Chamber and committees

Local Authorities are required, under section 24 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, to register any work notices served under section 30 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 in their building standards register. Information on the number of work notices served is not held centrally.

Local Authorities are required, under section 61 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, to register any maintenance orders served under section 42 of the of that Act in an appropriate land register. Information on the number of maintenance orders served is not held centrally.

Local authorities are not required to register closing orders served under section 114 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987.

The British Transplant Games in North Lanarkshire is receiving funding of £24,600 through the EventScotland National Programme.

EventScotland, as part of VisitScotland, will work with event organisers to maximise the tourism benefits of the event, with a particular focus on encouraging friends and families of competitors to extend their stay and explore the local area and the rest of Scotland.

Shona Robison will be attending the Transplant Games opening ceremony on the 27th July.

Integrated Joint Boards are responsible for making local decisions about the health and care needs of patients, to ensure that those who use services get the right care and support whatever their needs, at any point in their care journey. The Scottish Government has through the Public Bodies (Joint Working) Act 2015 and the supporting guidance, created a framework that encourages Integrated Joint Boards to consider a range of options when making local decisions about the health and care needs of patients including reducing delayed discharge.

The Scottish Government supports expansion of modern methods of construction, including off-site construction, which offer real opportunities for the industry to further improve efficiency, standards and to support new skillsets in delivering the homes Scotland needs.

We are working hard with partners to ensure best value through the significant investment supporting delivery of the 50,000 affordable homes target over the
five-years to March 2021 and to maximise the wider benefits from this investment. It is vital that the affordable housing sector procures homes in the most effective and efficient way. We are therefore also working with partners to improve the procurement performance of individual organisations, and to develop effective strategic procurement approaches across the affordable housing sector

The Living Home Standard (LHS) is a housing standard developed independently by Shelter and assesses a home’s standard against 39 different attributes. The number of homes meeting the LHS is not held by the Scottish Government.

Existing applicable housing standards in Scotland include: the tolerable standard (the minimum standard for all living accommodation in buildings in Scotland); the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) (the minimum standard for social housing); and the repairing standard (for most other kinds of tenancy except agricultural holdings, small landholdings, some tied housing, and crofts).

Information on how many homes in Scotland meet the tolerable standard and the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) is published annually in the Scottish House Conditions Survey Key Findings Report, available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/SHCS/Downloads.

The Scottish Government does not provide ring-fenced funding for Additional Support for Learning in schools. Funding is included in the block grant which the Scottish Government provides to all local authorities as part of the annual local government finance settlement. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government's key strategic objectives.

The National Improvement Framework provides teachers with nationally consistent data to help inform their professional judgement. In December 2016 and January 2017, we published the percentage of children achieving Curriculum for Excellence levels in aspects of literacy as well as numeracy on a local authority by local authority, and school by school basis.

The Cycle Innovation Plan is updated annually. The document is currently with the members who attend the ScotRail Cycle Forum for comment before being published in June.

No additional shower facilities have been installed since Abellio won the ScotRail franchise in 2015. However, the major stations Aberdeen, Edinburgh Waverley, Fort William, Glasgow Central (High Level) and Inverness all have shower facilities.

Transport Scotland meet ScotRail every four weeks to review, monitor and challenge the franchise obligations related to cycling, and this includes the proposals contained in the Cycle Innovation Plan.