Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in sport, or indeed wider society and we are working to ensure there is real and lasting change on this issue.

While there is clearly a long way to go, there have been some significant positive steps taken towards delivering change within the sport in recent months, and the Scottish Government has confidence that the necessary steps are being taken.

To ensure transparency around the progress made against the recommendations, sport scotland are publishing quarterly progress updates. The most recent update was published on 25 July and can be accessed on the sport scotland website.

In the following table, the number of resignations and retirements within More Homes Division over the requested period is shown, subject to the following restrictions:

1. Where a value relates to fewer than 5 individuals, that value has been suppressed for confidentiality purposes, represented by [c].

2. Resignations only includes those who resigned from the Scottish Government and its agencies, not those who moved internally.

The slowing of social rented approvals and starts has not been escalated. The AHSP risk register has not been changed on that basis.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS recognises the importance of attendance at Children’s Hearings for those in prisons and their families and remains committed to working with GEOAmey and all Multi-Agency Liaison Group partners, to improve contract performance.

SPS, The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration and GEOAmey are working collaboratively to address the current challenges in service delivery. SPS is also continuing to support GEOAmey in improving their staff recruitment and retention to meet the current and future demand for service in this important area of the Justice Sector.

Our More Homes area teams work closely with partners to deliver the programme. Capital spend capacity is reviewed regularly and can change throughout the year.

The Scottish Government through Transport Scotland instructed the Operating Company, Amey, to undertake investigation of the active travel route between Stranraer and Cairnryan to establish what infrastructure can be introduced. The route is being considered in two complementary sections; these being an upgrade of the existing facility from Stranraer to the Beoch Burn and the introduction of new infrastructure where none exists at present from the Beoch Burn to Cairnryan to provide a continuous route.

The investigation has been completed between Stranraer and the Beoch Burn and this has indicated the extent of upgrade of the existing infrastructure required. The investigation will continue this financial year on the section between the Beoch Burn and Cairnryan. This will initially encompass vegetation clearance and subsequently topographical surveys which will be completed to determine any constraints to implementing active travel infrastructure on this section of the route.

This investigation is a precursor to any future design work that may be undertaken and an essential step in the process, allowing the gathering of information to establish the feasibility of upgrading/ delivering an active travel facility between Stranraer and Cairnryan.

Should the investigation conclude that establishing active travel infrastructure is feasible for the whole section between Stranraer and Cairnryan, it is currently anticipated the principal design work will commence in financial year 2024-25.

The Low Carbon Transport Loan was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2012 and to date has supported a total of 685 applicants in the Glasgow region to purchase a new or second hand electric vehicle:

a) Total Domestic Loans supported – 415

b) Total Business Loans supported – 270

These figures are broken down by year in the table below:

The issues of slowing social rented approvals and starts were discussed with Homes for Scotland at meetings on 20 April, 27 April and 9 August.

The Scottish Government engages with Homes for Scotland on a regular basis through a range of official and ministerial led meetings and fora.

We continue to collaborate with all our partners to achieve our shared goal of delivering more affordable homes for Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02253 on 2 September 2021. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of complaints of antisocial behaviour in short-term let properties, but Police Scotland continue to publish general recorded crime data by offence. This should be interpreted with some caution as it is drawn from a live operational database, and not produced as Official Statistics: Crime data - Police Scotland

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