Chamber and committees

We now live with COVID-19 as one of many respiratory infections. Good ventilation is beneficial to air quality and good hygiene. It is the statutory responsibility of Local Authorities to manage their school estate, and it would therefore be for them to determine if it would be appropriate to install HEPA filters, as a relatively costly technology, in their schools, based on local circumstances. However, in August 2021, funding of £10m was made available to local authorities in relation to improving ventilation in schools. Moreover, further funding of £4.8m was made available to local authorities in January 2022.

The Scottish Government will provide Health Boards with £149 million of capital funding in 2024-25 for investing in their estate and equipment. The installation of HEPA filters, or any other means of improving air quality is a matter for local decision making. Health Boards make decisions on what to invest in based on the risk profile of their buildings. Health Boards will consider what level of ventilation is needed across the different areas in their facilities and will invest accordingly.

Funding allocations for ventilation upgrades and maintenance for public buildings is at the discretion of each individual local authority or public body, on the basis of local needs and priorities whilst also fulfilling any statutory obligations where applicable.

We remain committed to sustained investment to strengthen provision of education in Scotland and we are offering local authorities £145.5m in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers.

The commitment to increase the number of classroom assistants has already been exceeded, with 725 additional staff recruited in 2022-23 alone. In addition, since 2019 the number of teachers in Scottish schools has increased by 1,786 from 52,247 to 54,033.

We will continue to work with local authorities to deliver our shared education commitments, with the approach we are able to take being dependent on the resources we have available and ensuring we deliver value for money, during an era where budgets continue to be under pressure as a result of UK Government austerity measures.

The Scottish Government, recognising these exceptionally challenging times, has declared a national Housing Emergency and called on the UK Government to reverse the almost 9% cut to Scotland’s capital budget. We continue to work closely with partners to address levels of homelessness and improve the supply of social and affordable housing.

For the current financial year, the City of Edinburgh Council will benefit from £34.2 million for the provision of more social and affordable homes. We do not currently have confirmation of Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget levels beyond 2024-25 but we are working within agreed funding parameters to allow projects to continue to be approved with future year spend implications.

Our intention is to publish a refresh of the Infrastructure Investment Plan pipeline this year which will focus on maximising the impact of our capital investment towards spend that delivers on the outcomes of this government. In the meantime, efforts to boost affordable housing supply by acquiring properties to bring into use for affordable housing and help reduce homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation have been given an £80 million uplift over the next two years. Decisions on the allocation of the additional £40 million for 2024-25 will be made shortly.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) met it’s 900ha woodland creation target in 2023-24 by planting 454ha of new trees and delivering 447ha of trees through naturally seeded regeneration, principally around Loch Katrine.

While there is no specific, separate engagement with food delivery industry employers, the Scottish Government engages broadly with businesses and trade unions across the retail and hospitality sector on a range of issues, including fair work. Many of these businesses also operate food delivery services. There are also Industry Leadership groups for both sectors co-chaired by Scottish Government, which provide strategic oversight of key policy issues and development.

As there are currently no Standard Industrial Classification codes that specifically identify food delivery as an industry; and no Standard Occupational Classification codes that specifically identify food delivery as an occupation, it is not possible to robustly estimate the size of the sector in Scotland.

Our vision, shared with the Fair Work Convention, is for Scotland to be a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025, where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.

Control over employment and industrial relations legislation is currently reserved to the UK Parliament; while this remains the case, we will continue to use our Fair Work policy to drive up labour market standards for workers across the Scottish labour market.

The number of homes completed through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund in each year since 2016-17, broken down by rural (mainland) and islands is provided in the following table. There are over 80 housing units currently on-site which are expected to complete in 2024-25 through the fund. The Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community organisations and others to deliver affordable homes, while complementing the delivery through our mainstream programme by Councils and Registered Social Landlords. Between 2016-17 and 2022-23 the Scottish Government has supported the delivery of more than 10,000 affordable homes in rural and island areas.

The Scottish Government does not currently collect any information about compliance with the new repairing standard requirements on electrical fittings. Where a tenant believes the Repairing Standard is not being met in the house they rent from a private landlord, they can apply to the First Tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) for a determination.

No new requirements for fire safety came into force under the Repairing Standard in March 2024.

A requirement for fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors was previously part of the Repairing Standard. Since 1 February 2022, this requirement has been part of the Tolerable Standard and is therefore required in all tenures, including private rented housing.

In 2022 the Scottish House Condition Survey asked the following new question on fire alarms: Has the dwelling satisfactory equipment for detecting fire and giving warning in the event of fire or suspected fire. Responses were recorded as a yes or no answer, and in order to be recorded as ‘yes’ a dwelling must have interlinked fire alarms installed meeting a number of criteria.

The Scottish House Conditions Survey conducted in 2022 shows that around 41,000 dwellings (14% of private rented sector dwellings) failed the smoke alarm criteria.

While all dwellings meeting the fire alarm criteria have interlinked fire alarms, there may be some dwellings recorded as having insufficient fire detection equipment that do have interlinked fire alarms but failed the fire alarm criteria due to other factors such as insufficient number of alarms, improperly powered alarms, or improper locations of alarms. However, due to the yes / no mode of question this number cannot be quantified from 2022 SHCS data.

From 2023 the SHCS question on fire alarms will provide details as to why a dwelling’s equipment for detecting a fire is unsatisfactory which will allow analysis in this area from 2025.

The Scottish Government has accepted the Panel’s recommendation and agrees it is essential that we consider the impact of policy and regulation on investment and investor sentiment. The New Deal for Business is improving how policy makers consider the regulatory impact of new policies on business and investors through an updated impact assessment. This will include early engagement with the investment community on policy proposals.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27394 on 28 May 2024. 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

The Scottish Government continues to work towards our ambition to ensure that all adults who require timely access to rehabilitation services can by the end of 2025.

This is being taken forwards through the implementation of the Six Principles of Good Rehabilitation as set out in the Once for Scotland Approach. This is supported by the national rehabilitation leads network and through working across health and social care, leisure, third and independent sectors.