Chamber and committees

It is for individual local authorities to determine the amount of grant that they require to apply for in order for a project to be financially viable. We are therefore unable to say how much the Scottish Government will contribute to local authorities – on average – in the current financial year for each council house that is built, and what the range of funding support will be per house based on their size and type.

However, Annual Out-turn Reports relating to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published around the end of each calendar year and, as well as providing background information on the planning, delivery and scope of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, these include various out-turn tables in respect of spend, along with the number of approvals, site starts and completions, broken down by local authority, in the preceding financial year. The Out-turn Reports also include a table showing the average total cost per home and the average grant per home. These are the actual costs relating to the delivery of the projects within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, calculated at tender approval stage.

The information to be included within the AHSP Out-turn Report for 2020-21 is currently being collated, but the Out-turn Report in respect of 2019-20 is available on the Scottish Government website.

he Scottish Government Council House Build Programme was introduced in April 2009, the aim being to incentivise local authorities to build new homes. This was the first such central government support to councils in a generation.

The following table shows the funding provided to North Ayrshire Council through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) for council house building since 2011-2012 to 2021-22.

The Scottish Government does not have information of the rate of manufacture of interlinked fire alarms. We are aware that, following our successful public awareness campaign, there is significant public interest in carrying out work to comply with the new standard for fire alarms in all Scottish homes. It is, therefore, possible, that some retailers will have short term supply issues. We are also aware that some manufacturers are dependent on import of components, and that has been affected by Brexit, and this may also have affected their production. However, we have been assured by manufacturers that there is a sufficient supply of alarms available to meet the expected demand by 1 February 2022, when the new standard comes into force.

In relation to the funding provided to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service from Scottish Government, all of the funding was spent in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial year.

The process to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the private sector continues and decisions have still to be taken in relation to the prospective sale of the business.

We have committed to updating Parliament on the sale process at the appropriate stage and to protect the integrity of the process we will not be making any further comment at this time.

The act of ‘spiking’ women is absolutely abhorrent and the Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to working with partners to tackle this unacceptable behaviour.

I chaired an urgent roundtable with partners and representatives from across the sector on Thursday 4 November, including from police and industry, to discuss how we can achieve the right balance of targeted and universal intervention to ensure the safety of the public.

Our Equally Safe Strategy sets out Scotland’s ambition to tackle and eradicate all forms of violence against women and we will continue to implement this with a clear and decisive focus on primary prevention of violence. We are dedicating resources to tackling attitudes and inequality within every space for women and girls.

The Scottish Government is committed to working to improve the family justice system in Scotland, as set out in the 2019 Family Justice Modernisation Strategy. However, since this Strategy was published, a number of areas of work across the Scottish Government were paused to enable an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst also ensuring core services remained operational. As we move towards recovery from the pandemic, the Scottish Government will prepare an update on the Strategy and look at how best to take forward actions in the Strategy which remain outstanding, including whether amendments are required to the Child Abduction Act 1984.

The process to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the private sector continues and decisions have still to be taken in relation to the prospective sale of the business.

We have committed to updating Parliament on the sale process at the appropriate stage.

The Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 has set out ambitious targets for heat network deployment, requiring 2.6 terawatt hours of output by 2027 and 6 terawatt hours by 2030.

To help meet these targets, the Scottish Government will invest £400 million over the next five years in large-scale heat decarbonisation infrastructure through the successor scheme to the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP). However, we cannot rely on public investment alone to fund the development of low carbon heat networks in Scotland and government support must be used to leverage private investment into heat networks if the targets are to be met. The LCITP provided grants for up to 50% of project capital costs with the remainder being match funded and the successor programme is likely to take a similar approach. Financial mechanisms such as the Green Growth Accelerator will also be key in stimulating investment.

The regulatory system laid out within the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act will play an important role in boosting confidence in the sector and providing greater certainty for investors. For example, the Act provides for the award of Heat Network Permits which will provide investors greater assurance over the potential customer base available, helping lower investment cost.

Detail on how we will meet the ambitious heat network targets will be provided in the Heat Networks Delivery Plan, which we will publish for consultation in due course.

The Scottish Government estimates the cost of building-level measures to reach our emissions targets over the 24 year period to 2045 will be in the region of £33 billion. We have committed to investing at least £1.8 billion over the five year period of this parliament. This funding will help kick-start market growth while supporting those least able to pay.

As set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy, we are working to develop an appropriate market framework to help consumers overcome the upfront investment costs and to attract and secure further private investment and finance to help meet the costs of the transition. We will establish a Green Heat Finance Taskforce by the end of 2021 to recommend ways the Scottish Government and private sector can collaborate to scale up investment. In addition we will explore other options, including the use of local tax powers, linking the mortgage market to energy performance and emissions, and options for new market mechanisms including potential obligations on market actors. Where action is needed in reserved areas we will work with the UK Government.

Heat in Buildings Strategy – https://www.gov.scot/publications/heat-buildings-strategy-achieving-net-zero-emissions-scotlands-buildings/