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The Scottish Law Commission have accepted a reference from the Scottish Government, commissioning project work to review the law of the tenement in Scotland and to make recommendations regarding the establishment of compulsory owners’ associations, building reserve funds and building inspections.

The Scottish Government has commissioned research on repair costs and the viability of owners’ associations, and engaged with stakeholders including tenement owners regarding compulsory factoring.

Separately, the Scottish Government will be publishing a public consultation on a new housing standard for Scotland in the course of 2022 which will inform plans for future legislation. We will also be circulating draft guidance for private landlords on changes to the repairing standard which come into force in 2024.

Social landlords are responsible for ensuring their housing stock complies with housing standards including the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). Decisions on how the energy efficiency ratings required by EESSH are met, is an operational matter for individual social landlords and not something in which the Scottish Government can intervene. EESSH does not require the removal of fireplaces. Any decisions to remove fireplaces in social housing in rural communities lies solely with the social landlord who owns the housing stock.

Compliance with EESSH is reported to the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) and social landlords can claim exemptions where there are significant obstacles relating to cost, technology and necessary consent.

Flytipping is a criminal offence. People who flytip can be issued with a fixed penalty notice up to £200. If prosecuted, a person who is caught flytipping can face a fine up to £40,000. SEPA are engaging with the Scottish Sentencing Council on behalf of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to help develop sentencing guidelines on environmental offences.

In December 2021, Scottish Government launched a consultation on potential additional measures to tackle flytipping in Scotland, including actions to further strengthen enforcement. Proposals include raising fines, extending local authorities' enforcement powers and exploring the use of civil penalties to enforce flytipping offences.

Responses to the consultation, which is open until 31 March 2022, will inform the development of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.

During times of emergency, those responders designated as either Category 1 or 2 by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 are permitted to share personal information by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) Regulations 2005.

The information requested is not held centrally. Any financial support provided to the Police Treatment Centres, by Police Scotland, is a matter for the Chief Constable and the Scottish Police Authority.

The Scottish Government has welcomed the recommendations that Audit Scotland has made in its report and there are a number of areas highlighted in the report where progress has already been made.

The first of these is bringing the responsibility for the tertiary education and skills system within a single Ministerial portfolio. This represents a material change to the leadership and oversight of both agencies responsible for delivering improvements to our skills system and provides clear lines of accountability.

New governance arrangements have recently been established to oversee a number of collaborative projects in this space. This is the Shared Outcomes Assurance Group which brings together the Senior Responsible Officers from both agencies and government to provide constructive challenge, seek assurance on delivery and to identify solutions to any issues and challenges arising.

There are also numerous examples of positive collaborative working that are already well established, including delivery of apprenticeships, the Young Persons Guarantee and the National Transition Training Fund.

We will update Parliament on how we plan to take forward our response to the report’s recommendations in due course.

The provision of Health and Wellbeing services, for the police workforce, is a matter for the Chief Constable.

Police officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. Police Scotland have a network of ‘Wellbeing Champions’ who offer Officers and Staff guidance and signposting to the most appropriate support available to them. These support services include occupational health and the HELP employee assistance programme which offer counselling, specific interventions and guidance. Police Scotland offer post traumatic support for all police officers and members of police staff who are directly involved in potentially traumatic incidents through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM). Mental health is also very much the focus of health and wellbeing training offering at present, Police Scotland are working with 2 delivery partners, ELEOS and Lifelines Scotland, on a weekly schedule of training activity. The training aims to raise awareness and support the emotional and psychological wellbeing of the Police workforce.

The information requested is not held centrally. The recording of absences, in relation to Police Scotland’s workforce, is a matter for the Chief Constable.

This is a matter for the Integration Authorities. The information is not held by the Scottish Government.

The new fire and smoke alarms standard applies to all homes regardless of tenure, bringing the social rented and owner-occupied standards up to the same level as private rented and new build homes.

Where specialist alarms are required, these are in addition to the alarms required to meet the new standard.