Seòmar agus comataidhean

As agreed by the Ministerial-led working group on Safe Access Zones, independent research has been commissioned by the Scottish Government; part of this research will involve more formal monitoring of the prevalence, nature and impact of any vigils or protests with NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government also continues to discuss with NHS Board staff whether they have experienced issues or concerns relating to protests of vigils outside abortion clinics. We will continue to work with key stakeholders to ensure that evidence is gathered .

The Scottish Government is aware that recent vigils or protests have been held at the following locations in Glasgow: the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, the Sandyford clinic and Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Vigils or protests have also been held earlier this year outside the Chalmers clinic in Edinburgh and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. While there has been activity at other locations in the past, the Scottish Government is not aware of activity at any other locations having taken place during the past year.

The Scottish Government greatly values the hard work and dedication of the local government workforce. We also recognise the challenges across the public sector, including local government, in ensuring that pay increases are affordable to employers but are fair to employees against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis.

Local government pay negotiations are entirely the responsibility of local authorities and COSLA. However, both the Scottish Government and COSLA are working to jointly explore all of the options available to find solutions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09064 on 21 June 2022 which includes a link to the Affordable Housing Supply Housing Programme annual out-turn reports.

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

Scotland has led the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the UK with 111,750 affordable homes now delivered since 2007, over 78,000 of which were for social rent, including 19,339 council homes.

Despite the well documented global issues, not only have we met our previous 50,000 affordable homes target, we have now started to deliver against our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, 70% of which will be for social rent and 10% in remote, rural and island areas. More than £3.6 billion funding is being made available in this Parliamentary term, continuing to ensure the right homes in the right places.

Many thousands of people across Scotland have already benefitted from safe, warm, accessible homes that meet their needs, in a place where they can be part of a thriving community, and others will continue to benefit well into the future.

From March 2020, a series of Temporary Special Leave Measures (specifically through https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/dl/DL(2020)05.pdf and https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/dl/DL(2020)30.pdf )were introduced to both support NHS Colleagues and assist in the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading across our NHS Sites.

In particular:

• Since March 2020, NHS Staff who have been absent due to COVID-19 have been paid in full as if they had been at work; and,

• Those absences have not counted towards normal sickness absence triggers for those staff.

As we are now at a different stage in dealing with COVID-19 it was confirmed (on 24 June), and in broad alignment with other UK Nations, that all Temporary Covid Policies (including Special Leave) will be removed ( https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/dl/DL(2022)21.pdf) .

In particular, from 1 September 2022, NHS colleagues who are absent due to COVID-19 will revert to contractual sick leave entitlement.

I can confirm that on that date, no-one will see their Sick Pay stop with the vast majority receiving six months full pay followed by six months half pay.

The Agri Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) has supported the conversion of over 34,000 Ha of land to organic standards over the life of the Scheme and the total area under management in 2022 is 85,077 Ha. To date a total of 495 organics contracts have been approved, with £28.8m committed. Historically very few applications for organic conversion have been denied where they meet the eligibility criteria, and approvals from the 2021 round in particular have seen the area of organic land receiving support increase by a fifth from the previous year.

Applications for organic conversion support in the AECS 2022 round are currently being assessed and no approval decisions have been made, however I can confirm that SG received applications from 34 businesses. Once assessed, this has the potential to put more than 8,000 Ha into organic conversion from 2023, across all land type options under the Scheme.

We are committed to extending AECS up to the end of the period of stability in 2024. This will continue to underpin the ambition for organic farming set out Programme for Government 2021-22, alongside a suite of other measures aimed at promoting low carbon farming and protecting the environment. We also will seek new opportunities to prioritise local and organic produce in public sector menus, and we are committed to seeing more organic farming and organic produce for sale in Scotland. We will work with the sector to establish a new Organic Food and Farming Action Plan.

Fulfilling the commitment made within the Housing to 2040 route map, we are currently in the process of reviewing the Housing for Varying Needs design guide. The guide offers good practice in the design of homes in order to help them achieve a good standard of accessibility and flexibility. Where possible, all new affordable homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are built to Housing for Varying Needs standards.

Over the coming months, we will publish a consultation on proposed changes to the guide. As part of this consultation we plan to seek views on the introduction of building standards in 2025-26 to underpin a new Scottish Accessible Homes Standard, which all new homes will need to achieve, regardless of tenure.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07140 on 21 March 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

INTOG is aligned to the Scottish Government’s commitment to delivering plan-led opportunities for offshore wind and marine renewables in Scottish waters. INTOG has been designed to facilitate both targeted oil and gas decarbonisation opportunities and provide a plan led approach to allowing smaller innovation type projects to access seabed. Something that is currently unavailable.

Whilst decoupling IN and TOG processes may allow one category of applications to proceed faster, the potential for cumulative impact and the need for plan-level assessments, to ensure negative impacts are appropriately managed, would not be removed and in fact may delay and complicate the assessments unnecessarily. As such, both components of INTOG will remain combined.

The potential of increased use of offsite construction (also referred to as modern methods of construction or MMC) is viewed as an opportunity for new build housing development with the potential to support industry and Government to deliver more homes, and to help us address challenges including workforce demand and diversity, the need to reduce waste, increase energy efficiency and improve quality while controlling cost pressures.

The Scottish Government already supports delivery of affordable homes across Scotland using a range of offsite methods, from timber frame construction through to fully modular development, and will continue to do so through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme. We are developing a business case for greater use of offsite construction in recognition of the significant opportunity that our ambitious 110,000 target for affordable homes by 2032 brings for social, economic and environmental benefits and the potential impact on funding, housing delivery and the supply chain of any new national approach.

The Scottish Construction Leadership Forum provides a major forum for Scottish Government/Industry interaction and involves our Innovation Centre, Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST). The Skills and Workforce sub-group of the Forum is addressing a variety of upskilling areas, with a particular focus on the younger workforce: supporting apprentices and graduates in the industry and encouraging new entrants from diverse backgrounds to consider construction as a career of choice.

The BE-ST ‘Offsite Ready’ training programme is also helping to grow best practice and skills in offsite construction. Further details are available at www.offsiteready.com