Chamber and committees

The Climate Change Committee were not consulted in advance of the savings in Net Zero and Energy portfolio set out in the Fiscal Statement on 3 September 2024. There is no legislative requirement for Ministers to seek such advice and it is not common practice to do so. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 sets out when Scottish Ministers must request advice from the CCC as well as when Scottish Ministers must have regard to CCC advice. There is no requirement on Ministers to ask the CCC for advice in relation to financial budgets.

An FCDO official was not present at this meeting. This is in accordance with standard practice for my meetings with Members of the European Parliament. FCDO officials were of course informed of the visit and programme in the normal way.

The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 provides that repairs and maintenance work will be carried out according to the provisions in the relevant title deeds of the properties.

Where homeowners have workable provisions in their title deeds to carry out maintenance and repair then these should be followed. Where title deeds do not specify how decisions should be made, or if different owners' title deeds say conflicting things and are therefore unworkable, the Tenement Management Scheme (TMS) in Schedule 1 Rule 2 of the 2004 Act sets out procedures for flat owners to follow when making scheme decisions about maintaining and repairing common parts of a shared building.

Rules 7 and 8 already set out the requirements for consultation, and rule 9 sets out the procedure for giving notice in connection with the TMS.

More detail is here: Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)

There is no statutory process for either scenario.

Subject to the agreement of both parties, any owner-occupier who wishes to sell their home to a local authority and remain in it as a tenant in the social rented sector may do so.

If there is already a private tenancy in place, prior to any purchase there could be some negotiation and agreement with the sitting tenant in order to bring their private tenancy with their existing landlord to an end so that they may enter into a social tenancy when the property is purchased by the local authority.

The Afghan medical students are eligible for support under paragraph 12B of the Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022, as amended by the Education (Fees and Student Support) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2024. This provision enables the students to be considered as Scottish domiciled for the purposes of funding and entitles them to apply for tuition fees and living cost support in the same manner as other Scottish domiciled students.

Scottish Government officials have regular engagement with officials from the Department for Business and Trade. As you are aware, Subsidy Control is a reserved matter and it is our understanding that UK Government have no current plans to amend the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Scottish Ministers are bound by this UK legislation and also have a legal obligation to comply with World Trade Organisations rules. The Subsidy Control Act 2022 and World Trade Organisation rules are in place to promote fair competition, and prevent any distortion in competition or negative effects on trade and investment within the UK, or between the UK and another country.

On the 3 September 2024, the Scottish Government pre-budget fiscal update outlined "other" savings measures of £27.7M in the Health and Social Care budget, with funding redirected to support emerging pressures within Health and Social Care, not used for wider SG spending.

The breakdown is as follows:

We work closely with partners, including through the Older People’s Strategic Forum (OPSAF) on a range of issues related to age equality. This includes the Strategic Action Framework ‘A Fairer Scotland for Older People’, in which Ensuring Financial Security is a priority area. We are running a number of Roundtables throughout Scotland to hear from older people and older people's organisation as part of the refresh of the Framework.

We support projects that enable older people to live independent and fulfilling lives. Our Equality and Human Rights Fund provides over £2.2M to support older people’s organisations and age equality projects and programmes. We also launched a £3.8m Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund on 8 March 2023 which funds 53 projects supporting people at risk of social isolation and loneliness.

Scottish Government analysis suggests that between 110,000 and 130,000 pensioners will remain eligible for payment in Scotland this winter. This represents a reduction of around 900,000 pensioners who will no longer be entitled in 2024-25.

The UK Government’s decision to restrict eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments has had a significant impact, reducing the Block-Grant Adjustment associated with devolution of the UK’s Winter Fuel Payment by an estimated £140 million to £160 million in 2024-25, nearly 90% of the cost of the Scottish Government’s replacement benefit, Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

The Scottish Government expects companies which are awarded public contracts to maintain high standards of business and professional conduct. Public procurement legislation, implementing the UK’s international obligations in this field, provides that companies may be excluded from bidding for contracts in certain circumstances, including where they have engaged in grave professional misconduct which renders their integrity questionable.

The exploitation of assets in illegal settlements could be regarded as constituting grave professional misconduct for the purposes of procurement law, but a decision to exclude a company from a competition must be taken on a case-by-case basis by the public body awarding the contract in question, in full consideration of all of the evidence available to them at that point in time. Decisions must be proportionate and are subject to challenge in the courts.

Scottish Ministers have no power to require that any company is excluded from all competitions.