Chamber and committees

Decisions on how we will approach monitoring and judge the efficacy of the recently announced £5 million funding to loss and damage are yet to be taken. Decisions will be undertaken in consultation with stakeholders and communities. In line with the £2 million announced last year that is already being evaluated, we will ensure robust monitoring and evaluation is built in throughout the programme design.

Housing statistics on new housebuilding and affordable housing supply are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website and can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/.

The next set of quarterly housing statistics are expected to be published in January 2023.

The Scottish Government received a copy of the letter on the evening of 22 November 2022.

We are taking the capacity issues at Dargavel Primary School very seriously, and we continue to be in close contact with Renfrewshire Council.

On 30 November, I met with Dargavel Primary Parent Council, Neil Bibby MSP and Natalie Don MSP, and had a constructive discussion about this important matter. Officials will remain in close contact with the Council on this matter going forward.

The DRS Regulations allow return points to refuse returns where the number of containers is disproportionately greater than the number of containers that retailer would sell in an average single transaction. This will allow food delivery drivers to refuse such requests from customers.

Consultation was undertaken on the broad principles of land use change with Scottish Forestry (SF) and RPID, prior to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) submitting their offer. Officials from FLS would be happy to provide the responses received from SF / RPID.

Oil and gas exploration and production, including licensing, remains reserved to UK Government. Our position on oil & gas licensing is clear , unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and meeting the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees. Nor is it the right solution to the real cost of living crisis families are facing, when to reduce energy costs we need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. This means investing more in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

In Scotland, we are encouraging the expansion of renewable energy, as reflected in the lease options awarded to ScotWind sites earlier this year. The 20 ScotWind projects which have secured lease options now total up to 27.6 GW with initial supply chain commitments indicating an average of £1.4bn investment pledged in Scotland per project. This equates to £28 billion of potential investment across the 20 projects. In addition, ScotWind will deliver over £750m in revenues to the public purse for these initial awards alone and several billion pounds more in rental revenues when projects become operational, which will be invested for the benefit of the people of Scotland.

We are also supporting a just transition for our energy sector, Scottish households, and businesses. Instead of licensing more fossil fuel extraction, the UK Government should follow our approach and encourage investment in renewables. This further illustrates the case for Scottish independence to manage offshore energy within Scotland’s waters.

I have raised this issue with Julie White, Chief Officer in the Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership, who has advised that following the temporary closure of the in-patient facilities a total of 52 staff were re-deployed.

The deployed community staff are currently supporting:

• 102 packages of care (535.5 hrs) which equates to circa 120 individuals to support care at home sector
• The opening of 18 beds in Mountainhall Treatment Centre as an intermediate care facility as a step down from Acute Care.
• The Marie Curie and district nursing 24/7 services have resulted in reducing the need for cottage hospital beds as the partnership are able to support caring for more people in their homes.

The Scottish Government understands that there is normally a GP or practice nurse routinely present at Leadhills Surgery every week. There has recently been reduced presence due to annual leave but patients were able to see a doctor in the main surgery in Moffat if necessary.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with health boards to ensure, as far as possible, that support for energy costs is available to those who require it.

Some patients already receive support for costs associated with home haemodialysis and the use of oxygen equipment. We have now written to all NHS territorial Boards to understand what support with fuel costs is available to patients using life-saving equipment.

We have already pledged almost £3 billion in this financial year towards helping families and households face the increased cost of living. This includes the provision of services and financial support not available elsewhere in the UK to help reduce every day costs and increase incomes.