Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01446 on 26 July 2021. 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

The Scottish Government do on occasion receive correspondence expressing dissatisfaction in relation to local authorities failing to take regard of the home education guidance. There have been 6 items of such correspondence in the period July 2018 – July 2021, some of which the Scottish Government were copied into for information, and were not the body responsible for addressing the complaint.

A complaint relating to the Scottish Government’s home education guidance would be made to the education authority in the first instance. Where an individual believes that a local authority has failed to carry out a duty in relation to education, the option of a complaint under Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is available to them. As set out in our publication Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) 1980 Act: guidance on making a complaint , “Scottish Ministers strongly believe that any issues which arise between parents, carers or young people and schools and education authorities should be resolved at as local a level as possible.” There have been no section 70 complaints received in the period July 2018 – July 2021 in respect of home education.

The Homelessness in Scotland statistics series reports data from the HL1 (homelessness applications), HL2 (snapshot temporary accommodation) and HL3 (placement level temporary accommodation) data collections.

Information on the number of children within the household applying for homelessness support and in temporary accommodation is currently collected and reported on through the HL1 and HL2 collections respectively.

Data is published in the Homelessness in Scotland statistics series. Data is published on a 6-monthly basis, with the most recent publication relating to the annual data for 2020-21. Table 15 of the latest publication reports the number of children in homelessness applications and Table 27 reports the number of children in temporary accommodation as at the end of a quarter. A link to the latest publication can be found here:

Homelessness in Scotland: 2020 to 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

An additional question was added to the HL3 data collection in 2019 to gather information on the number of children living in temporary accommodation placements. However, not all local authorities have so far been able to provide this information as there is a lead in time required to update local authority management information systems and data extraction processes. Scottish Government are continuing to work closely with local authorities to assist with the provision of this data and understand timescales for when this can be made available.

As the Deputy First Minister set out in his answer to S5W-33331 on 2 December 2020, officials continue to actively engage a range of stakeholders on issues relevant to home education guidance, and will listen to the views of all stakeholders in the preparation of the guidance.

The guidance will set out the legal position on home education and further information on the roles and responsibilities for home educators and for local authorities in relation to home education; and to support and encourage the collaborative development of relationships based on mutual trust and respect that function in the best interests of the child.

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

Scottish Ministers intend to bring forward updated guidance on home education. As part of the follow up to the publication of this guidance, consideration will be given to what support is needed to ensure its successful application.

The HySeas III project is the third development stage of the research programme and will build on the first two stages by demonstrating that hydrogen fuel cells can be successfully integrated with a marine hybrid electric drive system (electric propulsion, control gear, batteries, etc.), along with the associated hydrogen storage and bunkering arrangements.

The project recently took a step forward with the award of a commercial contract to develop a design concept for the innovative vessel in June 2021. The contract has been awarded to Aqualisbraemar LOC Group by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), one of the partners in the programme.

As a concept proof project it does not include either vessel build or infrastructure development on the public ferry network at this time and therefore no timescales for these are available.

The option for women aged 71 and over to self-refer for a breast screening appointment will resume once capacity in all screening centres returns to pre-Covid or close to pre-Covid levels. This is based on the recommendation of the Scottish Screening Committee, the National Screening Oversight and the Breast Screening Programme Board, all three of whom are keeping the situation under regular review. They are also working closely with Health Boards to increase appointments and meet this criteria as soon as possible. We continue to emphasise that everyone should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.

On 26 April free lateral flow device (LFD) test kits were made available to everyone in Scotland, for twice-weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing via the universally accessible testing offer. In addition to this, free LFD test kits are available through the Scottish Government’s targeted asymptomatic testing programme which includes routine testing for:

• health care workers
• educational staff, senior phase pupils and HE/FE students
• prioritised workforces in the public sector and in critical national infrastructure
• high risk private sector settings such as food processing businesses

Free access to LFD test kits has been extended through the summer period until September, when a formal review will be undertaken by the Scottish Government. Workforce testing is currently being expanded and as now is open to all private sector organizations with more than ten employees.

The Scottish Government has no immediate plans to charge for LFD tests.

On 26 April free lateral flow device (LFD) test kits were made available to everyone in Scotland, for twice-weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing via the universally accessible testing offer. In addition to this, free LFD test kits are available through the Scottish Government’s targeted asymptomatic testing programme which includes routine testing for:

• health care workers
• educational staff, senior phase pupils and HE/FE students
• prioritised workforces in the public sector and in critical national infrastructure
• high risk private sector settings such as food processing businesses

Free access to LFD test kits has been extended through the summer period until September, when a formal review will be undertaken by the Scottish Government. Workforce testing is currently being expanded to all private sector organizations with more than ten employees.

The Scottish Government subsidised a total of 3,595 mid-market rent properties which were completed by Registered Social Landlords between 2016-17 and 2021-22. The following table shows the number which had a starting rent level exceeding the relevant Local Housing Allowance broken down by local authority area and More Homes Division Area team.