Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the energy efficiency of all types of buildings across Scotland as part of Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP). A key element of SEEP will be to ensure that we have a workforce with the right skills, including those for traditional buildings, in the right places and numbers to deliver the programme aims. We will publish a routemap on the future direction of the programme next year.

With reference to grant aided projects improving traditional buildings, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) actively support professional body accreditation and also require a lead professional for grant schemes to be conservation accredited.

HES continues to support the retrofit sector, contributing technical material for the development of skills and qualifications in this area, linking in with wider further education provision at all levels and the resources to develop qualifications at Trade, supervisory and assessment levels in thermal refurbishment.

An estimated 7,000 migrants were employed in the Construction sector in Scotland in 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics’ Annual Population Survey 2016, and the Scottish Government warmly welcomes them and values the contribution they make to a key sector of the Scottish Economy.

The answers to each part of the question have been given, where possible, in the following paragraphs.

(a) Figures on sheltered housing provided by housing associations are not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Housing Regulator collect data on stock held by social landlords, including information on the number of sheltered and very sheltered housing units owned by housing associations. This information is not currently published but can be requested from the Scottish Housing Regulator.

(b) The Scottish Government collects and publishes annual statistics on local authority owned sheltered and very sheltered housing for older people, as part of the Housing Statistics for Scotland annual Key Trends publication series, available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS.

The most recent figures as at end March 2017 show that there were (i) 14,216 sheltered housing dwellings for older people and (ii) 725 very sheltered housing dwellings for older people owned by local authorities in Scotland.

(c) Figures on the number of sheltered housing units that are run by the private sector are not held centrally. A Scottish Government review of sheltered housing from 2008 estimated that there were around 36,000 sheltered housing dwellings in total across all sectors, with a further 3,700 dwellings in extra care schemes. The report, which includes some analysis of sheltered housing provided by the private sector, is available here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/01/11131906/28

The Scottish Government recognises that construction industry is a core sector of the Scottish economy, and continues to work collaboratively with the industry and its leaders. We are using all levers at our disposal to maximise investment and support economic growth - our existing overall infrastructure investment programme of £4 billion in 2017-18 will support around 30,000 full time equivalent jobs across Scotland. The construction sector is very well placed to benefit from increased investment through our enterprise agencies in innovation and from funding in areas such as low carbon heating and energy efficiency.

The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging a higher take-up of innovation and to ensuring this happens more widely across the business base, in all places and sectors.

As regards to the construction sector, we have provided funding, via the Scottish Funding Council, for the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) which provides businesses with a ‘one-stop shop’ for accessing a team of experts and public support which includes access to state of the art production, prototyping and technology equipment that allows companies to develop new products and modern methods of construction.

Since its launch in 2014, and as a result of additional industry investment, the CSIC has safeguarded and created hundreds of jobs and there is evidence that Scottish construction businesses are realising efficiencies, increasing productivity, and building new partnerships. Of course it is early in the life of the CSIC and it may only be possible to fully assess the economic impact of this investment once the CSIC has had more time to shift the dial on innovation activity.

The Scottish Government recognises the potential for the development of offsite construction (OSC) in Scotland as a way to improve quality, energy efficiency and build rate. Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise currently support construction related businesses throughout Scotland that have an offsite aspect to their activity to improve their productivity and manufacturing capability.

We have previously published guidelines on the use of OSC in both the Greener Homes Prospectus and Scotland’s Sustainable Housing Strategy as part of the review of Public Sector Procurement. We have also commissioned the Scottish Futures Trust to undertake research on this topic, which will be made available, in due course, as guidance for contracting authorities. In addition, we will continue to encourage all public authorities to consider the use of OSC on construction projects where appropriate and are keen to support innovation in the sector.

The Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety sought information from all 32 local authorities on the use of Aluminium Composite Cladding (ACM) on private high rise domestic buildings. No ACM was identified in 31 local authorities.

Glasgow City Council identified 57 buildings with some ACM. The extent of coverage or exact details of the type of ACM identified is being scrutinised further by Glasgow City Council.

The Scottish Government provides a framework for the planning of housing through Local Housing Strategies and Scottish Planning Policy that supports local authorities, who have strategic responsibility for housing within their areas, to determine the range of housing required locally, including consideration of the housing needs of older people and proposals to support its delivery. Later this year we will also launch a refreshed housing strategy for older people to take account of changing need, demographics and help address issues of isolation older people
can face as well as improving access to suitable housing.

The recent consultation on the planning system highlighted the need to diversify housing delivery to provide a greater choice and range of housing, including supported homes for the elderly.

We consider that the provision of specialist housing for the elderly is better addressed through policy and not the forthcoming Planning Bill.

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), updated in June 2014, requires that local authorities, through their development plans, should address the supply of land for all housing, setting a housing supply target. We committed to reviewing SPP in tandem with the preparation of National Planning Framework 4 in the Places, People and Planning Position Statement published in June. This is likely to commence in 2018.

On 31 March, we launched a consultation entitled' Improving Parking in Scotland', which closed on 30 June 2017 for the general public and 31 August for local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships. The consultation paper considered how parking is managed and enforced across the country.

Our consultation sought views on how we can:

*make parking laws clearer

*identify what parking restrictions and exemptions should apply

*identify the best approach for managing parking, and

*improve the management of displaced vehicles in town centres' while improving accessibility for all.

The findings will inform our policy on how best to manage and enforce parking in Scotland, and will help to develop provisions for a Government Transport Bill and supporting guidance. The Bill and supporting guidance will then be presented for consideration by the Scottish Parliament in this Parliamentary session.