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The High Level Group on Planning Performance aims to improve the performance of the planning system for all types of development. The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and new planning application fee levels came into effect on 1 April 2022 which will increase the financial resources available to planning authorities.

Performance is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities: all parties, including applicants, have a role to play in ensuring that applications are determined efficiently and effectively. Accordingly, extending the membership of the High Level Group to include applicants has been considered on a number of occasions. It is important to recognise that the planning system is used by a wide range of applicants across a variety of sectors, so to include all industry and business representative bodies would be unmanageable. However, given the importance of performance, active consideration is being given to how the views and concerns of applicants can be more directly fed into the High Level Group. This will be investigated during the summer and we will be making contact with industry representatives shortly to discuss possible options.

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) set out a spatial strategy based on how our approach to planning and development can help to achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045. This included a new policy on community wealth building, supporting a more people-centred approach to economic development. This draft policy proposed that individual proposals in national and major categories of development should contribute to community wealth building objectives.

The Scottish Government also encourages renewable energy businesses and communities to utilise its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (and Shared Ownership of Onshore Renewable Energy Developments) (May 2019) which sets out national standards for implementing community benefits.

The Parliamentary scrutiny period and public consultation on Draft NPF4 has now concluded. Responses received are now being analysed and will inform the finalised NPF4, which will be submitted for Parliament’s approval, prior to adoption by Scottish Ministers.

Ensuring the wellbeing and safety of those arriving from Ukraine, who are overwhelmingly women and children is critical. That is why under the super sponsor scheme, and as outlined in the Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities , sponsors and members of their household aged over 16 years are required to apply for an enhanced disclosure when they register for the scheme.

While most offers of accommodation are genuine and well intentioned, there is a clear safeguarding risk posed by the UK private sponsor scheme, which puts people at risk of arriving in the UK and being placed in homes before suitable checks are carried out. I have raised these concerns with the UK Government, and called on them to replicate our super sponsor scheme to prevent vulnerable people being placed in with unsuitable hosts.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to local authorities to sustain and enhance resettlement teams and enable co-ordination of the third sector contribution to this work. We have made available more than £7 million to local authorities to support refurbishment of accommodation to support displaced people from Ukraine.

The deliverables of the rail improvement project expected to be completed by the end of 2026 will be a capability which will facilitate, subject to changing travel behaviours, timetable and stopping pattern choices, the following options:

? an average journey time of 1 hour 10 minutes or less for inter-city services between Aberdeen and Dundee;

? an average journey time of 2 hours 30 minutes or less for inter-city services between Aberdeen and Glasgow;

? half-hourly services from local stations into Aberdeen and Dundee during peak times;

? an hourly stopping service between Aberdeen and Dundee; and

? new freight paths.

The Scottish Government has provided £1.4 million to the Scottish Refugee Council for the expansion of its Refugee Integration Service including qualified helpline advisers and caseworkers. People arriving from Ukraine will also be able to access help and support on an ongoing basis from local authority resettlement officers, and they will be able to raise accommodation concerns directly to their housing association or local authority provider.

The package of enhancements identified by the project team for taking forward is currently being reviewed by Network Rail’s operations team for Scotland. It comprises signal enhancements, improvements to station approaches and specific capacity alterations to facilitate the mixed operation of faster and slower trains on the same route.

A number of City Region Deals include elements of housing infrastructure that is required to unlock wider housing delivery and regional growth ambitions including a notional £20m joint allocation for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils. It is the responsibility of Councils to bring forward eligible Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) projects to the Scottish Government for consideration. Progress has been slower than anticipated and to date no eligible HIF projects have been submitted by the Councils as part of the £20m indicative allocation referred to in the 2016 agreement. Given the long-term plans for City Deal delivery in the region, and that HIF is open for new applications, Scottish Government officials will remain engaged with both Councils to support them to apply for HIF support where suitable projects through the City Deal delivery plans are identified.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme offers two routes by which displaced people can match with hosts in Scotland. Through the Home Office private sponsor scheme, people match directly with hosts in Scotland and make an application on that basis. The requirement for people to match with a private sponsor before entering the UK undoubtedly delays their progress.

This is why the Scottish Government offered to become a ‘super sponsor’. Through the Scottish super sponsor scheme, people apply to come to Scotland without being required to find a host first. Once people are safely in Scotland, they are accommodated in temporary accommodation before being matched to long term accommodation that has been through appropriate safeguarding and suitability checks.

The length of time these processes take can vary on a case by case basis. The key determinate of time remains the pace at which visas are processed and issued. If the UK Government will not follow the example of the EU and waive the requirement for visas, then they must grant them quickly. We stand ready to welcome people when they arrive in Scotland.

Due to an unexpected system error 19,881 Scottish Child Payment clients and 1,284 Child Disability Payment clients who were due to receive their regular payment throughout week commencing Monday 18 April experienced a delay of one working day. Social Security Scotland contacted those impacted to let them know in advance. For clarity, they have received all of their payments.

Implementing our improved social security system and work to continually improve this - for example further uprating benefits to help tackle the cost of living crisis - is not without its technical challenges. There are processes in place to mitigate risk and when issues do arise our priority is ensuring people get the money they are due as quickly as possible and protecting those who are the most vulnerable. The unexpected cause of this delay has been identified and rectified.