Chamber and committees

We are committed to establishing a National Care Service and will launch a full and comprehensive public consultation within the first 100 days of this Parliament. The consultation will allow stakeholders and members of the public from all parts of Scotland an opportunity to give their views in advance of legislation being written. The National Care Service will oversee the delivery of care, improve standards, ensure enhanced pay and conditions for workers and provide better support for unpaid carers.

We issued an open call for nominations during our Call for Ideas early engagement programme in early 2020, and we are considering all those received. Our Position Statement published in November 2020 highlighted the importance of National Developments in delivering the strategy and invited further comments on the direction of travel. In autumn 2021, we will publicly consult on a draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) allowing a further opportunity to input before NPF4 is resubmitted for approval by Parliament in 2022.

The criteria for analysing national developments was published in January 2020 as part of our Call for Ideas early engagement programme. The four criteria are: reducing emissions; supporting health, wellbeing, sustainability and quality of life of our population; reducing poverty and inequality through sustainable economic growth; and protecting or enhancing quality of place.

We are currently assessing the national developments suggested to us against those criteria alongside the development of the strategy, which national developments will help to deliver. We are also undertaking a range of statutory and non-statutory impact assessments which will inform our consideration. The draft National Planning Framework 4, including details of proposed national developments, will be laid in Parliament in autumn 2021. Extensive public engagement will run alongside Parliament’s consideration of the draft and will provide further opportunity for anyone to comment on the proposed national developments, or alternatives to them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00713 on
23 June 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

To ask the Scottish Government how it will take into consideration (a) legally binding net-zero emissions targets and (b) the aspirations of its Biodiversity Strategy when deciding on national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4.The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 sets out six outcomes to which a future National Planning Framework (NPF) should work towards, including meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and securing positive effects for biodiversity. We are developing proposals for radical change to our national planning policies and spatial strategy to support a transition to net zero by 2045 and economic recovery, as well as adaptation to the long term impacts of climate change. Our spatial strategy will explore how we can promote nature-based solutions to climate change, including woodland expansion and peatland restoration, which protect and restore biodiversity and deliver wider benefits.

We published our criteria for analysing national developments in January 2020 and issued an open call for nominations during our early engagement programme. We are considering all nominations received. The draft National Planning Framework 4, including details of proposed national developments, will be laid in Parliament in autumn 2021. Extensive public engagement will run alongside Parliament’s consideration of the draft and will provide further opportunity for anyone to comment on proposed national developments, or alternatives to them.

In keeping with our statutory assessment obligations, work on a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Appraisal to inform the emerging National Planning Framework 4 is currently underway. We will also consider the likely health effects of proposed national developments as part of the SEA process. We have also commissioned consultants to undertake an independent assessment of the likely impact of each proposed national development’s lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions on achieving national greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets.

The Scottish Government does not presently provide funding specifically for Build to Rent developers and operators, and therefore there is no budget line allocated for this purpose.

The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is a partner in a build-to-rent joint venture with Edinburgh City Council called “Edinburgh Living” which is providing mid-market rent properties and market rent homes across the city. To date, more than 250 families have moved into quality affordable homes with the long-term aim to provide 1,500 new mid-market rent and market rent homes over the next few years.

In 2017, the Scottish Government put in place a package of measures to support the growth of the Build to Rent Sector in Scotland. That package included a Rental Income Guarantee Scheme and SFT was appointed by Scottish Government to manage applications to the Scheme. However, no formal application was made to the Scheme in three and a half years and the Scheme was closed. The BtR sector is now growing without further Scottish Government intervention.

Transport Scotland has published guidance to enable people to travel as safely as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic. The guidance includes car sharing and is applicable to all protection levels. On 22 June 2021, the First Minister confirmed the intention that, provided the data supports it, all of Scotland would move to protection level 0 from 19 July and that all legal requirements for outdoor physical distancing would be lifted from this date. The First Minister also confirmed the intention that, data permitting, Scotland would move Beyond Level 0 from 9 August, on which date all legal requirements for physical distancing in indoor settings will be lifted. Transport Scotland is reviewing its guidance to consider what changes may be required in line with the updated Strategic Framework and move Beyond Level 0. The guidance is available at: Advice on how to travel safely (transport.gov.scot)

Data from National Records of Scotland show that over the ten year period 2010 to 2019 inclusive there were three instances of death certificate records (one each in 2016, 2018 and 2019) that mention either exposure to natural heat or the effects of heat and light.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change, as part of a just transition to being a net-zero nation. This includes managing the risks to human health, wellbeing and productivity from exposure to heat in homes and other buildings, the increasing urgency of which has been identified by the Climate Change Committee in its Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk published in June 2021.

Our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, published in February 2021, recognises the impact that climate change may have on the need for cooling in Scotland’s buildings. The draft Strategy sets out our proposals to introduce regulations requiring existing buildings to achieve a good level of energy efficiency and to install zero emissions heating and cooling systems. We will be consulting in 2021-22 on the assessment of the energy performance of existing buildings as a basis for future standards, and such assessments will continue to take into account issues of ventilation, heating and cooling of buildings. In addition, we will now take forward further research to better understand the future cooling needs of Scotland’s building stock in order to strengthen our policy response. We will also consult later this year on a new Housing Standard for Scotland, which will support measures being developed in the Heat in Buildings Strategy and include consideration of additional safety standards.

For new residential buildings, including care homes, we are considering an assessment of overheating risk to be carried out through Scottish building regulations. Such an assessment could help identify instances where passive cooling measures may need to be introduced.

We know that people experiencing homelessness are more likely to have chronic health problems, which can increase the risk of heat-related illness. We are working in partnership with local authorities and frontline homelessness services, who provide year-round health and wellbeing support to people who are rough sleeping. During hot weather this includes the provision of water, sun-cream and well-being checks. Anyone who is suspected to be suffering from a heat-related illness will be supported to access the appropriate medical support.