Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the continuing pressure that cost-of-living challenges place on low-income households and is allocating around £3.5 billion in 2026-27 to policies that tackle poverty and support household incomes. This includes investment in a range of targeted measures, such as Best Start Foods and the Scottish Welfare Fund.

The total claimed from Sustrans through the Transport Scotland funded Places for Everyone Fund for the Neilston to Uplawmoor link was £199,274, of which £28,932 was claimed for Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work stages 0-2 and £170,342 for stages 3-4.

No consideration has been given to recovering or repurposing the funding, as the £199,274 provided was expended for the purposes for which it was awarded, namely development and design work associated with the proposed Neilston to Uplawmoor link.

Analysis of the responses to the Call for Evidence is expected to be completed and published in Autumn 2026.

The Call for Evidence did not ask any specific question on BS8414, although some respondents may have referred to it in the responses.

Eligibility for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP) is determined in respect of the qualifying week in September as set out in regulations. Individuals who reach State Pension age after that week are not eligible for that year's payment.

Separately, there is support available through our Winter Heating Payment (WHP) for those in receipt of a qualifying low-income benefit; people who reach State Pension age following the PAWHP qualifying week may be eligible for WHP, for which the qualifying week is the first full week in November.

Support is also available through the Warm Home Discount, and we continue to invest in the Scottish Welfare Fund to help people facing financial crisis through the Crisis Grant and support people to establish independent living through the Community Care Grant.

The Scottish Government greatly values the contribution made by military veterans and recognises the importance of supporting the Armed Forces community.

Veterans resident in Scotland are eligible to access the existing National Concessionary Travel Schemes where they meet the existing age or disability-related eligibility criteria, including those relating to mobility, injury, or receipt of specific benefits.

Veterans can also access discounted rail travel through the Veterans Railcard, which is available across Great Britain and provides one-third off most rail fares.

BS 8414 testing and BR 135 assessments were removed as an alternative compliance route for buildings covered by the combustible cladding ban in 2022. BS 8414 remains available for buildings outside the ban’s scope.

In response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report, a wider review of fire safety standards is underway, informed by recent evidence, UK Government research on BS 8414 and developments in fire performance testing.

Transport Scotland is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways, on behalf of Scottish Ministers. It operates a centralised database system for the use of term maintenance contractors to record potholes on the trunk road network.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

Local Authorities hold information on defects recorded on their roads and the Scottish Government has no plans to collect centralised data with regards to the number of potholes on the local road network.

As part of the Scottish Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report, a full review of Section 2 (Fire) of the building standards will strengthen, and not weaken, fire safety standards in Scotland. This review is being informed by a Call for Evidence, undertaken between 16 January and 10 April 2026, which will identify fire safety priorities for review. The review will be advised by an independent expert panel, and supported by targeted research and stakeholder engagement. These measures will ensure that future changes are evidence-based, technically robust and improve fire safety outcomes.

On 6 August, I announced a financial package worth up to £3 million to provide support to business affected by the fire. The fund will be administered by The Highland Council with a focus on helping businesses recover from the impact of the wildfire, maintain business continuity and support longer-term recovery, while also contributing to the longer-term economic recovery and resilience of the area.

In addition, the Scottish Government funds Crisis Grants through the Scottish Welfare Fund to support individuals to meet immediate short-term needs when an emergency or a disaster has happened, and there would be a risk to wellbeing without a grant. Applications are administered by local authorities, including Highland Council.

Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the Highland Council, HIE and Cairngorms National Park Authority on what further support may be required for the area in the longer term.

The latest data for the position to the end of March 2016 demonstrated that there were 16 Government funded SBAs completed and 1 developer led SBA completed.

The Scottish Government are seeking to accelerate progress in a number of ways.

Those in receipt of grant funding are required to initiate the SBA within a required time frame, and we will only provide final funding upon receipt of a completed SBA.

Since the SBA is a relatively new standard, we have run workshops with the industry on how the SBA works in practice and to identify any challenges in application. We have also engaged directly with factors to better understand barriers to commissioning assessments and to support a more consistent and timely approach across the private sector. This engagement is helping to identify practical solutions to issues affecting delivery and inform ongoing improvements to programme guidance and support.

We have commissioned Local Delivery Plans from Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords whose buildings currently comprise over 75% of the programme. These plans provide greater visibility of assessment timelines and key milestones enabling us to monitor progress more closely, engage where delays arise and hold delivery partners to account for delivery.

The same data release demonstrated that 149 Government-funded SBAs and 21 developer-led SBAs were underway. As SBAs involve detailed assessment of complex buildings, they can take time to complete; however, the significant number currently underway demonstrates progress. Importantly, where an SBA identifies urgent life-safety concerns, action to mitigate risk can be taken immediately and does not depend on the assessment being fully completed.

The next data release, covering the position to the end of June, will be published on 15 September. For the first time, this will include information on the number of completed SBAs that have been submitted to the Scottish Government for review and compliance checking against the published SBA standard, providing a more complete picture of assessment progress.