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The Scottish Government is providing the £150 Cost of Living award to every household in receipt of a reduction under the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, across council tax bands A to H; and to all households in council tax bands A to D who are not receiving a reduction under the CTR scheme. These criteria mean that 73% of all households in Scotland will receive financial support through a reduction in their council tax bill, or as a direct payment. Local authorities are also being provided with funds from which to make Cost of Living award payments to the estimated 38,000 low income households which are exempt from council tax, including those accessing housing support services of living in temporary accommodation. In addition the CTR scheme is there to ensure nobody has to pay a council tax bill they cannot be expected to afford, and reduces a household's council tax liability based on an assessment of their income, capital, and circumstances. Currently over 450,000 households receive some level of CTR, and on average recipients save over £750 a year.

Improving equality and eliminating discrimination across Scotland is one of the six high level outcomes of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4). In our draft NPF4, we sought to make clear that we want Scotland’s future places to support health, wellbeing and safety for all.

We are aware of concerns expressed by organisations such as The Royal National Institute for Blind People, suggesting that the policy on liveable places does not focus sufficiently on the needs of people with disabilities. We are currently considering the responses received to the consultation and how to make more explicit reference to a wider range of societal groups in the final version of NPF4, which will be presented to the Scottish Parliament for approval.

Since its inception, the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF), which was established to support critical infrastructure at rural pinch points, has provided £14.5 million of grant funding to support development of facilities such as car parks, waste disposal and toilet provision.

The fund has supported 66 projects across 15 local authorities and both national parks. A full list of successful applicants and projects are published online: Rural Development Fund - Funding | VisitScotland.org

The total quantity of discards from Scottish vessels is not currently estimated. Marine Scotland estimates the total weight of unwanted catch (catch that was not considered suitable for commercial sales) for demersal trawlers and seine netters for each year, using data collected by scientific observers on-board fishing vessels. (Fishing trips by vessels using other gears are not surveyed.) The estimates for 2021 are given in the following table. These estimates are for fishing trips by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad.

Estimates of the total weight of unwanted catch (kg) caught in 2021 in ICES subarea 4 and division 6a by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad, fishing with demersal trawls or seines.

Home Energy Scotland (HES), administered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government, provides free, bespoke, impartial advice and support on energy efficiency, renewable heating and fuel poverty support in Scotland.

This year, we have committed to expanding the Home Energy Scotland advice service by 20%. This will allow the service to support an extra 12,000 households a year in making their homes warmer and easier to heat.

HES also acts as the gateway to the Scottish Government’s domestic loans and grants programmes for energy efficiency improvements to homes in Scotland and a referral service to Scotland’s flagship fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland. We are increasing the budget for the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme to £55m for 2022-2023, up from £50m in 2021-2022.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.

The total quantity of discards below Minimum Conservation Reference Size from Scottish vessels is not currently estimated. Marine Scotland estimates the total weight of unwanted catch (catch that was not considered suitable for commercial sales) below Minimum Conservation Reference Size for demersal trawlers and seine netters for each year, using data collected by scientific observers on-board fishing vessels. (Fishing trips by vessels using other gears are not surveyed.) The estimates for 2021 are given in the following table. These estimates are for fishing trips by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad.

Estimates of the total weight of unwanted catch (kg) below Minimum Conservation Reference Size caught in 2021 in ICES subarea 4 and division 6a by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad, fishing with demersal trawls or seines.

The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition to net zero and this includes supporting those who are least able to pay.

As part of a wider package of funding announcements made to tackle the cost of living crisis, we have committed a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which has been helping households at risk of self-disconnection, or self-rationing their energy use, since late 2020.

This money is in addition to the £25m funding we have provided this winter to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6m provided to trusted third sector partners to help low income families.

Anyone struggling with their energy bills can get in touch with our Home Energy Scotland service for advice and support to reduce their fuel costs.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.

Sex discrimination cases will continue to be dealt with under the Equality Act 2010. The provisions of the 2010 Act are not modified by the proposals in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill also does not change the legal effects of a Gender Recognition Certificate as they are currently set out in the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

SEPA’s flood risk management plans for Scotland were approved by Scottish Ministers in December 2021, and published on SEPA’s website. The plans, produced in partnership with responsible authorities, identified flood management actions for over 440 priority communities.

This work is split into six-year cycles and covers a range of actions including furthering the understanding of climate change impacts, increasing community resilience, and developing and implementing flood protection schemes. Coordination of the proposed actions will be developed in the local flood risk management plans, currently being prepared by the 14 lead local authorities, which are due for publication in December 2022.

A flooding working group is currently considering its recommendations to the joint Scottish Government / COSLA (officers) Settlement Distribution Group (SDG). These will be considered by the SDG in late-summer of 2022, and will inform subsequent discussions between Ministers and Council Leaders on the arrangements required for the effective delivery of flood risk management for the period to 2028.

Flood Risk Management Plans | SEPA .

Information on cases of Anglophobia is not held centrally. Data is published on the number of police recorded hate crimes that include an aggravation for race. The characteristic of race in the hate crime legislative framework includes race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. If an offence was motivated by prejudice based on Anglophobia (i.e. anti-English prejudice) it would therefore be recorded by the police as an offence aggravated by race.

The Scottish Government published a study on the characteristics of police recorded Hate Crime in February 2021. This included: (i) information on the number of racially aggravated hate crimes recorded by Police Scotland from 2014-15 to 2019-20 (shown in the following table), and (ii) a more detailed study of the characteristics of these cases in 2018-19 (based on a large scale review of crime records). Based on the findings of that more detailed study, Table 17 of the publication provides a breakdown of what prejudices were shown by the perpetrators. This suggested that 6% of racially aggravated hate crimes in 2018-19 included an anti-English prejudice. This would equate to an estimated 210 crimes. Please note, some of these crimes may include multiple racial (or other aggravation) prejudices.

A second study into the characteristics of police recorded hate crime is due to be published later this year. This will provide the same type of detailed disaggregated data and information on police recorded hate crimes for the year 2020-21.

Table: The number 1 of racially aggravated hate crimes recorded by police in Scotland, 2014-15 to 2019-20