Chamber and committees

(a) The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has published the number of applications for eviction received in their Scottish Tribunals Annual Reports. For ease of reference, this is set out in the following table.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the role of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in prevention and the importance of tenancy sustainment and housing support. That is why we are supporting this work in a variety of ways.

The Scottish Government continues to provide funding to help RSLs deliver adaptations for older and disabled people. The Adaptations Programme budget for 2024-25 is £8.245 million. Individual funding awards have now been issued to RSLs to support the delivery of housing adaptations for disabled tenants. My officials are in contact with RSLs directly to support them through this process.

Through our Investing in Communities Fund, we are providing £3,671,900 between 2023-26 to 16 RSLs to support the delivery of projects that include activities such as family support, food insecurity support, training and skills development and financial capability support.

Welfare and Debt advice services are critical for supporting communities across Scotland. That is why in 2024-25 the Scottish Government has allocated £12 million to support welfare, debt and income maximisation advice services. This investment includes support for the Advice in Accessible Settings Fund, which delivers advice within or alongside a range of other services. This year the fund is supporting a wide range of organisations, including 20 RSLs, to provide advice to their tenants and clients.

Housing support enables tenants to live as independently as possible in their communities and is a key part of the work delivered by RSLs. These services are commissioned locally through Health and Social Care Partnerships and Local Authorities, as they are best placed to assess and respond to local needs.

We are also widening responsibility for homelessness prevention through the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Services such as tenancy sustainment, welfare rights and housing support are already key features of the work RSLs do with their tenants. We want to build on this so there is a consistent, robust and sector wide approach across Scotland.

The Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme allocation for Glasgow City Council for this year is £90.231m. This comprises the original allocation of £78.687m and the additional £11.544m made available as part of efforts to boost affordable housing supply by acquiring properties to bring into use for affordable housing and to help reduce homelessness. The funding made available to Glasgow City Council last year through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme was £103.683m, so this years funding represents a decrease of £13.452m. As well as the additional £11.544m made available to Glasgow City Council this year, the Council and Scottish Government officials meet regularly and will continue to work closely in order to maximise affordable housing delivery in the city.

I am pleased to announce, in line with the Scottish National Investment Bank Act 2020, six individuals have agreed to become members of the Ministerial Advisory Group. They have a broad range of knowledge and expertise relevant to providing Ministers with advice on the objects, conduct and performance of the Bank.

I will host the first meeting of the Group in due course.

Full details of the Group’s membership can be found at https://www.gov.scot/groups/scottish-national-investment-bank-ministerial-advisory-group.

Through Equally Safe, we are working closely with local government and third sector partners to ensure victims and survivors of domestic abuse are aware of all sources of support. This year we are providing over £7.5m to Women’s Aid groups in Scotland, through our Delivering Equally Safe Fund, that provide vital and sometimes lifesaving support through a range of channels, including online and print materials. In addition to this we are also supporting Scotland's Domestic Abuse & Forced Marriage Helpline with over £550,000 funding to also ensure this information is widely available to those who need it.

The Scottish Government also funds the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, which provides online guidance on legal and housing options available to women experiencing domestic abuse.

The previous UK Government’s No Recourse to Public Funds policy prevents local and national government in Scotland from being able to provide appropriate, safe housing and accommodation solutions for women who have restricted immigration status. It is not acceptable that people, including women are fleeing domestic abuse, face destitution or are forced to remain in unsafe conditions because of their immigration status. Scottish Ministers raised this issue repeatedly with the previous UK Government and will continue to engage with the new UK Government to urge change to these policy conditions.

The Scottish Government and COSLA continue to work together to deliver the vision and principles of Ending Destitution Together, to improve access to support and services for people who are subject to UK Government immigration policies, as far as is possible within devolved powers. During 2024-25, the Scottish Government provided £440,000 to Fair Way Scotland to enable the increased capacity of case workers across Scotland, supporting those who are risk of, or experiencing homelessness and destitution. This investment will help people exercise their rights to eligible public funds and access emergency cash support.

Our code of guidance on homelessness is designed to give the best possible support to frontline practitioners in their work to prevent homelessness. It sets out the importance of staff training for homelessness officers, particularly in the requirements of the homelessness legislation, the code of guidance, anti-discrimination legislation and the relevant local authority's housing and homelessness policies.

More recently we have supported the development of a housing options training toolkit. The toolkit is a learning and development resource platform for housing officers and frontline staff to aid them in providing housing options advice, including to people experiencing domestic abuse.

Additionally, as part of the homelessness prevention duties within the Housing (Scotland) Bill, we will work with stakeholders and delivery partners to identify the training and guidance required to support relevant bodies to meet their new obligations.

As with Health Services across Scotland and the rest of the UK, NHS Ayrshire & Arran are experiencing sustained pressure on their Urgent Care Services with some patients waiting longer than we would wish. I recognize that NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s A&E performance in June was below the level I and the Board expect. It is important to note that fluctuation in performance figures is not unusual. Monthly figures for July show that Ayrshire & Arran’s performance increased by more than five percentage points and was the Board’s highest monthly performance this year.

Through our Urgent and Unscheduled Care Collaborative Programme we continue to support NHS Boards, including NHS Ayrshire & Arran, to improve patient flow through acute sites and reduce A&E delays. Key actions include: strengthening arrangements to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions such as Same Day Emergency Care services; optimising Flow Navigation Centres; enhancing the discharge process - focusing on discharge planning; and reducing length of stay.

The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information. This information is held at a local authority level. Local authorities are required under section 202B of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to keep a register of all byelaws.

The Scottish Government, including Social Security Scotland, have not incurred any additional costs in 2024-25 as a result of the Department for Work and Pensions administering a payment equivalent to Winter Fuel Payment to eligible Scottish clients in 2024.