Chamber and committees

The Out-turn report for the 2022-23 Affordable Housing Supply Programme will be published early in the New Year. The 2023-24 out-turn report is still in progress and we do not, at present, have an identified publication date.

Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These figures relate to the number of approvals, site starts, and completions of homes. They can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/

Other Affordable housing programme data is also available on our webpage Affordable Housing Supply Programme - More homes - gov.scot

There are no chalk streams in Scotland, however, we are taking action to protect Scotland’s water environment from sewage overflows.

Our waterways are in good condition. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) considers 86.5% of our water environment to be high or good quality - up from 82% in 2014. SEPA, which regulates discharges from Scottish Water’s assets to the environment, acknowledges the sustained investment made by Scottish Water across the period 2015-21 has been a key driver of this improvement

In March this year we consulted on legislative proposals to facilitate marine nature restoration. In the consultation document we set out concerns raised by community groups and restoration organisations with regards to the complexity of the regulatory environment for restoration projects. In response to these concerns we developed proposals to address one element of the complex issues, and while there was broadly support for the proposals, there was a lack of consensus on the detail of the scheme proposed. We will continue to listen carefully to restoration groups and coastal communities throughout the development of the marine and coastal restoration plan, and will identify actions to address barriers to restoration as part of the plan.

The Scottish Government routinely increases the Local Government budget in-year, including through transfers from other portfolios. The anticipated transfers for 2025-25 are as shown in Table 4.12 of the Scottish Budget and indicate that at least £1,438.3 million of resource and £25 million of capital will be transferred into the General Revenue and General Capital grants at the 2025-26 Autumn or Spring Budget Revisions. Further funding outwith the Local Government Settlement is outlined in Table 4.15 and paid directly by the relevant portfolio.

As with all previous years, any unanticipated transfers in year will also be given effect at the relevant budget revision and processed in the Local Government Finance Order 2026-27.

As outlined in Tables 4.12 and 4.15, it is anticipated that most Scottish Government portfolios will transfer additional funding to Local Government in 2025-26.

General Practitioners are experienced in preventing, diagnosing, and treating chronic kidney disease and follow established professional guidelines, including those by NICE, in supporting patients through this chronic condition.

Professional clinical management decisions about how best to prevent, diagnose and treat chronic kidney disease by primary care teams are the responsibility of NHS boards and primary care clinicians.

There are no chalk streams in Scotland. The Scottish Government, therefore, does not hold information on the protection of chalk streams from pollution and damage.

Initial Teacher Education is fully funded by the Scottish Government, for those students within the controlled subject numbers.

The following table shows funding for publicly funded student places provided by the Scottish Government to providers of Initial Teacher Education and students since 2010-11, based on academic years.

This funding covers tuition fee, student support and teaching grant for activity in addition to the baseline funding provided by Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The student support element assists students to overcome financial barriers to engaging in higher education.

No specific economic impact assessment has been carried out in relation to closures of the Queensferry Crossing due to the risk of falling ice. A range of estimates exist for the daily impact of the Queensferry Crossing being closed but vary depending on whether the closure is known in advance and there is no clear linear relationship between short and longer closures.

The Scottish Government continually considers where regulation for farmed fish health is necessary.

We already have robust legislation, policies, and operational practices in place to ensure fish farmers are meeting statutory requirements on sealice reporting and management, mortality reporting, listed disease surveillance and containment of farmed fish. The aquaculture sector in Scotland shows a significant level of compliance with both legislative and voluntary requirements. Enactment in law of the finfish sector’s Code of Good Practice through existing legislative instruments would not necessarily significantly improve outcomes for fish health and, therefore, there are no plans for further legislation at this time.

The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) sets out the appraisal framework for proportionately securing best value and value for money. Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance is designed to comply with the SPFM and forms the first stage of the Business Case process. The current version of the guidance was published in January 2022, following engagement with the user base comprising Regional Transport Partnerships, Local Authorities, Academia and Consultancies.

The Scottish Government is committed to enabling proportionate and efficient appraisal and is working to ensure the business case process is progressed as quickly as possible, whilst also ensuring the requirements of SPFM are met.

A regular topic raised by the user base is for ‘more proportionality’. In response to this feedback, Transport Scotland encourages the use of a ‘risk-based’ approach to appraisal to focus resources on those aspects which are most important to decision making.

Additional options being explored to encourage proportionate appraisal include training courses, more frequent user group meetings and the publication of existing work to demonstrate good practice.