Seòmar agus comataidhean

Boundaries Scotland’s final proposals have been submitted and Scottish Ministers now have a legal duty to lay regulations giving effect to the proposals as soon as is practicably possible.

The Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 removed ministerial discretion to modify or reject Boundaries Scotland’s proposals. However the regulations will now be subject to affirmative procedure in the Scottish Parliament. This gives Parliament an enhanced role in scrutinizing the Boundary Commission’s proposals and brings the procedure into line with that already in place for Scottish Parliament constituency boundaries.

The regulations are due to be laid in the Scottish Parliament in late August. The lead committee will take evidence from witnesses ahead of a debate on the motion to approve the regulations.

Housing Options Scotland receives funding from the Scottish Government to provide housing advice and advocacy services to older and disabled people in Scotland. This includes support for the Military Matters project aimed specifically to help veterans and which also attracts funding from other sources.

Scottish Government funding is set in a framework of annual budgets. The Scottish budget is an annual Act of the Scottish Parliament. Annual budgets are set under the terms of the Fiscal Framework agreed between the UK and Scottish Governments to implement the Scotland Act 2016 powers. The size of the Scottish Budget is determined by a number of elements, including the block grant allocation from the UK Budget, which is also set in single year budgets.

Due to this framework being set in single year budgets, SG funding is allocated to Housing Options Scotland on a yearly basis. SG has provided funding to Housing Options Scotland over many years and we are fully supportive of ensuring this unique and important service continues.

Ministers will consider the Scottish Veteran’s Commissioner report, Housing: Making a Home in Civilian Society as a whole and formally respond in due course.

The last year has been extremely difficult for many of Scotland’s businesses and we have engaged widely with businesses and representative organisations throughout this crisis to ensure we understood all the impacts and how best to support businesses.

It has not been possible to meet directly with every sector impacted by the pandemic and whilst we have not met directly with their representative organisations, we have engaged extensively with the cattery and kennels sector through correspondence.

Additionally, a regular programme of engagement continues with organisations that represent businesses including the Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, SCDI, Scottish Financial Enterprise, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Tourism Alliance and Scotland Food and Drink to discuss a range of priority issues, including economic recovery as restrictions are lifted and business support.

The use of the local authority discretionary funding was entirely at the discretion of local authorities and we do not currently hold data on applications by or allocations to individual type of business.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes statistics and management information relating to its Covid-19 business grants on its website which can be found at Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The Scottish Government does not hold any specific data on the number of kennel and cattery businesses operating in Scotland and so is unable to provide an estimate of how much it would cost to target additional support at this sector.

The ‘Information for Use’ leaflet that is provided with each lateral flow test kit states that those who are unable to upload their test results can instead register them by calling the Freephone number 119.

On the wider issue of poor internet and mobile signal, the Scottish Government’s £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) contracts will deliver universal superfast broadband access across Scotland, regardless of remoteness or rurality, and the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) will ensure that everyone can access a superfast broadband connection by the end of 2021. This builds on the Scottish Government’s strong track record of delivery, demonstrated by the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme.

Through the Scottish 4G Infill (S4GI) programme, we are also investing £28.75 million to deliver future-proofed, 4G mobile infrastructure at up to 55 mobile ‘notspots’ – providing connectivity in remote, rural and island areas.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01036 on
13 July 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

We recognise the importance of good, safe, secure and warm homes for people’s wellbeing and our vision is that everyone should have a home that meets their needs.

Priority for social housing in Scotland is based on housing need and an assessment of an applicant’s individual circumstances. Scottish housing law requires social landlords to give reasonable preference to specific categories of applicant. This means that anyone including Service leavers, ex-Service personnel, their spouses and partners who find themselves homeless, threatened with homelessness or with a high level of housing need, for example where they are leaving tied accommodation, need family support or have medical needs, will receive priority for social housing.

Following the publication of the Scottish Veterans Commissioners report “Housing: Making a Home in Civilian Society,” we will consider the recommendation to encourage all social landlords to include ex-Service personnel as a priority group in their Allocations policies and will develop an action plan to take this forward.

The UK Government has proposed creating a separate Warm Home Discount scheme for Scotland that does not take account of current levels of need or the definition of fuel poverty as decided by the Scottish Parliament. We have urged the UK Government to reconsider their proposals on this basis and review their use of levy funding more generally. These proposals will increase charges on everyone's energy bills but this does not reflect every household's ability to pay.

Given that UK Ministers believe that a reformed scheme is needed in England and Wales, Scottish Ministers have proposed a simpler, fairer and more flexible fuel poverty scheme for Scotland. As set out in our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, we believe that combining the current Energy Company Obligation and Warm Home Discount schemes would provide the flexibility needed to target the different needs of Scottish communities and reflect the will of the Parliament.

The Scotland Act (2016) does not provide powers for Scottish Ministers to simply change these levy funded schemes. In all circumstances the approval of the Secretary of State would be required for any changes to be implemented. Scottish Ministers cannot meaningfully consult about the design of a proposed Scottish scheme or engage with the Parliament on this basis.

My sympathies are with the family of Emma Caldwell.

The criminal investigation into Emma Caldwell's death is still on-going. Any decision regarding whether it would be appropriate to undertake a judicial inquiry into any aspect of the investigation can only be taken at a point when that investigation has concluded.