Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally.

Please see the answers to your questions in the following table. There were no Forced Marriage Protection orders issued or breached prior to the 2017-18 financial year.

Scottish Government is clear that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and is not the right solution to the real cost of living crisis families are facing.

The First Minister called on the UK Government for a four nations’ discussion to agree on a final Climate Compatibility Checkpoint process – a call which was ignored. It is disappointing that the Climate Compatibility Test proposed by the UK Government is limited to new exploration, and that the bar has been set so low in terms of the Test itself. It is a lightweight version of the Test consulted upon earlier this year.

That is why we are consulting on what factors should be considered in assessing the impact of new oil and gas production and if this test should be applied to fields that are already consented but not yet in production as well as new exploration (if exploration continues) in the context of the global goals of the Paris Agreement.

I provided an update on progress on cladding remediation to Parliament on 2 March and remain committed to arranging a more detailed technical briefing and making a full statement to Parliament at the appropriate time. Information on the Single Building Assessment programme has been provided to Parliament through responses to Parliamentary Questions. Data on spend and information on the numbers of buildings in the Single Building Assessment Pilot is published on the Scottish Government website Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Scottish Government continues to work with the Department for Health and Social Care in relation to supply challenges with HRT medication.

The UK Government appointed Madelaine McTernan as its HRT tsar and her taskforce put together a set of three core recommendations to help mitigate HRT supply issues. These are:

To respond to the emergency situation caused by the impact of the cost crisis on those living in the rented sector, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 introduced a temporary, variable rent cap, initially set at 0% and in place until 31 March 2023.

Our recently published first report to Parliament on the emergency Cost of Living Act, and Statement of Reasons , provided updated economic evidence demonstrating the continued pressure being placed on private rented households due to the ongoing cost crisis. In light of this, the Scottish Government have brought forward regulations to extend the rent cap for the private rented sector for a further six months, along with the moratorium on enforcing evictions – which will continue to apply across all sectors.

While the focus of the emergency measures continues to be on protecting tenants, the Scottish Government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the cost crisis may also be being experienced by some private landlords. Mortgage interest rates, which had been on an upward trend since the end of 2021, experienced a further sharp increase after the UK Government Growth Plan / Mini-budget on 23 September 2022. The average advertised five-year fixed rate rose from 4.75% on 23 September to 6.51% on 20 October, before falling to 5.95% on 22 November.

The Scottish Government is of the view that it would therefore be proportionate to raise the rent cap in the private rented sector to allow within-tenancy rent increases of up to 3% from 1 April.

The voluntary approach to rent setting taken by landlords in the social sector is intended to equate to an approximate average rental increase of less than £5 a week (or less than £22 per month) across the country. As rents in the private rented sector are generally significantly higher than those in the social rented sector, allowing a maximum rent increase of 3% for rents in the private rented sector equates to a similar average rent increase for tenants in two-bedroom properties (the most common property size in the private rented sector). There will be variation around these averages, with higher increases for three-bedroom and four-bedroom properties and lower increases for one-bedroom properties. The Scottish Government considers that this will give a measure of parity to landlords in the private and social sectors in monetary terms, while continuing to protect tenants from unaffordable rent increases during the cost crisis.

While there may be some households where even the modest rent increase allowed under the 3% cap causes an increase in financial hardship, we consider that the amended rent cap will ensure that rent increases are proportionate and therefore continue to protect households against high rent increases while the cost crisis is ongoing. The increase to the rent cap will mitigate against a disproportionate impact on private landlords who may also be experiencing increased costs due to the cost crisis, allowing them to maintain their properties and meet other expenses. We are also proposing that private landlords could, alternatively, opt to apply to Rent Service Scotland for a rent increase of up to 6% if they have had an increase in their defined, prescribed property costs within a specific period.

Scotland leads the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the UK, and we have committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70% will be available for social rent. Enabling continued investment in the delivery of high-quality social housing is therefore crucial. Social sector representatives have set out that the current cost crisis poses an enormous threat to this progress, with inflation rates having a far greater impact on the poorest 10% of the population, and living standards and real incomes expected to fall across the UK. The volatility of the economic environment also has significant consequences for housing associations, and the services they provide to tenants.

The Scottish Government has therefore been clear from the introduction of the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 that we want to work with the social rented sector to seek an agreed way forward as an alternative to the continuation of the Act’s rent cap beyond March 2023.

The outcome of discussions led by COSLA, in respect of local authorities, and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations for Registered Social Landlords, has reached an agreed position with their members that would see increases of 6.4% and 6.1% respectively, as an average across Scotland.

The agreement of an average figure, rather than a fixed cap, is only possible due to the nature of the social rented sector and the opportunity to reach agreement with sector representative bodies. This approach has the advantage of allowing a degree of flexibility to recognise social landlords' priorities for investment such as new supply, refurbishment and services to tenants. We anticipate that the majority of rents will be increased at a level below the agreed 6.4% (for local authority landlords) and 6.1% (for registered social landlords) but there may be some social sector landlords who will, for specific reasons, go beyond these levels. This approach recognises that in some cases tenant feedback to the statutory rent consultations may be in favour of an increase higher than the overall averages agreed, for example to allow planned improvements or maintenance to proceed.

The Scottish Housing Regulator is monitoring and collating social sector rental data presently, and will report in due course.

The Scottish Government maintains regular contact with Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) at both Ministerial and official levels.

Business can continue to register with CSL. If they are concerned about being able to meet their obligations, including those who have concerns about the producer agreements or other matters related to the registration process, should contact CSL for advice and guidance as soon as possible. They can do so via their dedicated helpline or through their website.

Net mental health expenditure is published on the Public Health Scotland website Scottish health service costs under data files mental health expenditure Excel workbook. This information is available for financial years 2011-12 to 2021-22 for each NHS Board in Scotland, split by various types of expenditure including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), adult mental health services, and older adult mental health services. Please note that expenditure data is collected by broad specialties and therefore categories may include multiple ‘services’.

Substantive government business and communication between Ministers and officials is normally conducted using email on the SCOTS IT platform. Mobile messaging apps can be a useful communication tool to support the delivery of business, particularly in relation to business continuity or staff welfare. We have a clear policy whereby any information which relates to the substance of government decision making must be transposed to the official record and retained.