Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to progress a range of actions in collaboration with justice partners to support a sustainable reduction in the prison population, whilst maintaining a focus on protecting the public.

At present, Community Payback Orders (CPOs) are the most commonly used alternative to a custodial sentence, with over 15,100 commenced in 2023-24. CPOs are a flexible and robust disposal which make people pay back to their community and can include one or more of a range of requirements which can be tailored to fit the circumstances of individual cases (including unpaid work, supervision by justice social work, and addressing addiction issues). The evidence shows that community-based interventions and sentences can be more effective in addressing offending behaviour and assisting with rehabilitation than short-term custodial sentences, leading to fewer victims and safer communities.

We have increased community justice funding by £25 million over two years, bringing the total to £159 million in 2025-26. This has increased the use of alternatives to custody and supports a range of community justice services, including diversion from prosecution, alternatives to remand and community sentencing.

Looking ahead, we have also established an independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission, with final recommendations to be presented to the Scottish Government by the end of this year to help ensure that Scotland has a sustainable prison population over the longer term. This important work will consider how imprisonment and community-based interventions are currently used and what improvements can be made in dealing with offending behaviour in an effective and proportionate manner.

It is unclear where the figure for the reported loss of 12,000 homes from the landlord register since May 2023 has come from. The most recently published figures show an increase in registered properties of almost 8,000 from May 2023 to July 2025.

According to official published statistics derived from the Scottish Landlord Register, in May 2023 there were 238,787 registered landlords and 341,417 registered properties. By July 2025, the most recent data available, this had fallen to 232,922 landlords, while the number of registered properties had increased to 349,313:

Housing statistics: Scottish Landlord Register data - gov.scot

This represents a reduction of 5,865 landlords over the period. Importantly, while landlord numbers have declined slightly, the number of registered properties has risen by almost 8,000 homes.

While these changes may point to some landlords choosing to leave the sector, the evidence suggests that their properties are remaining in the sector, or new properties are being offered for rent.

It should be noted that there are some limitations to the administrative data from the landlord register, including the time-lag in landlords deregistering properties that are no longer available to rent. These statistics should therefore be treated with some caution.

The fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas is reserved to the UK Government.

We have continued to call on UK Government to listen carefully to concerns being expressed by businesses around the impacts of its Energy Profits Levy, this was repeated by the Deputy First Minister at Offshore Europe on 2 September.

We are now awaiting the UK Government’s consultation response, which must clearly set out how a stable and long-term fiscal regime will be used to deliver business and investor certainty for the North Sea. The EPL was always supposed to be a temporary measure and we must see the earliest possible end date, as it is now affecting investment and jobs in the North East.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials engage with UK Government, including HMT Treasury counterparts and a wide range of stakeholders when considering all of these issues and will continue to do so.

The Scottish Government aims to raise around £30 million per annum from the Scottish Building Safety Levy. This is in proportion to the revenue that the equivalent UK Government Levy for England is intended to generate and in line with the Barnett consequentials that the Scottish Government might have received had the UK Government Levy been extended UK-wide.

The Bill Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill includes provision for a regular review of the Levy, which will be an opportunity to consider the revenue target in light of the prevailing housing market and wider economic conditions, as well as the emerging position on the scale and profile of spending on cladding remediation work.

The Bill also sets out that proceeds from the Levy must be used for the purposes of improving the safety of persons in or about buildings in Scotland. This is intended to mirror, as closely as possible, the provisions for the use of funds for the UK Government’s Building Safety Levy, as set out in the Building Safety Act 2022 and reflected in the Scotland Act 1998 (Specification of Devolved Tax) (Building Safety) Order 2024 which devolved the powers necessary to introduce legislation for a devolved Levy.

NHS 24 is working to ensure calls to its 111 service are answered quickly and safely. Some calls may go unanswered due to callers disengaging after automated messaging, being signposted to other services, or opting for a callback during peak times.

While data on abandoned calls is collected, the specific reasons for call termination are not identifiable.

The Scottish Government continues to support NHS 24 in reducing unanswered calls, including revising performance indicators to better reflect demand and improve service delivery.

Over the past two financial years, NHS 24 has received £28.3 million in additional funding, enabling the recruitment of 22 extra clinicians and achieving its highest-ever treatment capacity.

The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published alongside the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill sets out Scottish Government’s assumptions on the likely impact of a Building Safety Levy in Scotland, including those relating to homebuyers.

The Scottish Government committed, in the Framework for Tax 2021, to reducing the combined poundage rate for the largest properties to match the equivalent rate in England over the course of the Parliament.

The Intermediate Property Rate was introduced in April 2020 and we have since increased the rateable value threshold at which the Higher Property Rate applies from £95,000 to £100,000. Alongside maintaining the lowest Basic Property Rate for the seventh year in a row, this ensures that over 95% of non-domestic properties in Scotland are liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

Tax policy decisions are made annually at budget in line with prevailing economic decisions and Government priorities.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the impact of changes to working patterns, including the recent transition to a 35-hour working week within the organisation.

Previous Public Sector Pay Policies have set an expectation that employers work towards standardising a 35-hour working week. Public bodies retain the flexibility to adopt working patterns that support operational efficiency, employee wellbeing, and service delivery, provided these are delivered within existing budgets and do not adversely affect public services. It remains the responsibility of individual public bodies to assess the impact of any reduction in working hours in their organisation.

Research published by The Autonomy Institute in relation to the private sector A four-day week in Scotland’s private sector? A spotlight on precedents and opportunities - The Autonomy Institute represents their assessment of the impact and opportunity of 4 day working week for private sector. The Scottish Government has not carried out any assessment in relation to this.

Evidence shows that employers benefit from offering flexibility in working arrangements which can result in happier, more engaged workers, improved recruitment and retention, improved innovation, productivity and business reputation, helping to attract new customers.

It is an important principle of the planning system that each application is determined on its own merits, in line with the Development Plan and taking account of material considerations.

As part of the Development Plan, National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) includes a strong policy position regarding affordable housing provision and provides more flexibility for affordable housing proposals, explicitly as one of the circumstances where proposals can be supported on sites not allocated in a Local Development Plan.

A letter, I co-signed with the Scottish Government's Chief Planner in June 2024, stresses how NPF4 policy can be used to support proposals that improve affordability and choice to address recognised priorities of an area.

Everyone involved in planning has a role to play in supporting a national push to deliver more homes, including affordable homes. To address capacity and performance issues in planning services, we have raised planning fees and continue to invest in the resourcing, skills and resilience of the planning system, for example, through the National Planning Hub and the role of the National Planning Improvement Champion, to improve consenting timescales and support faster delivery of new homes where they are needed.

A fairer, well-managed private rented sector is in the interest of both tenants and landlords, and the private rented sector measures in the Housing (Scotland) Bill have been developed following extensive engagement with the sector.

The Scottish Government carried out a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment of the suite of rented sector reform measures included in the Bill, which included consideration of the potential cumulative impacts of rented sector reforms.

This was published in October 2024 on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with stakeholders from across the sector during the remainder of the Bill’s Parliamentary passage and beyond.