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It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities through their Local Housing Strategy (LHS) and Development Plan to determine the appropriate housing required in their area, informed by a Housing Need and Demand Assessment. This includes consideration of existing housing provision and current and future requirements.

Where local authorities identify a strategic requirement for a particular type of home, including wheelchair accessible housing, projects to support delivery of these homes are expected to be included in Local Authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans for delivery through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Since the integration of health and social care, Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) are responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations using delegated budgets. IJBs are also responsible for reviewing and developing services to improve outcomes for people who require adaptations.

Management information on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme for 2022-23 shows that 6,868 new build social homes were built. Returned information confirmed that 99% met Housing for Varying Needs standards. As part of the total 10,462 affordable homes delivered that year, 1,319 homes were delivered with enhanced accessibility standards - including wheelchair, older amenity, supported and sheltered housing.

From the £16.616 million spent on adaptations across Scotland in 2022-23, around 5000 properties benefitted from 6,112 adaptations.

Our budget decisions are based on fiscal sustainability, legal requirements, contractual obligations and previous commitments, as well as a range of social, economic, political and environmental issues. Work is also ongoing with the financial community in Scotland, and beyond, to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes including accessible homes. The Draft budget for 2023-24 includes £556 million for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and £8.245 million for adaptations.

Through the 2023-24 Affordable Housing Supply Programme we are investing £752 million to support local authority strategic housing priorities, including accessible housing. All new build properties which are delivered directly by councils and social landlords should, as a minimum, meet the ‘basic’ requirement within the Housing for Varying Needs Design guide. This guide incorporates the ‘barrier free’ concept of accessibility and is a key reference document for the affordable housing sector in Scotland.

We support registered social landlords to undertake adaptations to their properties, and in 2023-24 we are making available £11 million for this purpose. Adaptations in Glasgow and Edinburgh are funded separately within those local authorities’ Affordable Housing Supply Programme allocations as part of the Transfer of the Management of Development Funding arrangements.

As I said to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on 25 January, we are absolutely committed to pursuing our commitments to Fairer Funding for the third sector through the 2024-25 budget process. This includes providing early notification of grants to organisations as soon as is practically possible and before the end March 2024 for funding beginning on 1 April.

The budget process is still ongoing. I will provide a further update to parliament on the implementation of this commitment after the end March 2024.

Information about third sector grants is not currently collated centrally.

The Scottish Government provides support to voluntary sector organisations from a range of budget lines across Ministerial portfolio. This includes direct grants as well as funding distributed as part of partner-led funding programmes and through public bodies.

The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK Government therefore the Scottish Government cannot take all the action it would like to do in this area. However, we recognise the importance of consumers being confident that any work carried out is done to a high standard.

On the matter of advice, we encourage anyone considering energy efficiency upgrades to seek expert advice from trusted sources, such as the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland service. We also fund support for consumers who have such concerns in the form of a Scotland-specific consumer advice service that provides clear, practical advice on all consumer issues, including scams prevention. Anyone seeking this kind of help should contact Advice Direct Scotland at https://consumeradvice.scot/ and also on 0808 164 6000.

Using installers such as TrustMark registered businesses is a requirement of accessing Scottish Government funding for energy efficiency work. By adopting these standards for our own schemes we hope to encourage a greater level of skills and competence in the industry more generally and foster a more secure sector that householders can be confident in regardless of how their work is funded.

The UK Government’s role extends to the ability to legislate in ways that can provide increasing protection for consumers against scams of all kinds, and which it would be expected to review in the face or emergence of specific instances or patterns which require a distinct or additional approach.

The Scottish Government is committed to adopting fairer funding principles within its management of third sector grants. This approach aims to provide security and certainty, allowing organisations to build resilience, capacity and effective relationships across the public, third and private sectors. The application of these Fairer Funding principles include a commitment to embed a multi-year grant approach on all third sector grants by 2026, and the First Minister committed to increasing the number of two-year grants at The Gathering in 2023.

Additionally, we are reviewing grant management practice across the Scottish Government with a view to ensure proportional and consistent reporting methods across Scottish Government third sector grant management, and are committed to ensuring early notification of funding arrangements by the end of the financial year.

Building on the recent passage of the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, the Scottish Government has committed to work with the third sector and partners to develop the scope for a wider review of charity regulation.

No decisions have yet been taken on how the review will be conducted. The approach will depend on the agreed scope, timescales and outcomes and all options, including an independent review, will be considered.

My officials are currently working on proposals for engaging stakeholders which will ensure that all interested parties have the opportunity to contribute their views on the purpose and scope of the review. I will update parliament on our plans in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-24676 on 30 January 2024. 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 .