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Apprenticeships in Scotland are demand-led, and our apprenticeship system aims to be as responsive to industry demand as it can be. Any new Modern Apprenticeship (MA) frameworks created would be as a result of sufficient demand from employers for a new MA and a clear indication that an MA is the right training route. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) work with industry to assess the level of demand and can support the development of new apprenticeship frameworks where required.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19549 on 9 August 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 provides funding to both homeowners and landlords of properties through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme and the Private Rented Sector Landlord (PRS) Loan Scheme respectively.

For homeowners who already have a heat pump installed in their property, the HES Grant and Loan Scheme currently offers up to £6,000 (£4,750 interest free loan and £1,250 grant) funding for solar PV and up to £6,000 (£4,750 interest free loan and £1,250 grant) for battery storage as part of a package.

For landlords who already have a heat pump installed in their property, the PRS Loan Scheme offers funding of up to £5,000 loan for solar PV and up to £6,000 for battery storage. Loans to landlords with five or fewer properties are interest free whereas loans to landlords with six or more properties in their portfolio will attract an interest rate of 2.5%APR.

At the start of the pandemic Scottish Government set up opinion polling research to help understand knowledge, attitudes and claimed behaviour in relation to coronavirus, and motivations and barriers to adopting desired behaviours.

This ran weekly from end of March 2020 to June 2021 when it moved to fortnightly and then approximately monthly from April 2022. The public opinion research company YouGov carried out fieldwork on their online omnibus, with a sample each wave of c.1,000 adults 18+ representative of the online population of Scotland.

Questions were included at various times on the perceived importance of a number of protective behaviours (including face coverings) and how well people felt they were doing these to allow us to monitor these measures over time.

COVID-specific polling ended at the end of March 2023.

The latest Experimental Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP) were published on 24 May 2023, available at Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) . There are methodological limitations with the Scotland level results being presented given the influence of the restrictions on in-tenancy rent increases introduced through the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)(Scotland) Act 2022 which has been in force since 28 October 2022. Users of the results are advised to bear this in mind when interpreting the estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries. The following cautionary text is included in this ONS publication:

“The rise in annual rental price inflation for Scotland since this (Cost of Living Tenants Protection Scotland) bill was passed will largely reflect increasing rental prices from new lets as they continue to feed into the Scotland IPHRP stock measure. There are also compositional differences between the Scotland rental data and Scotland's rental sector. Measures for Scotland are mainly based on advertised rental data, along with assumptions on average periods between rent price increases, so changes in rents for existing tenants are largely estimated. The IPHRP methodology assumes that rental price remains constant for up to 14 months if updated rental data for that property is not available. The Cost of Living (Tenants Protection) Scotland Bill could lead to an increase in the average length of time that rental price remains unchanged. If the average time between rental price changes is above the assumed 14 months, then IPHRP methodology will present higher estimates of rising rental costs in the overall market in Scotland. This is because only a small proportion of the sample is based on updated rental data from existing lets, and replacement data will be predominantly based on uncapped newly advertised rents. Users are advised to bear this in mind when interpreting the estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries.”

The Scottish Government does not therefore consider that these experimental statistics are sufficiently nuanced to draw valid comparisons between Scotland and England and Wales.

As set out in our 2021 manifesto and confirmed in the Framework for Tax 2021, we are committed to reducing the Higher Property Rate, ensuring that the largest businesses pay the same combined poundage in Scotland as in England by the end of this parliamentary session.

Since the Barclay Review made this recommendation, we have introduced the Intermediate Property Rate on 1 April 2020. On 1 April 2023, we increased the rateable value threshold at which the Higher Property Rate applies, from £95,000 to £100,000. As a result, over 95% of properties are liable for a lower poundage rate in Scotland than in anywhere else in the UK.

Budget decisions are made annually in light of affordability.

I am pleased to confirm that from Academic Year 2023-24 all students who meet the following criteria will be eligible for home fees status and student financial support in Further Education and Higher Education:

• Ordinarily resident in the UK for three years prior to the relevant date;
• Ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date; and
• Granted a form of leave to enter or remain in the UK, where that leave has not expired.

As the British National (Overseas) visa would be considered a form of leave to enter or remain in the UK, a student holding this visa would be eligible for support in the event that they satisfy the remaining criteria.

The Warmer Homes Scotland successor will be a demand led scheme, i.e. the number of households supported will depend on the number of households contacting the scheme, which reduces the accuracy of any estimates of households that will benefit. Substantial changes in customer volumes are not anticipated in the new scheme in comparison to Warmer Homes Scotland.

Budgets for the scheme will be set annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process. For example, if the budget in a given year was £60m, we envisage between 3788 – 4252 households may be supported.

The successor scheme will have a widened eligibility criteria which will allow a broader range of households to access the scheme. The scheme will adopt PAS 2035 standards, delivering whole house retrofit and with a greater emphasis on zero direct emission heating so households will on average benefit from a higher level of interventions per household.

The support offered through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.

Budgets for the scheme will be set out annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process.

The contract for the Warmer Homes Scotland successor has a maximum value of £728m (ex VAT) over a period of 7 years.

Household intervention rates have not yet been set for the scheme, however these are anticipated to be higher than the current Warmer Homes Scotland scheme.

This support through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.