Chamber and committees

A breakdown of the unsuccessful applications for the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund between August 2020 and May 2023 are given in the following table:

Councils are responsible for developing their licensing policies in line with powers and duties under The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022, as amended in 2023, and they can add proportionate conditions to address local needs and concerns. We continue to work closely with COSLA, SOLAR and licensing authorities on the implementation and monitoring of the short term lets licensing legislation. We are therefore aware that the City of Edinburgh Council has acted on the Judgement made on 8 June 2023 to revise its local licensing policy and information for applicants. We remain confident that licensing of short-term lets can be operated effectively by councils so as to respect the rights of hosts and guests in short-term let accommodation, and is appropriate for the whole of Scotland.

Scottish Government Internal Audit have initiated an independent review which will focus on the following areas:

1) Review of policy and compliance

2) Analysis of transactions to identify areas of non-compliance e.g. personal use, unauthorised expenditure.

Resource of 2 members of staff and budget for 15 days have been allocated for the review. This will be funded through standard arrangements for providing an internal audit service. A draft report on the review is anticipated to be provided to the Permanent Secretary and Director of Procurement and Property by 1 September, with interim findings on focused transactions review expected before then.

As part of our ongoing joint programme for delivery, following the launch of the Winter Heating Payment, Scottish Government officials have been working with counterparts at the Department of Work and Pensions to develop a revised timeframe that will allow payments to be issued earlier in Winter 2023-24 and subsequent years. I will provide a more detailed update to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on this work in due course.

The information you have requested is set out in the following table. It should be noted that the key criteria for the Local Bridge Maintenance Fund was to rebuild and maintain key lifeline bridges, where diversionary routes are not available or limited.

The Scottish Government is keen to raise awareness of the implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards and there could be a role for Royal Colleges in contributing to this.

However, the training and education programmes provided by Royal Colleges are decided on by the Colleges, reflecting the needs and interests of their members and practitioners more widely.

The Scottish Government would certainly consider funding any relevant training and education programmes from the Royal Colleges.

Following the motion passed by the Scottish Parliament showing solidarity with anti-racism in June 2020, funding was provided to Museums Galleries Scotland for the Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums project, which was run by an independent steering group, and included the largest ever national consultation on attitudes to Scotland’s museums and racism.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the response to the steering group's recommendations, including the one which focused on establishing a new organisation to create a dedicated space to address the legacy of colonialism in Scotland. This is an important agenda and we will continue to seek ways of raising awareness of the role Scotland played in slavery and empire and how our museums and galleries can play their part in portraying an accurate story of Scotland's history.

Many items within the Baby Box such as thermometers, play mat, changing mat, books, and the box itself are all suitable for a premature baby, and the clothing will be suitable as the baby grows. The Scottish Government seeks to deliver best value by purchasing the contents of the Baby Box in bulk, in line with Scottish birth rates. Costs would increase significantly if we moved to purchase smaller amounts of different items. Therefore in the current financial climate we do not plan to make any adaptions to the Baby Box. The Scottish Government is keen to offer financial support to parents or primary carers of babies who are born prematurely and have to receive inpatient care. All parents whose children have to stay overnight in hospital are eligible for financial support through the Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF).

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme offers funding for a range of zero direct emissions heating systems, energy efficiency measures and additional measures, including solar PV and energy storage systems in some circumstances.

The Scottish Government has not closed this scheme, but has changed the conditions for funding of solar PV and energy storage systems.

For an answer to the question asked, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19952 on 9 August 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website .

Over the next three years the Scottish Government will invest in a new programme of work to support early intervention in speech and language for children and their families, helping to build confidence and capacity for staff working in early learning and childcare settings, and joining up efforts across other key public services, such as health visiting.

In our Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026, we outlined a commitment to invest in a new programme of work to support early intervention in speech and language. As part of that work we are recruiting six Full Time Equivalent Regional Leads for Early Years Speech and Language – in collaboration with Education Scotland.

The leads will be based in each region in Scotland, aligned to Regional Improvement Collaboratives. We anticipate that their work will improve outcomes for children’s speech and language across Scotland, by setting up new stakeholder networks, supporting frontline staff, promoting quality improvement and learning from best practice.