Chamber and committees

Information on expenditure on the programme is published quarterly: https://www.gov.scot/publications/single-building-assessment-spending-information/

The recently published figures have additional information that show committed spend on remediation of £148,000.

Removal of cladding is not always necessary or appropriate. The Scottish Government fully funded Single Building Assessment is designed to identify any potential issues which have an adverse impact on the safety and security of residents. We expect the vast majority of buildings to be found to be safe, but we have to understand the extent of the problem to be able to fix it.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14122 on 9 February 2023. 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

Public Library services in Scotland are devolved to local authorities which have a statutory duty to secure the provision of adequate library facilities for all persons resident in their area.

No Scottish Libraries have permanently closed in the last three reporting years. The following table from the Scottish Library and Information Council provides data, compiled by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), capturing the number of service points and net increase / decrease per year between 2009-10 – 2021-22. Information for 2022-23 will be available at the end of the current financial year.

The focus of this report was providing a response on how to implement the recommendations of the Drug Deaths Taskforce Report, Changing Lives , published in July 2022.

However, people with problematic alcohol use and those who use alcohol alongside drugs will benefit from a number of the actions outlined in the plan such as the work to address stigma, the actions on early intervention and actions to support people with co-occurring mental health and substance use needs. In addition, the actions outlined in the plan to develop a trauma-informed workforce, to ensure that those with lived or living experience are involved in the development of work across both alcohol and drug policy and on residential rehabilitation services, will benefit people with problematic alcohol use as well as problematic drug use.

The Changing Lives report was the final report of the Drug Deaths Taskforce which has now concluded its work.

The operational assessment of the A720 Sheriffhall Roundabout project has included modelling of traffic flows to assess the impacts as a result of the proposed scheme. The modelling indicates that the resultant elimination of the conflict between strategic and local traffic at this junction would result in operational benefits for road users on all routes through the junction.

Details of the traffic assessment undertaken are available from the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges Stage 3 Scheme Assessment Report which is available on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/dmrb-stage-3-assessment-report-a720-sheriffhall-roundabout/ .

While we cannot reliably estimate the weather conditions in future years, over the last 7 years (2015-16 – 2021-22) around 97% of households in 22 out of the 27 weather station areas in Scotland received, on average, between zero and two Cold Weather Payments each winter. Five weather station areas received, on average, more than two Cold Weather Payments from 2015-16 – 2021-22, with around 12,000 eligible people resident in those areas. For the vast majority of those 12,000 people, the support received during that 7 year period was still, on average, less than 3 Cold Weather Payments per year.

Our new Winter Heating Payment will provide over £20 million investment each year, more than double the £8.3 million provided on average per winter by the UK Government over the last 7 years. This will provide reliable financial support for all eligible households in Scotland, rather than depending on sustained cold weather. This year around 415,000 people will receive Winter Heating Payment from the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering the grade separation of Sheriffhall Roundabout as part of its £300 million commitment to the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.

Transport Scotland continues to progress the proposed scheme through the statutory process to deliver improvements at this key junction as soon as possible.

Following publication of draft Orders and Environmental Statement, Transport Scotland received a significant number of representations, including objections, to the proposed scheme. Given the number of objections, a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) is required, during which an independent reporter will consider all outstanding objections prior to making recommendations to the Scottish Ministers. The PLI is due to commence on Monday 30 January 2023. As with all trunk road projects this is the appropriate statutory forum for considering objections received and not withdrawn.

While I am keen to see the improvements delivered as soon as possible, the statutory right for individuals to have their say on proposals cannot be set aside. Delivery of the scheme itself can only commence if it is approved under the relevant statutory procedures, at which point a timetable for its progress can be set.

The Scottish Government is aware of a discharge payment scheme being piloted in North Lanarkshire. This has been discussed by the Social Care & Social Work National Response Group and details are being circulated to other authorities who may be considering similar measures. Monitoring and evaluation of the scheme is being undertaken by North Lanarkshire.

The number of people who have purchased a property via the Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme each year since its launch is set out in the following below: