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The Rural and Islands Housing Fund (RIHF) provides an additional funding route for organisations, such as community trusts, who are not able to access traditional affordable housing funding to further increase the long term availability of affordable housing in rural Scotland.

The RIHF has been described as a ‘game changer’ for community-led housing development helping increase the supply of affordable housing in rural and island areas. Taken together with our Affordable Housing Supply Programme, this Fund helped deliver more than 6,000 affordable homes in these areas between 2016-17 and 2020-21.

In November 2020, we announced that the RIHF would be extended beyond March 2021, with up to £30 million made available to support the development of affordable homes in rural and island areas across Scotland in the current Parliamentary term. Given this is a demand led fund, the monies made available in each year reflect the level of activity requiring to be funded in that year.

The following table shows the monies allocated by year to the fund and the actual spend:

The announcement of funding to support the development of Hospital at Home followed a round of engagement between Scottish Government and Healthcare Improvement Scotland with all Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships. Initially Argyll and Bute and NHS Highland were one of a number of areas that did not submit an expression of interest in relation to national support and funding.

Following a further demonstration on Hospital at Home at the recent NHS Scotland Conference, Argyll & Bute’s Health and Social Care Partnership have expressed their interest in developing Hospital at Home, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland are facilitating a workshop to explore this opportunity further.

The Fair Fares Review was established to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares as we recover from the pandemic.

The review is being undertaken in a phased approach, to enable options to be considered and announced/ trialled or delivered throughout the course of the review. I expect interim options to be presented by Transport Scotland this year, given the cost of living crisis. The full review will conclude in early 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Practices must apply to their Health Boards to close their lists and agree the conditions and timelines for reopening them.

Circumstances will arise where a practice experiences capacity issues and is unable to routinely accept new patients onto its list. We expect Health Boards to work with practices as constructively and as flexibly as is appropriate to help manage the situation and ensure that all patients have access to GP services.

Over the last two years our NHS has suffered the biggest shock of its 74 year existence. Caring for large numbers of patients seriously unwell with COVID-19 has inevitably meant that planned care procedures have had to be delayed, and while we are working hard to recover and remobilise our NHS, this will not be done in a few weeks or even months. Addressing the backlog of care, while continuing to meet the ongoing urgent health and care needs of the country, remains a priority for this Government.

We know that excessively long waits have grown as a result of the pandemic, which is why we now need to focus on treating people that are waiting too long for treatment. On 6 July 2022, I introduced a new set of targets for NHS Scotland to address the backlog of planned care.

We will continue to work with the National Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to improve the waits that people are currently experiencing.

In the first instance where patients have concerns regarding their appointments these are best addressed by contacting their local Health Board who can advise on rescheduling in a timely manner. The patient feedback team within the Health Board may also be able to advise or support if required.

The M/S Victoria I passenger ship in Edinburgh is currently being used as temporary accommodation for people displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. We are clear that we do not want to see people spending more time in temporary accommodation than is absolutely necessary, including the ship.

The ship has been chartered for 6 months, from July 2022 to January 2023. It has a total capacity of 739 cabins, which could accommodate up to 2,200 people. There is a range of cabins onboard ranging from 8m2 to 29.8m2.

Rigorous risk assessment and due diligence have been undertaken in relation to the ship and its use for temporary accommodation. Additionally, we have taken forward comprehensive joint assurance with the City of Edinburgh Council and its partners covering issues like safeguarding, public health and security.

There are a variety of services on-board for guests. This includes restaurants, child play facilities with toys and books, shops, laundry, cleaning, Wi-Fi access and communal spaces. Guests also have access to benefits support and healthcare services, including a GP service onshore with outreach on-board the ship. An activity programme for guests is also in preparation.

The Scottish Government has made available £11.2 million in funding to help local authorities increase their teams to help people with temporary resettlement into communities across Scotland, and also to invest in making improvements to housing stock so that there are more homes available for Ukrainians to move into.

The Scottish Government has also published guidance for local authorities which includes what safeguarding measures, such as disclosure checks, should be in place for people arriving. This guidance can be found on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/super-sponsor-scheme-and-homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-local-authorities/pages/person-checks/ .

When displaced people from Ukraine arrive at Scotland’s Ukraine Welcome Hubs, they are given an immediate warm welcome to Scotland and immediate support in a safe and secure space. Welcome Hub staff will talk to those who have arrived about their immediate needs, including language support.

Public services in Scotland – including healthcare, welfare, schools, councils and housing services – must provide individuals with a qualified interpreter if they need one. Some councils are also offering translated information on a variety of subject matters, and guests from Ukraine can discuss the availability of these with their assigned local authority caseworker.

The Scottish Refugee Council are working with the Scottish Government to deliver the Warm Scottish Welcome scheme, which includes translation and interpreting services. The Scottish Refugee Council have received funding from the Scottish Government to recruit additional advisors for their Refugee Integration Service, including Ukrainian speakers, as part of their work to deliver the Warm Scottish Welcome scheme.

We recognise that translation and interpreting services for people arriving in Scotland from Ukraine are extremely important and the Scottish Refugee Council have asked that anyone wishing to offer assistance in this area contact them to discuss what support they can offer.

It has been heart-warming to see the groundswell of support from our communities, pubic services, third sector and partners for people fleeing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We have worked closely and collaboratively with partners to stand up our Warm Scots Welcome response, ensuring that all those arriving from Ukraine are accommodated and supported as soon as they arrive in Scotland. Local authority caseworkers are in place to enable access to services including healthcare, education, employment and benefits advice.

In collaboration with the Scottish Refugee Council, we have delivered three public webinar sessions for hosts. Scottish Government officials regularly engage with community groups working to support people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and those who have volunteered to host displaced people in their homes.

We are working closely with the UK Government, local authorities and other partners to ensure we are ready to welcome people to Scotland and ensure they are provided with the safety and security they need to rebuild their lives. A national matching service, delivered by COSLA and Scottish Government, is working hard to find longer-term accommodation for displaced people from Ukraine, ensuring their full integration into communities across the country.

Scottish Governments priority is to ensure that displaced people who are already here, and those who have applied and are granted permission to travel, are able to stay in appropriate temporary accommodation and get the right support ahead of moving into safe, sustainable longer-term accommodation.

The Scottish Government has also made available £11.2 million in funding to help local authorities increase their teams to help people with temporary resettlement into communities across Scotland, and also to invest in making improvements to housing stock so that there are more homes available for Ukrainians to move into. We have also provided a further £1.3 million to the Scottish Refugee Council to enable it to increase its capacity and extend invaluable help and support to arriving Ukrainians, many of whom will have experienced significant trauma.

We are taking significant action to increase our temporary accommodation capacity as well as boosting our matching system to maximise the number of people who can be placed with volunteer hosts who have completed the necessary safeguarding checks. We have, for example, chartered a second passenger ship, M/S Ambition, to be located in Glasgow. The ship should be fully operational in September, and it will provide up to a further 1750 people with the same level of facilities and support currently available to those on the M/S Victoria in Edinburgh.