Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has noted the LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s report and continues to listen to the lived experience of refugees and people seeking asylum in a variety of ways.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy was informed by engagement across Scotland, including refugees and people seeking asylum from the LGBT+ community. The strategy recognises that people seeking safety on the basis of their LGBT+ identity can face particular challenges within the asylum process and as refugees. The strategy seeks to ensure that these issues are understood when developing policy or taking action to support refugees and people seeking asylum living in Scotland. We are committed to working with our partners to refresh the New Scots strategy and more information about engagement will be available in due course.

The report also raises significant concerns relating to asylum accommodation. Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support. I hope the Home Office and its contractors will be engaging with LGBT Health and Wellbeing on their report to understand the issues people have experienced.

Scotland has a long history of welcoming people of all nationalities and faiths, including those seeking refuge and asylum from war and persecution. The New Scots refugee integration strategy was informed by engagement across Scotland, including refugees and people seeking asylum from the LGBT+ community. The strategy recognises that people seeking safety on the basis of their LGBT+ identity can face particular challenges within the asylum process and as refugees. We are committed to supporting the integration of asylum seekers and refugees into our communities and working with our partners to refresh the New Scots strategy.

LGBT Health & Wellbeing’s LGBT+ Refugee Project received £277,000 from the Scottish Government’s Investing in Communities Fund from 2019-2023 and an additional £30,000 from the Equality and Human Rights Fund in March 2023.

The recent report from LGBT Health and Wellbeing raises significant concerns relating to asylum accommodation. Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support. I hope the Home Office and its contractors will be engaging with LGBT Health and Wellbeing on their report to understand the issues people have experienced.

Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These statistics relate to the number of approvals, site starts and completions of social and affordable homes, and can be accessed using the following link : https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/ .

A table showing the number of affordable homes approved under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in each of the last five financial years, broken down by local authority area, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 64393).

The Ukraine Super Sponsor Scheme does not have a legislative underpinning. The legal obligations or responsibilities which flow from it are founded in either other legislative duties or from legitimate expectations based on government statements or policy.

The Ukraine Super Sponsor Scheme does not have a legislative underpinning. The legal obligations or responsibilities which flow from it are founded in either other legislative duties or from legitimate expectations based on government statements or policy.

Offers of grant funding to councils and Registered Social Landlords under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are not time limited. While the vast majority of affordable housing projects are delivered as planned following approval, any decision to withdraw an offer of grant following approval would only be taken in close consultation with the council or Registered Social Landlord and following determination that this was the best course of action under the circumstances.

We constantly monitor the flow of approvals through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. While council and Registered Social Landlord projects which are seeking grant funding in excess of the relevant affordable housing investment benchmark are subject to a detailed value for money assessment, which can take longer than the streamlined approval process which applies in cases where projects can be delivered with grant funding at or below benchmark, there is no evidence to suggest that this is having a material impact on the speed of programme delivery.

Once approved, we continue to work closely with partners to check that projects are progressing as planned.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12786 given previously.

I have accordingly asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a reply to his question in writing.

The UK Government has yesterday announced a decision taken to defer obligations under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging payments from October 2024 to October 2025. The Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging is being progressed by the UK Government, working in partnership with the Scottish and other devolved governments.

The deferral is intended to provide stakeholders with additional time to prepare for the upcoming requirements, and to ensure a further opportunity to engage on the design of EPR policy and initiatives. This includes more open scrutiny with stakeholders on the main piece of legislation bringing forward these reforms, which will be laid as a UK Statutory Instrument and come to the Scottish Parliament for consent.

The Scottish Government delivered this commitment on 12 July 2023 when the enhanced Forestry Grant Scheme support for planting trees around rivers and streams was announced and became operational. The ‘Woodlands for Riparian Benefits’ grant is targeted to areas of land around rivers which has the greatest potential to deliver multiple benefits. Approximately 175,000 hectares are now eligible for enhanced grant support for tree planting where there can be benefits for enhancing biodiversity and reducing river temperatures, diffuse pollution, and flood risk.