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Local authorities have had the power to charge an empty homes council tax premium of up to 100% since 1 April 2013. The Scottish Government’s statistics show that at September 2022 42,865 homes had been empty for more than 6 months. Of these 27,692 had been empty for over 12 months and of those 20,279 had a council tax discount below 10% or a council tax premium applied.

A further breakdown by local authority for homes empty for more than 12 months is available on the Scottish Government website from 2014 onwards: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-empty-properties-and-second-homes/ .

The Scottish Government have agreed the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) budget for 23/24 and SDS have completed contract awards to support up to 25,500 new Modern Apprentice (MA) starts in 23/24. This may include MAs in traditional craft occupations subject to the demand.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22482 on‎ 24 November 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

The Scottish Government’s ambition is for Scotland to be as well connected as peer nations and regions, and we are committed to working with Scotland’s airports to help them grow international connectivity, while not returning to previous levels of emissions. Our engagement with Scotland’s airports is, however, commercially sensitive and I am unable to share specific details.

Transport Scotland, in partnership with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, works to help Scotland’s airports secure new routes that are essential for inbound tourism, business connectivity and the economy as a whole. In October, representatives from this cross government partnership attended the route development forum Routes World 2023, meeting with a number of airlines to discuss future opportunities to develop Scotland’s connectivity and also supporting the Scottish airports in attendance.

I welcome recent announcements that JetBlue will start their first ever service to Scotland next summer, with a route to New York JFK, and also that WestJet will restart flights to both Toronto and Halifax. These announcements demonstrate confidence in the Scottish market.

Under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, it is an offence to sell aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. We believe that the current legislation protects young people and helps to prevent graffiti, while ensuring those wishing to buy spray paint for legitimate purposes can do so. The Scottish Government therefore has no plans to change the legislation at this time.

Published figures on the most recent and historical numbers of patients that have been admitted to hospital can be found within the within the Annual Acute Activity publication, which was published on 26 September 2023 by Public Health Scotland. The publication can be found below:

Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Annual – year ending 31 March 2023 - Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Published data is only available for a ten year period, from financial year 2013-14 to financial year 2022-23, and is only available at a Scotland level. Data on patient activity is presented in Table 2 – inpatient and day case activity, and the measure of interest can be found by selecting the NHS board of residence in the indicator drop down and either stays, episodes or patients within the measure drop down. Figures where ‘no fixed abode’ will then be listed in the table.

The Scottish Government has committed over £1.9 billion to the City Region Deals programme and its associated investments. Information on the individual projects funded through the growth deals are outlined in their associated deal agreements.

The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS National Services Scotland has commissioned NHS Lothian to develop a National Learning Disability Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Unit. This Unit is currently in the planning stages. As part of the development of this service, we have established a National Learning Disability Consultation Service for mental health teams responsible for the care of young people with intellectual disability, which aims to support local CAMHS teams to manage young people’s care safely in the community.

In the small number of instances where a young person with a learning disability and mental health condition requires admission to a mental health inpatient unit, they would be admitted to an adolescent inpatient unit in England, via the cross-border transfer process.

A table showing the number of supported living projects and the number of homes delivered in each local authority area since 1999, which received support from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme or its predecessor programmes, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib Number 64694).

We have interpreted ‘supported accommodation’ as including sheltered, very sheltered and supported accommodation and homes delivered for people with dementia.

We do not hold information on supported living developments where we did not provide funding.

To note that here have been a number of IT system changes and coding changes since 1999.

The Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion Redevelopment Project, along with a large proportion of live construction projects across the NHS Scotland Estate, is currently on a period of pause, pending a holistic review by Scottish Government of funding availability. NHS Lothian remains in continual communication with Scottish Government to establish when this review will be concluded and when it will be possible to recommence project delivery. This project remains a priority for NHS Lothian, which has a dedicated Project Team mobilised to progress at the earliest opportunity.

The Scottish Government has advised that while they remain committed to the delivery of the new eye hospital, timescales for delivery have still to be determined.