Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has today published its response to the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce (ZEST) report which can be accessed at http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781804355176 .

The Scottish Government is grateful to ZEST for its work and welcomes the recommendations which will help shape Scotland’s just transition to net zero.

As was highlighted in the ZEST report, the second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) is not fully aligned with net zero and Housing Associations’ and Local Authorities’ need for long-term certainty to plan investment appropriately.

The Scottish Government today confirms that the review of EESSH2 will be brought forward to commence this year for completion in 2023.

While the review is underway the current EESSH2 2025 and 2032 milestones will be put on hold temporarily to ensure that any investment is targeted toward long-term solutions that deliver net zero and support the eradication of fuel poverty. Whilst the review is underway, social landlords should continue to invest in energy efficiency measures to help reduce running costs, and in zero emissions heating systems where appropriate.

The Scottish Government’s Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund supports projects to deploy zero emissions heat, improve energy efficiency and reduce fuel poverty. The fund will make £200 million available over the course of this parliament - investing in a sector already leading the way in the heat transition.

The Scottish Government is committed to, and looks forward to, working jointly with the social housing sector on both the EESSH2 review and as we take forward next steps from the ZEST report.

As set out in the response to S6W-06821 on 10 March 2022, the vast majority of homelessness funding provided to local authorities in the annual local government finance settlements since 1999 has been included in the block grant. It is at each local authority’s discretion as to how they use this resource to prevent and respond to homelessness, which includes providing temporary accommodation. This has been supplemented in recent years by additional, identifiable resource as follows:

Scotland is committed to playing our part in welcoming and supporting all Asylum Seekers, Refugees and displaced people.

The UK’s Syrian Resettlement Programme, also known as the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), ended in March 2021. The programme matched people with accommodation identified by local authorities prior to their arrival in the UK. All 32 of Scotland’s local authorities participated in the programme, supporting 3,328 refugees to settle in communities across the country.

All 32 local authorities have also confirmed their participation in Afghanistan Relocation and Resettlement Schemes. So far, there have been 127 families (520 individuals) relocated to 20 Scottish local authorities.

It is the Home Office who have responsibility for hotel accommodation for Afghan families across the UK. Its data currently shows that there are 12,000 people in hotels across the UK.

During Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2022, we welcomed the training offer that Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, has developed to ensure that our future workforce feels confident to support anyone who comes forward with concerns about disordered eating.

We were also pleased to announce additional funding for Beat which includes Beyond the Symptoms training for GPs and healthcare professionals. This supports them to identify when a patient has an eating disorder and confidently intervene early. This funding was in addition to the £5 million additional investment to support those with eating disorders in 2021-22.

More generally, our Programme of Government commits to ensuring that by 2026 each GP Practice will have access to a mental health and wellbeing service; creating 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and direct social prescribing.

We are helping public bodies and providers engage in the new and changing responsibilities ahead of establishing a National Care Service (NCS). In December 2021, Scottish Procurement Policy Note (SPPN 7/2021) advised Integration Joint Boards and public bodies to review their Strategic Commissioning plans, social care procurements and contracts to identify opportunities to align with ethical commissioning and procurement principles. We fund the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland to help organisations wishing to improve in this area. The NCS will ensure enhanced pay and conditions for workers through the introduction of national pay bargaining for this sector.

The Scottish Government wants to ensure the quality, fairness and consistency of social care support provision regardless of where people live in Scotland.

Eligibility criteria can be a barrier to accessing social care support. We want the focus to be on people getting the support they need when they need it, not on eligibility. The Scottish Government is committed to overhauling the current mechanism of eligibility criteria. We set out proposals for doing this in the National Care Service consultation and will be working with partners and stakeholders to co-design the development of alternative approaches.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08624 on  6 June 2022. 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 remains committed to enhancing diagnosis and care for people with coeliac disease in Scotland. We have developed a Scottish Coeliac Disease Pathway (2020) in partnership with people living with the condition, the charity Coeliac UK and clinicians. This has been shown to accelerate correct diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment (gluten-free diet and lifestyle) as detailed in the Coeliac Disease Pathway Report . It is our expectation that all Health Boards will fully implement this pathway.

We have also invested £70 million in support of our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan . This includes a commitment to promote and implement guidelines for non-biopsy diagnosis for coeliac disease, which is expected to reduce waiting times for diagnosis for this condition. This plan will be overseen by the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Elective Care Group (EUDECG) with representation from all key stakeholders to support delivery, including NHS Boards and Endoscopy units across the country.

Data relating to visas and arrivals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, including the Scottish super sponsor scheme, is published regularly by the UK Government;

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority

Through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme, over this parliamentary session, we will make available over £156 million of funding for the South Lanarkshire Council area to support delivery of social and affordable homes. Details of the resource planning assumptions for this period can be accessed on our webpage – Affordable housing: resource planning assumptions to councils 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

This funding will support the delivery of projects identified as strategic affordable housing priorities to the area, as set out in the Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), and will be administered through our Scottish Government More Homes local area team, working with delivery partners across the local authority area. A copy of the South Lanarkshire Council SHIP should be available online and is updated annually.

Based on the 2022-27 SHIP, it is estimated that over 3,000 affordable homes could be delivered across South Lanarkshire in this parliamentary term including over 700 in East Kilbride. It should be noted that the SHIP is a moveable document and planned figures are subject to change throughout the course of a financial year.