Chamber and committees

Skye and Lochalsh Mental Health Association was awarded funding from the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults in 2021-22 and 2022-23 to support their Keeping Warm Project and mental health training.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults is distributed in all 32 regions of Scotland by Third Sector Interface (TSI) organisations who, working in collaboration with other local partners, are responsible for allocating the funding to local community initiatives which support mental health and wellbeing. This is based on local needs and in line with national criteria issued by Scottish Government.

The grant terms and conditions relating to this funding to Skye and Lochalsh Mental Health Association are determined by Highland Third Sector Interface

The Scottish Government welcomes the report from the Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB) into social housing retrofit. Its findings and recommendations will help inform our thinking on how we continue to support the sector to help achieve our climate targets. Both the report and our current consultation on proposals for a new Social Housing Net Zero Standard will provide valuable feedback and insight on how the social housing sector can continue to build upon its progress on energy efficiency.

The Green Heat Finance Taskforce is also exploring ways to encourage a greater flow of private finance to help support the transition to clean heat, and its part 2 report this year will include consideration of financing options to enable social housing retrofit. All these sources of information will inform future decisions around funding support for energy efficiency and clean heat upgrades in social housing.

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund (the Fund) has already undergone a review to ensure it is providing the best support to social landlords in the transition to net zero. As part of this, the Fund’s support for “Fabric First” only projects has been extended until March 2026 in response to calls from the sector. The Fund welcomes consortium bids from multiple housing associations and local authorities to help deliver retrofit on a larger scale.

The Fund can be used alongside Area Based Schemes to carry out whole retrofit of a multi-tenure block if the properties fit the criteria of both Schemes. There is also financial support for owner occupiers through Warmer Homes Scotland and the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme which can reduce the costs of taking part in whole building works.

The Scottish Government welcomed the Committee’s thorough and wide-ranging report and we are committed to working with local government to deliver our shared climate change goals.

Following the Committee’s Inquiry, COSLA and the Scottish Government is working collaboratively to develop a Climate Delivery Framework to agree shared approaches to delivering action on climate change. As recommended by the Committee, we have also established a Scottish Climate Intelligence Service (SCIS) jointly funded with local government, which will help build the capacity of local authorities to reduce area wide emissions. A single data platform, currently being procured, will enable consistency of approach and adoption of best practice methodologies across local authorities and their delivery partners. This will provide all 32 local authorities with data-informed evidence, insights and intelligence they need for continuous improvement of their climate action plans.

Simple procedure is a court process designed to provide a speedy, inexpensive and informal way to resolve disputes. A claim is made in the sheriff court with the final decision in a claim made by a sheriff or a summary sheriff. Claimants do not need to use a solicitor to use the simple procedure, but they can do so if they wish.

The following table provides the number of simple procedure claims, and breaks the disposals between those which were successful and unsuccessful. It then gives the average monetary value of the successful claims for each financial year where data is available.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) continue to undertake operational intelligence gathering on such premises and work alongside key partners to ensure that an effective operational response is provided. While clearly this is an operational matter, SFRS will respond to all reports of fire which are received and have the ability to deploy a range of standard and specialist resources as determined by the needs of the incident.

Fire safety measures should be built into such sites during the development that include detection and suppression systems to inhibit the growth and spread of any fire should an incident occur. This is in line with the NFCC Guidance Document .

To date, four out of six key measures provided for within the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 have been implemented, these are:

• A prohibition on providing or making available fireworks or pyrotechnic articles to children;
• A new statutory aggravation for courts sentencing offenders where fireworks were used to attack emergency workers;
• New discretionary powers for local authorities to designate firework control zones; and
• New offences of possession of pyrotechnics in public places and at designated venues and events.

After careful consideration and assessment of the significant financial pressures the Scottish Government is facing following the UK Government’s budget settlement, the Government has decided to extend the timeframe for delivery and implementation of the firework licensing requirement (Part 2 of the Act) to 2026. A pause to the implementation of restrictions to the days of supply and use of fireworks (within Part 3 of the Act), was outlined to the Criminal Justice Committee in March 2023. I am writing to the Convener of the Criminal Justice Committee to provide further details about this decision.

To ask the Scottish Government what the current fire safety regulations are for the development of battery energy storage system (BESS) sites. A range of legislation makes up the regulatory framework for the safety of grid scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). Health and safety is a reserved matter with applicable UK legislation including: the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002; the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989; and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s regulator in this regard, and their remit includes health and safety in the workplace as well as public assurance on safety matters.

The review has now reported its findings, recommendations, and proposed actions. I am carefully considering these, particularly in the context of the Scottish budget set out on 19 December, ahead of publication in the coming weeks.

I am advised that this decision was taken jointly by the Scottish Government and Education Scotland when the assessments were introduced in 2017. This position fits within a wider policy approach, guided by Education Scotland, around discussing assessment outcomes with parents and learners.

I am advised that the view at that time was that presenting National Standardised Assessment data or reports to parents and learners on a standalone basis would run contrary to the diagnostic purpose of the assessments, and the central role of teacher judgement in considering NSA data amongst wider assessment activities.

NSA reports are designed for teachers, who have access to training and guidance on the use of these adaptive assessments and their outputs, allowing them to interpret and use the report format appropriately.

Alternatives West Dunbartonshire CDS has received funding from the Scottish Government’s Prison to Rehab Protocol since 2022. The pathway supports individuals leaving prison who would benefit from accessing abstinence based treatment on release, based on an individual needs based assessment.

Alternatives West Dunbartonshire CDS is a recipient of the National Drugs Mission fund. Whilst Scottish Government do not directly set the objectives, the Corra Foundation has administered the National Drugs Mission Funds on our behalf, since 2021, to third sector and grassroots organisations and details of the projects are available at : Grant holder data - Corra Foundation .