Chamber and committees

As stated in response to S6W-19919, S6W-19920, S6W-19921 and S6W-19922 on 9 August 2023, the 2021 Heat in Buildings Strategy estimates the cost of decarbonising Scotland’s buildings at £33 billion. We will work in partnership with the wider public sector to fully understand the costs associated with transitioning to zero direct emission heating systems across the public estate.

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 following table details the number of hate crimes that included a religion aggravator in Scotland, by police division.

Table 1: Religious hate crimes by police division: 2016-17 to 2021-22

Scottish Government engages with local authorities about depopulation across multiple fronts including: the SG/COSLA population roundtable; the Convention of the Highlands and Islands population working group; learning from Community Settlement Officers based in local authorities. This ensures we understand local-level population challenges, to enable development of a place-based approach to tackling them. Engagement will continue prior to publication and into the first phase of delivery.

We also engaged extensively through the Islands Bond consultation with the six local authorities with islands. Lessons from this led to a range of community-based projects to inform the Action Plan’s development.

Scottish Government is consulting Bòrd na Gidhlig in support of developing the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, building on previous engagement to understand better the linkages between Gaelic language and culture, and population retention, undertaken during the Islands Bond consultation.

We have commissioned multiple projects to explore issues that may impact on population retention and growth, including the impact on Gaelic. We have also supported Argyll and Bute Council to deliver a project across Bute, Coll, and Tiree about supporting the growth and normalisation of Gaelic usage in the islands to improve employment, economic development and social cohesion.

The Scottish Government will provide general advice to support homeowners, but it cannot provide legal advice and it cannot become involved in disputes between parties.

All registered property factors must adhere to the conditions set out in the statutory Code of Conduct (the Code) which sets minimum standards of practice. The Scottish Government prepared a revised Code in August 2021, which was designed to be clearer, to drive up standards, and to help homeowners to understand what they should reasonably expect from their property factor and how to hold them to account.

A homeowner who is dissatisfied with their property factor should make a complaint to their property factor. If the issue remains unresolved, the complaint can be taken to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) which can issue a legally binding property factor enforcement order, if appropriate. There is no fee to make an application to the Tribunal.

The Code highlights that homeowners have a choice in who they appoint and, ultimately, they can change their property factor if they remain dissatisfied with the service they are receiving.

As noted in the response on 28 March 2023 to the Chair of the Just Transition Commission from the then Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, the Supply Chain Development Programme (SCDP) seeks to maximise the economic benefit from Scotland’s annual public sector procurement (£14.5 billion in FY 20/21). It works alongside portfolio policy teams and focusses on the manufacturing opportunities that will arise in the Net Zero transition.

Its current priorities remain as set out in the letter:

• Increasing Scottish manufacturing of heat pumps and other low carbon heating;
• Maximising Scottish manufactured components in new green and blue Hydrogen supply infrastructure and the products and vehicles that will use it; and
• Increasing value-added from Scottish timber in (largely offsite) construction.

The SCDP has not set specific job creation targets for these priorities. Its purpose is to make sure that procurement opportunities are made visible to Scottish supply chains, including manufacturers in Scotland with the skills, capacity and capability to bid for, win and deliver contracts.

Fair Work continues to be a key focus for the Scottish Government in delivering sustainable and inclusive economic growth and the SCDP operates within the context of Scotland’s existing sustainable public procurement legislation. The Scottish Government’s approach to sustainable public procurement is encapsulated in national legislation which includes a sustainable duty on contracting authorities to consider in their procurements, access for SMEs, Third Sector and Supported Businesses; delivery of economic, social and environmental impact; and promoting innovation. Legislation also includes explicit requirements on public bodies to consider how they can use procurement to drive wider community benefits including jobs and training. The legislation is underpinned by national policy and tools to encourage procurement to make the best use of public money.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20107 on 8 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

The Scottish Government published an Island Communities Impact Assessment of the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme on 14 December 2021 which concluded that ferry travel should not be included in the scheme, but that issues relating to ferry fares should be considered as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan and the Fair Fares Review, which are underway. The issue of ferry fares for young people is being actively considered as part of this work.

Although the new statutory Young Persons’ Free Bus Scheme is for bus travel only, we are continuing our existing Young Persons Concessionary Travel Scheme which provides 16-18 year old islanders four free ferry journeys to or from the mainland every year, as well as discounted rail travel.

Additionally, significant fare reductions have been implemented on the Northern Isles and Clyde & Hebrides ferry networks, including a fares freeze until the end of March 2024.

The latest data published by Public Health Scotland (13 June 2023) suggests that referrals to a chronic pain clinic are now back to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the quarter ending 31 March 2023, 5,049 patients were referred, an increase of 5.5% on the previous quarter, when 4,787 patients were referred. Referrals are up by 4.3% compared to a year earlier, when there were 4,839 during the quarter ending 31 March 2022. The number of direct encounters for GPs is typically between 1.5 million and 1.8 million per month, and analysis via statistical process chart demonstrates that there has been no change in activity outwith normal variation for the period of March 2021 to April 2023.

Through the ‘Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan’ we are promoting a more consistent approach to specialist services in each Health Board; we have invested in a new Pain Service Managers’ Network. This group is working through shared issues faced by specialist pain services such as resourcing and financial challenges and identifying opportunities to solve these through sharing of best practice and different ways of working. We have also established a national working group to make recommendations on how to reduce variation in the support that is provided in different local areas and improve how care for people with chronic pain is coordinated across community, primary and specialist services.

Additionally, we have carried out a review of the Scottish National Residential Pain Management Programme to help remobilise the service impacted during the pandemic, improve the quality of referrals from local Health Boards, and continue to explore how to widen access to highly specialist care from across Scotland. Funding for this service from the Scottish Government is over £600,000 this financial year 2023-24.

This is a matter for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration. Information regarding the outcome of appeals is included in their annual statistics which can be found here: Official Statistics - SCRA .

Page 29 of the Statistical Analysis for 2022-23 includes the following table on appeals: