Chamber and committees

In 2014, the Scottish Government issued guidance on Scottish Planning Policy, Housing Needs and Demand Assessments (HNDA) and Local Housing Strategies. It is the responsibility of local authorities, using the framework provided by this series of guidance, to determine the appropriate housing mix, including numbers, house size, type and tenure for their areas.

Guidance on Local Housing Strategies (LHS) was published in 2014 and refers to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 which requires an LHS to state how a local authority will comply with its duty under Section 106 of the Act.

Section 106 states that local authorities must exercise the functions conferred on them by the Act in a manner which encourages equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements which are set out in the Equality Act 2010 and includes age, disability, sex (including Pregnancy and Maternity), gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race, religion and belief. An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) of the LHS Is required if people are affected by a policy or strategy, either directly or indirectly.

The Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service have dealt with 4,051 unique businesses since inception in December 2005. All of these businesses have received advice while some have progressed beyond this – producing 1,848 Business Improvement Projects and delivering over £218m in efficiency savings. The service currently employs 32 staff members and has an annual budget for external support of £500k.

The information in the following table was provided by Scottish Development International and provides details of trade delegations since 2014.

Information prior to 2014 is not available.

Our Innovation and Investment Hubs provide a platform for, and a more joined up approach to, existing and new activity by the Government, partners and businesses to increase exports and attract investment to Scotland. We are developing a framework to assess their contribution to trade, investment and other outcomes though it will be challenging to fully separate out the specific impact of each Hub from wider trade and investment activities. Dublin has been fully operational since October 2016; London became operational in May 2017; and Brussels and Berlin are not yet operational. Figures on the specific trade and investment, economic and employment impacts of the Dublin Hub since it became operational are not available.

The Scottish Government is committed to establishing four Innovation and Investment Hubs in Dublin, London, Brussels and Berlin as an integral part of wider work across the Scottish Government, partners and businesses to support trade, investment, innovation and inter-governmental relations.

Dublin has been fully operational since October 2016; London became operational in May 2017 and Brussels and Berlin are not yet operational. Since becoming operational, the Dublin Hub has sought to build its diplomatic, trade, industry and academic networks. For example, accompanying the First Minister’s visit in November 2016, a trade mission of 14 Scottish companies were given the opportunity to network with 130 key Irish influencers. The Dublin Hub has also facilitated three Scottish companies taking part, along with companies from Ireland, in the Trinity International Growth Programme which provides businesses with tools, knowledge and bespoke coaching to help them expand their business and trade overseas.

In August the First Minister announced plans to establish a new Post-Referendum Business Network which would work more closely and collaboratively with the main business bodies, the STUC and the Scotland Office to help shape future policy and support for business. Following dialogue with these key stakeholders the remit and membership of this forum, re-named the Scottish Business Growth Group, was agreed and an inaugural meeting held on 20 April 2017. Scottish Government and Scotland Office officials jointly provide secretariat support.

The functional standards in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 for fire safety do not differentiate between new public buildings and work to existing buildings, including schools. The requirements include occupants being alerted to the outbreak of fire and the inhibition of fire growth by the operation of an automatic fire suppression system. The Technical Handbooks which support these standards give different measures to meeting the standard, because there are different degrees of risk for different buildings.

I will arrange for officials to provide a brief summary of the main differences contained within the Technical Handbooks, copied to the Convener of the Local Government & Communities Committee of the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Government keeps the building regulations and supporting guidance under regular review. The guidance on fire safety measures for new buildings was changed in October 2010. Minor changes were made in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The changes introduced are available on the Scottish Government website via the following link:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Building/Building-standards/publications/pubverletts

Scottish Government have also issued additional supporting guidance and letters to local authority chief executives regarding the following:

• water supply for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, 27 July 2011;

• external wall insulation, 1 Nov 2013;

• whisky maturation warehouses- automatic fire suppression systems, 5 February 2015; and

• fire engineering notification, 22 May 17.

These letters are available on the Scottish Government website via the following link:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Building/Building-standards/publications/pubverletts

In his letter of 12 June 2017, the CEO of the Scottish Funding Council advised Colleges Scotland that additional funding made available in 2017-18 was sufficient to meet the costs of the lecturers' pay settlement alone for 2017-18.

The letter was copied to all college Principals and made available to the EIS.