Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not aware of any economic analysis undertaken by South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE) on any economic benefits of attracting private investment into the region’s natural capital assets.

This is a matter for NHS Health Boards. The information requested regarding data on emergency contraception prescribed in prisons is not held centrally.

No payments or funding have been provided from the Scottish Government to the Poverty Trust since 2019.

We are aiming to publish the International Culture Strategy in March 2024.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 September 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

I refer the member to the nswer to questions S6W-23003 on‎ 4 December 2023 and S6W-12484 on 8 December 2022. Please note that in S6W-23003 we advised the next statistical publication would be early 2024, however, we now anticipate this will be published in April 2024. We will announce the publication in the official statistics forthcoming publications calendar at least 28 days prior to publication: https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/

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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16291 on‎ 12 April 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

For the financial year 2023-24, so far there have been 818 first time buyers who have purchased through the Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme.

The Scottish Government currently does not hold information on Homelessness for the full year 2023. Homelessness data up to 31 March 2024, including data for the whole of 2023, which includes information about temporary accommodation placements, will be published in August 2024.

The Homeless in Scotland 2022-23 publications provides the most recent information available and is published here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/homelessness-in-scotland-2022-23/

Table T39 in the main tables, in the supporting documents, provides information on the (mean) average total time (days) spent in temporary accommodation for cases that closed, by household type and local authority. Additionally, table T40 shows the distribution of the time households spent in temporary accommodation for cases that closed, by local authority for a) all households, b) households with children and c) households without children.

The Draft Budget continues to recognise the critical role that the third sector plays in supporting the delivery of key services in Scotland’s communities. We are keenly aware of the pressures on the third sector at this time. The financial environment is extremely difficult while demand for services is increasing. Additionally, Fairer Funding is part of a series of steps to address this difficult financial environment within Scottish Government funding for third sector organisations.

(a) Regarding Fair Work First conditionality, the Scottish Government has sought to implement these principles across all government portfolios, updating grant obligations to meet the new conditionality requirements from July 2023. Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where exceptions to the mandatory grant requirements are applied, grant managers are asked to record these. This information will be requested and collated at the end of the financial year.

(b) It is for individual grant-makers and funders to determine the value of individual grants within their overall budget limitations. Real Living Wage conditionality is concerned with uplifting low pay workers to at least the real Living Wage. Any further pay increases an employer wishes to introduce above and beyond this will be a matter for the employer concerned.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities. It is up to each local authority how it manages its day-to-day business and decision making processes, including the allocation of staff resources and the level of services that are provided.

Addressing the biodiversity crisis needs action across the whole of government and wider society. Through the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plan we are working with local authorities to ensure they have the right tools and guidance for nature restoration, and to empower the development of partnerships that include the right skills and knowledge to deliver local nature restoration projects.

Since 2021-22, we have directly allocated £17 million to Local Authorities through the Nature Restoration Fund for them to deliver such projects in partnership with other organisations. In 2023-24, we allocated an additional £5 million to support initial work to develop local nature networks.