Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20381 on 17 August 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

We are continuing to work through technical and practical points around purchases from landlords in the private rented sector with tenants in situ, and further information will be communicated as soon as possible. Any council or Registered Social Landlord that is currently exploring any such purchase – where this meets a clear strategic purpose and where the tenant is at risk of homelessness – should contact their local More Homes Division area team office.

The Citizens’ Assembly for Scotland published its final report in January 2021. The Scottish Government published a detailed response on 23 November 2021. Since then, Scottish Government’s commitments on participatory and deliberative democracy have been developed through the Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (IPDD) working group, which published its recommendations on 25 March 2022. Scottish Government published a response to on 27 March 2023 and work is ongoing to deliver the commitments set out.

This work is included in the Citizens’ Participation and Public Petitions (CPPP) Committee’s scrutiny remit. Since Spring 2022, the CPPP Committee has been undertaking a Public Participation Inquiry – it will publish its final report in September 2023, and plans to follow this with a debate in Parliament.

A range of policy documents were shared with the Scottish Government by Circularity Scotland (CSL) during the application process for the scheme administrator role for the Deposit Return Scheme. Documents which supported the scheme administrator application by CSL were the subject of an Environmental Information Request and subsequent review, details of which are published on our website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202200298347/.

The main changes between MHDGN 2022/02 and MHDGN 2023/01 are listed in the ‘Introduction’ section of MHDGN 2023/01. Both guidance notes continue to be available on the Scottish Government website for reference purposes.

I have overall responsibility within my portfolio for support for business, industry and manufacturing.

The Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, under circular economy, is the lead on the Circular Textiles Fund.

Affordable housing investment benchmarks will not apply to the purchase of ‘second hand’ residential dwellings through the national acquisition programme and no grant limits will be attached to any purchase.

The Scottish Government is providing £4.3m of funding in 2023-2024 to expand the network of Climate Action Hubs across the country. The Hubs empower communities to engage in collective climate action, supporting peer-to-peer learning and helping groups to take advantage of funding opportunities. The network has now been expanded with Climate Action Hubs in Highland, Orkney and Shetland (Highlands & Islands Climate Hub), Fife, Moray and the Outer Hebrides in addition to Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire (NESCAN). In most other areas of Scotland, hubs are expected to launch by the end of the financial year, ensuring wide coverage of the country.

The Scottish Government is also committed to supporting the growth of community energy through CARES, which aims to help communities engage in and benefit from the energy transition to net zero. The scheme has advised over 900 organisations and offered £60 million in funding to over 680 projects. It has supported the installation of 57.9MW of renewable energy, and has supported a wide range of projects from community owned wind and hydro to decarbonising community buildings and installing solar PV on faith buildings.

The Scottish Government also supports communities through other initiatives, for example the Investing in Communities Fund (ICF), a multiyear communities fund that is delivered as part of the Empowering Communities Programme. The fund targets the most disadvantaged communities to deliver projects, services and activities that address poverty and disadvantage on their own terms.

In 2023-24, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s baseline budget was over £2.6 billion, in addition to that, they also receive a capital allocation of £39 million, therefore it would be for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to fund any costs associated with cleaning air conditioning systems.

The management of piping in hospitals is managed by the local NHS Board and any risk assessment would not routinely be submitted to the Scottish Government.