Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is supporting housing associations to retrofit their housing stock through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund. We are making available up to £200m this Parliamentary Session to support clean heat and energy efficiency projects in socially rented homes.

‎ Projects are eligible for up to 60% of the costs of clean heating systems and 50% of energy efficiency measures, including Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) which also helps to prevent the occurrence of mould and condensation.

The Scottish Government monitors grant funded projects closely, requiring frequent updates to ensure they are implemented effectively and that benefits are realised.

The Scottish Housing Quality Standard requires social landlords to meet minimum energy efficiency standards and to have in place satisfactory ventilation, as well as ensure that there is no rising or penetrating damp. The Scottish Housing Regulator wrote to all Social Landlords in December 2022 on the importance of appropriate systems to identify cases of mould and damp.

Earlier this year the Scottish Government consulted on a new Social Housing Net Zero Standard. This included proposals to require landlords to devise a ventilation and monitoring strategy to accompany energy efficiency interventions where mechanical ventilation isn’t installed. We are now considering the consultation responses received before progressing.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-28344 on 15 July 2024. 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 .

The Scottish Government was only able to officially confirm and announce the programme after the completion of the tender process in early June therefore initial work has been limited to a small planning group comprising the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland (PHS) and Health Boards. As we are now able to confirm cohorts and launch plans, we are working closely with PHS to engage a range of partners to raise awareness of the programme and encourage those eligible to come forward. The Scottish Government, working in partnership with PHS, has engaged with a range of key stakeholders including Health Boards, NHS Education for Scotland (NES), National Services Scotland (NSS) and maternity services throughout this process. Promotion and engagement is also ongoing through charities such as Age UK.

The Programme for Government will be presented to Parliament at the earliest opportunity following the UK General Election.

Provision for the regulation of independent ambulance services already exists in the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, but Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s (HIS’) functions in relation to independent ambulance services have not yet been commenced. The commencement is being considered as part of the next phase in the regulation of independent healthcare.

Scottish Government is engaging with HIS on this topic and stakeholder engagement will be undertaken to gather first hand insight into the requirements for effective regulation of private ambulances. Additionally, the definition of an ‘independent ambulance service’ within the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 may need revised to ensure it meets current needs.

Stakeholder engagement will also be undertaken to consider appropriate and proportionate next steps, in the potential regulation of independent first aid services.

Once the scope of further regulation has been developed, a public consultation will be required.

As part of the 2023-24 COVID-19 and Flu winter vaccination programme the NHS in Scotland delivered over 3.57 million vaccines, including 1,647,596 adult flu vaccines and 538,580 child flu vaccines.

Vaccination uptake rates in the 65 years and over group reached 79.8%, which is above the World Health Organization’s target ambition of 75%.

A detailed breakdown of the seasonal flu vaccination 2023-24 uptake figures for each cohort can be found via the Public Health Scotland vaccination surveillance dashboard PHS Vaccination Surveillance (shinyapps.io) .

The Scottish Government provides funding for the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People (NCTS) which provides free bus travel throughout Scotland for eligible older and disabled people. However, concessionary travel on other modes of transport, such as rail, is the responsibility of local authorities, which have discretionary powers under the Transport Act 1985 to provide and fund local concessionary travel schemes for residents. The extent and terms of any such scheme are for individual local authorities to consider and decide upon but are limited to be within the local authority or region boundary.

Further information on the specific Strathclyde Concessionary Travel Scheme can be found here: Concessions | SPT | Strathclyde Partnership for Transport

CMAL continue to be tasked by the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland to seek suitable second hand tonnage. Where a vessel is thought to have the potential to supplement the existing fleet, a business case will developed to be considered by Ministers. Affordability and Value for Money would be key considerations.

The requested spend information is as follows

a) Vessel spend to date since the launch of the IIP has been just over £145.1m. This funding aligns to the Islay class vessels which were increased from two to four vessels.

b) The capital investment funding provided to CMAL on piers and harbours projects in the last three financial years since the launch of the IIP equates to around £70m.

As part of the Islands Connectivity Plan, the updated Vessel and Ports Plan was published for consultation on 1 February 2024. The Plan provides a long-term plan to 2045 for the vessel and port investment considered necessary to address the key challenges of reliability and resilience by modernising the fleet and reducing the average age to 15 years by the end of the decade.

The Plan also makes clear that the timing of the delivery of individual projects remains subject to Value for Money, prioritisation and affordability.

The final versions of the Islands Connectivity Plan’s Strategic Approach Paper and the Vessels and Ports Plan are expected to be published later this year.

The City of Edinburgh Council’s Mixed Tenure Improvement Scheme (MTIS) is operated under the Area Based Schemes which are designed, managed and delivered solely by Scottish local authorities or their managing agents. Hence any complaints about the MTIS should be directed to the council for resolution. The City of Edinburgh Council has a dispute resolution process for dealing with complaints which was used in the council’s first MTIS project undertaken in Westerhailes.