Chamber and committees

Regulations made using Covid-19 legislation must be reviewed at least every 21 days by Scottish Ministers. This review process ensures that the measures they provide continue to be necessary and proportionate.

Any new or revised regulations are set out to the Scottish Parliament in plenary and are considered by the Parliament's Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and the Covid-19 Committee Recovery Committee.

Regulations made under Covid-19 legislation are considered through the Four Harms approach which draws on evidence and analysis to assess both current and future direct and indirect health impacts and the social and economic impacts of the pandemic and of proposed regulations. This approach is underpinned by Scotland’s Strategic Framework which sets out our approach to managing the pandemic.

Scottish Ministers also produce a report to Parliament every two months with regard to the status and operation of the Scottish and UK Coronavirus Acts – confirming that they have undertaken a review of whether the provisions continue to be necessary and proportionate.

The costs associated with The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2021, which we withdrew in February 2021, are set out in the draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published in December 2020.

The costs associated with The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 are set out in our updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which we published in November 2021.

Economic impact studies by BiGGAR Economics for Airbnb, and Frontline Consultants for the Association of Scotland's Self-caterers are discussed in Section G of our Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which we published in November 2021.

All decisions made in the development of measures under the Covid-19 emergency powers have included careful assessment of the necessity and potential impacts of the powers and their compatibility with the Convention rights set out in the Human Rights Act 1998.

Appropriate impact assessments are carried out as part of this process and are reported to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities, including by funding in key areas for public sector climate action through a mix of competitive and other funding programmes. Inviting bids from local authorities enables us to identify relevant projects, and to offer access to financial and other support tolocal authorities working in these areas . Combined, our funds represent a comprehensive package of support for local authority climate action.

Some examples of our strong climate funding offer to local authorities include: non-competitive funding for investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and decarbonisation of public sector fleets to all of Scotland's local authorities, with over £65 million of funding awarded over the last decade, competitive funds like the £200 million Green Growth Accelerator programme, an outcomes-based funding model for local authorities, and our Switched on Towns and Cities Programme, which has awarded over £14 million of funding to five projects (/local authorities) to support decarbonisation of transport.

We strongly support the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee’s ongoing Inquiry into the Role of Local Government and its Cross-Sectoral Partners in Financing and Delivering a Net- Zero Scotland. The findings of the inquiry will be a valuable contribution to how we can further develop our relationship with and support towards local governments.

The Scottish Government continues to support public sector leadership on the climate emergency through ongoing engagement with key bodies such as the Sustainable Scotland Network, Scottish Leaders Forum, Environment and Economy Leadership Group and the Scottish Cities Alliance. Such engagement allows the Scottish Government to discuss the sector priorities and challenges in achieving our shared net zero ambitions, implementing the updated Climate Change Plan and any support needed for the reduction of carbon emissions across all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities.

Since 2015-16, around 180 listed Scottish public bodies, including all local authorities, have been required to report annually on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. The Scottish Government funds the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) to produce an annual analysis of the submitted reports, which shows progress on emissions reduction. This includes analysis of progress across a number of areas of public sector climate action, including on transport fuel, electricity and waste reduction. Reported emissions from the public sector continue to decrease, with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions down 28.5% since mandatory reporting began in 2015-16.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with local authorities and the wider public sector, including through COSLA and the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN), where current opportunities and challenges within local authority climate action are frequently discussed. Scottish Government officials also engage with the Improvement Service on the capacity needs of local authorities in delivering net zero.

Since 2015-16, around 180 listed Scottish public bodies have been required to report annually on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. To assess progress on emissions reduction, the Scottish Government funds SSN to produce an annual analysis of the submitted reports. New regulations, which came into force on 9 November 2020, require Scottish public bodies from November 2022 to report, where applicable, how they will aligns spending plans and use of resources to contribute to delivering their emissions reduction targets.

We work with stakeholders regularly including with our Cladding Stakeholder Group to ensure all appropriate solutions are considered for homeowners and residents in affected buildings.

The Single Building Assessment programme in Scotland will not have a restriction to 18m and above. The UK Government's recent announcement for England does focus solely on buildings over 18m. Whilst we welcome the announcement from the UK Government about ensuring that the polluter pays, a collective approach is needed to secure reparations from developers and the wider construction industry.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05254 on 25 January 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

As the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, I am responsible for audiology services.

There are multiple directorates in the Scottish Government with an interest in the delivery of audiology services in Scotland.