy will be published in Spring to support implementation of the Strategic Framework following consultation on any planned changes.

There is no evidence at this time to suggest that insurance companies are not following the FCA’s guidance or that there are any specific issues regarding access to data to support insurance claims being made by businesses in Scotland. The Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with the United Kingdom Government, the FCA and the insurance industry and will engage with them specifically on this matter as part of regular ministerial and official engagement activity.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce – subject to consultation later this year – regulations requiring Scotland’s homes and other buildings to meet EPC Band C equivalent by 2033, where that is technically feasible and cost effective.

We have previously consulted, in December 2019, on proposals to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards in owner occupied housing, which included potential options for defining cost effectiveness and technical feasibility. We are further developing these definitions ahead of the planned consultation later this year, and in light of comments received to the 2019 consultation, the findings of which were published in February 2021.