Chamber and committees

15 of the 16 Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) Area Offices are currently open for face to face appointments. The exception is the Area Office based in Galashiels, which is currently closed due to building works. The RPID Area Offices have other customer support offers including phone calls, MS Teams calls, web chat or emails. Officials in Galashiels have also offered, in a very small number of specific of cases, to support the customer face to face in a location outwith the Galashiels Area Office.

This information is not available in the form requested.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) explores the physical condition of Scotland’s homes as well as the experiences of householders. Data from the SHCS provides estimates of the main heating fuel used and method of central heating across the housing stock at national level, based on a single year of data. Due to sample sizes, analysis at the local authority level requires three years of data averaged to produce an overall figure. Due to the impact of Covid–19 the 2020 SHCS was postponed and there was no 2020 SHCS publication, therefore the most recent local authority data set is from 2017 to 2019. Additionally, due to sample sizes and low prevalence, it is not possible to produce robust local authority level estimates of all the above heating fuels and methods of central heating distinctly. As such heating fuels have been grouped into 4 categories: Gas, Oil, Electricity, and Other which mirrors the groups used in the SHCS annual publication while the percentage of dwellings which have heat pumps or are part of communal heating are given at the national level only.

Percentage of dwellings by Local Authority by primary heating fuel

Average 2017-2019.

Since the contract award in 2015, the First Minister announced the preferred bidder status of Ferguson Marine on 31 August 2015, met with Jim McColl on 31 May 2017 and attended the launch of 801 on 21 November 2017.

The Scottish Government’s annual report on our Vision for Trade recognised the widespread concerns about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in free trade agreements (FTAs). We have consistently called on the UK Government to ensure that any ISDS mechanism does not prevent Scotland and the rest of the UK from regulating on health, social, environmental and economic matters.

Any ISDS system must be transparent, based on judicial procedures, and permit meaningful representations by all parties with a potential stake in the matter. Provisions in this area have the potential to impact Scotland significantly, limit the ability of the Scottish Parliament to regulate in devolved areas and constrain action to achieve our net-zero goal.

We have made our position on the inclusion of ISDS in UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) clear to the UK Government, through ministerial and official contact.

The annual report on Scotland’s Vision for Trade can be accessed here: Scotland's Vision for Trade: annual report - March 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Government Officials are in contact with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy about the current Energy Charter Treaty negotiations with a view to identifying any impact on Scotland .

The Scottish Government’s annual report on our Vision for Trade recognised the widespread concerns about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in free trade agreements (FTAs). We have consistently called on the UK Government to ensure that any ISDS mechanism does not prevent Scotland and the rest of the UK from regulating on health, social, environmental and economic matters.

Any ISDS system must be transparent, based on judicial procedures, and permit meaningful representations by all parties with a potential stake in the matter. Provisions in this area have the potential to impact Scotland significantly, limit the ability of the Scottish Parliament to regulate in devolved areas and constrain action to achieve our net-zero goal.

The annual report on Scotland’s Vision for Trade can be accessed here: Scotland's Vision for Trade: annual report - March 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We recognise the importance of upgrading the energy efficiency of homes in order to make them more affordable to heat. Regulation of energy efficiency in the social housing sector has already ensured that it has the most energy efficient housing stock of any tenure, and this will continue to improve as the sector works to comply with EESSH2. This requires that all social housing meets, or can be treated as meeting, EPC Band B (Energy Efficiency rating), or is as energy efficient as practically possible, by the end of December 2032, within the limits of cost, technology and necessary consent.

In addition our Social Housing Net Zero Head Fund is making at least £200 million available to registered social landlords to help install zero emission heating systems and improve energy efficiency in social housing during this parliamentary session.

We also recognise that social housing tenants are more likely to experience fuel poverty than the general population. That is why we have been working in partnership with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to ensure a proportion of our Fuel Insecurity Fund can be distributed through social landlords directly to their tenants who are struggling with their energy bills. £4.4 million has been delivered in this way since 2020-21 and we have recently allocated a further £10 million to the Fuel Insecurity Fund to allow it to continue during the current financial year.

During the Cabinet meeting of 24 August 2015, the First Minister was informed that a preferred bidder had been selected for vessels 801 and 802.

As part of the 100 Days Programme we have already made significant progress towards this commitment by introducing free NHS dental care for young people between 18 and 25 years of age.

We have committed to the removal of all dental charges during the lifetime of this parliament.

We are creating a broad, co-ordinated package of policies and support programmes to deliver the change required. We have widened the scope of our capital and advice programmes and have several live funding calls for large scale projects. Further work over the coming year includes:

• consulting on regulations for zero emissions heat
• establishing a virtual National Public Energy Agency to coordinate delivery and build public understanding
• co-producing, with industry, a Heat in Buildings supply chain delivery plan
• collaborating with a range of partner organisations, through the Green Heat Finance Taskforce, on innovative heat decarbonisation finance mechanisms.

A public consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system will open from today, 10 May 2022, until 3 August 2022. It will be available at https://consult.gov.scot/justice/victimsconsultation .

The consultation focuses on proposed legislative reforms with particular reference to victims of sexual offences. It takes forward our Programme for Government commitments to introduce a statutory right to anonymity for complainers in sexual offence cases, establish a Victims’ Commissioner and carefully consider the recommendations from Lady Dorrian’s Review into the management of sexual offence cases that require a legislative basis to deliver.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving victims’ experiences of the justice system by putting them at its centre. This consultation explores how to do this by making the justice system more trauma informed and person centred. It is an important part of a wide-ranging programme of work to bring about transformational change necessary to ensure our justice system is trusted, modern, smart and effective.

We will continue to take an open and collaborative approach to achieve this aim, and this consultation will seek to capture the views of a broad range of stakeholders including legal professionals, the third sector and those with lived experience of the system.

I look forward to considering the full range of views received.