Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government nor its partners hold information on morphine prescribing at this level of granularity and have no plans to do so.

The Scottish Government has not established a Land Tax Working Group and does not have plans to do so at present. The Medium Term Financial Strategy set out that the Deputy First Minister will establish and chair an external Tax Advisory Group this summer, building on our inclusive approach to tax policymaking. The outcomes of this engagement will feed into the Budget 2024-25 and the development of the Government’s longer-term tax strategy.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting Gillian Mackay MSP's Abortion Services Safe Access Zones (Scotland) Bill. To this end, the First Minister met with Ms Mackay during his first full week in office to recommit his unwavering support.

In addition, I have continued the regular series of meetings with Ms Mackay and her team established by Maree Todd, when Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport. During these meetings, Ms Mackay and I share progress updates and explore any additional areas where Scottish Government support would be useful.

A Safe Access Zones Bill team within Scottish Government has been working closely with Ms Mackay to progress the Bill, including supporting a programme of stakeholder engagement and key aspects of policy development.

It has always been planned for new referrals for Warmer Homes Scotland to close before the contract with the current managing agent ends on 29 September 2023, to exit the contract in a managed way and allow for all customer journeys to be completed.

We must always assume there may be a change in supplier when conducting a fair and open procurement. A similar pause occurred in 2015 when the service moved from Scottish Gas to Warmworks.

While the new contract builds on the existing WHS scheme it will be an entirely separate scheme with a different offer to customers and different requirements of customers, the managing agent and suppliers. The managing agent is required to procure their supply chain post contract award, and therefore will require a 4-6 month mobilisation period. This also factors in any TUPE implications and is used to build their IT system and ensure that all associated scheme documentation is in place before the contract begins.

Improvements will continue to be installed in customers’ homes up until the end of the current Warmer Homes Scotland contract on 29 September 2023. The new contract will launch on 2 October 2023, and Home Energy Scotland are currently accepting applications for this scheme.

This support sits alongside other help, such as our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements and our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme.

As stated in the answer to question S6W-17210, the management of the court estate is an operational matter for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS).

Further to that answer, the SCTS is a non-ministerial office established by the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008. The SCTS core purpose is supporting justice and can only consider proposals that enhance the delivery of justice. The SCTS Corporate Plan for 2023-26 and Business Plan for 2023-24 have recently been published. The SCTS is fully committed to the next zero agenda and the SCTS Board has commissioned a revised sustainability strategy and associated action plans that will be developed during 2023.

The Warmer Homes Scotland successor will be a demand led scheme, i.e. the number of households supported will depend on the number of households contacting the scheme, which reduces the accuracy of any estimates of households that will benefit. Substantial changes in customer volumes are not anticipated in the new scheme in comparison to Warmer Homes Scotland.

Budgets for the scheme will be set annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process. For example, if the budget in a given year was £60m, we envisage between 3788 – 4252 households may be supported.

The successor scheme will have a widened eligibility criteria which will allow a broader range of households to access the scheme. The scheme will adopt PAS 2035 standards, delivering whole house retrofit and with a greater emphasis on zero direct emission heating so households will on average benefit from a higher level of interventions per household.

The support offered through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.

The successor scheme to Warmer Homes Scotland will launch on 2 October 2023.

Our seas must remain a source of prosperity for the nation, especially in our remote, coastal and island communities. It is vital that those communities help shape the creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas, which is why we chose to consult early on in the process.

We recognise there is considerable strength of feeling on this issue – from those who support it and those who have concerns. We are currently analysing responses to the public consultation and will consider these very carefully as we develop next steps.

We are also committed to ensuring that any future decisions on the creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas is informed by a robust process, supported by impact assessments, which provide a clear and transparent assessment of the economic, social and environmental effects of the policy.

In the meantime, I have committed to visiting coastal and island communities in the coming months to hear directly from those people who may be affected.

We will continue to engage directly with coastal and islands communities before any sites are proposed and we will work with those communities throughout the site selection process to ensure their concerns and views are listened to and understood.

Budgets for the scheme will be set out annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process.

The contract for the Warmer Homes Scotland successor has a maximum value of £728m (ex VAT) over a period of 7 years.

Household intervention rates have not yet been set for the scheme, however these are anticipated to be higher than the current Warmer Homes Scotland scheme.

This support through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their response is as follows:

The cost of providing an overflow monitor can vary between £3,000 and £20,000 per location. Whilst the equipment itself is relatively inexpensive, the associated costs of securing access to the overflow chamber can be expensive with costs for traffic management, safe access and rescue coverage and 3rd party agreements potentially being high for some locations.