Chamber and committees

Accreditation of contractors is a reserved matter, therefore the industry regulations rest with UK Government.

The UK government has a number of regulations in place to ensure that building contractors are accredited and meet the required standards. These regulations are designed to protect the public and ensure that buildings are safe and of a good quality.

The main regulations governing the accreditation of building contractors are:

• The Building Regulations 2010

• The Construction Products Regulation 2011

• The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Asbestos removal was introduced as a measure available through the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme from 1 April 2019. The following table give the total number of asbestos removal measures that have been completed and the proportion in relation to the total number of Warmer Homes Scotland applications.

A number of amendments that sought to introduce a third party right of appeal were considered, and rejected, by the Scottish Parliament during consideration of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. We are aware of the communication brought to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) concerning planning appeal rights in Scotland (ACCC/C/2022/196). A response will be issued to the ACCC in due course.

We welcome NatureScot’s, Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) – Final Summary Report 2023 and agree that the ultimate goal for wildcat conservation in Scotland must be to establish a long-term, viable population of wildcats that does not require further intervention to secure its viability.

The Scottish wildcat is one of our rarest mammals and the Scottish Government will continue working with SWA through its partnership with NatureScot to achieve the goal set out above. NatureScot has recently approved a licence application from the Saving Wildcats partnership project to release wildcats in the Cairngorms National Park later this year.

We recognise that biologically diverse seas and healthy, functioning marine ecosystems are vital to underpin a wide variety of marine industries and interests. It is important that we manage our marine environment in such a way as to ensure sustainable use, allowing future generations to enjoy and benefit from a healthy resource. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that we will be undertaking a public consultation on potential measures to manage fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters, bearing in mind our environmental protection objectives.

Sandeels aid the long-term sustainability and resilience of the marine ecosystem and are an important food source for many species, including marine mammals, seabirds and predatory fish.

Measures to restrict fishing for sandeels in Scottish waters could also deliver benefits to seabirds which have been impacted by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza as well as providing greater resilience to seabird populations, some of which have faced declines in recent decades.

Launching in summer 2023, this consultation will seek the public’s views on potential measures for the sandeel fishery in Scottish waters, to help achieve the Scottish Government’s vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas which are managed to meet the long term needs of nature and people. This consultation will also seek the public’s views on a number of key documents including environmental and business regulatory impact assessments.

This consultation aligns with the overarching Scottish Government position, which is reflected in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, not to support fishing for sandeel in our waters. For this reason, sandeel quota has not been allocated to UK vessels since 2021.

As indicated in the islands communities impact assessment , published in 2020, the introduction of Deposit Return Scheme will not increase the amount of waste that will either arise in island communities or be transported off islands. This is because most waste is currently transported off the islands already. Circularity Scotland and Biffa are developing a solution for the collection of scheme articles on islands which makes use of local supply chains where possible. We expect this solution to be subject to review as more local data becomes available about active return points and exempted return points.

The Scottish Government is working to develop a sustainable healthcare workforce. We continue to look for opportunities to increase levels of recruitment and retention of healthcare staff in rural areas and we will develop a Remote and Rural workforce recruitment strategy by the end of 2024. This will support employers to ensure that the Health and Social Care needs of people who live in remote and rural communities are met.

Scotland already has the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK. We offer 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all 3 and 4-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds, regardless of the working status of their parents.

New Leadership: A Fresh Start ( Supporting documents - Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) sets out our ambition to go further by building a system of school age childcare and developing a funded early learning and childcare offer for 1 and 2 year olds, focusing on those who need it most.

I will soon set out further detail of my plans for further expansion of our childcare offer. We are already developing our plans for younger children, starting in this Parliament, by building the evidence base for funded early learning and childcare for 1- and 2-year-olds. Ministers are considering carefully the financial implications of the UK Budget for Scotland, but we need to be clear that the total additional funding made available falls far short of the costs of delivering a significant expansion to our funded childcare offers.

A key principle at the heart of our second Benefit Take-Up Strategy, published in October 2021, is communicating and engaging effectively. Evidence-based communication and engagement strategies are developed for each of our benefits and paid-for tailored marketing campaigns for different payments are targeted at eligible audiences at relevant times throughout the year to make sure we are reaching the right people at the right time.

Social Security Scotland is currently running a national marketing campaign to encourage disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to check if they’re eligible for Child or Adult Disability Payments. Other recent Social Security Scotland marketing campaigns have focused on Scottish Child Payment’s extension to under 16 year olds, Young Carer Grant and Funeral Support Payment.

Social Security Scotland does not keep statistics on the total number of BASRiS [Benefits Assessment under Special Rules in Scotland] forms issued or the number received but does publish statistics regularly on the caseload of clients who were eligible for disability benefits via Special Rules for Terminal Illness: Social Security Scotland - Social Security Scotland statistics: publications

The DS1500 is a form produced and issued by the UK Department for Work and Pensions and serves the same purpose as BASRIS. Though it is never issued by Social Security Scotland it is accepted without the need to additionally complete a BASRIS form.