Chamber and committees

Public Health Scotland’s report, published on 18 June 2024, presents a high-level overview of the number of statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements between April 2021 and March 2024. This includes statutory-funded placements approved by:

• local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs)
• the Scottish Government, using funds that are managed centrally for some residential rehabilitation placements (e.g. under the Prison-to-Rehab pathway). These placements are reported as National Mission-funded in this report.
• Ward 5 of the Woodland View mental health facility and community hospital in NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Ward 5 is a residential unit for Ayrshire and Arran residents who have an alcohol or drug problem and mental health 5 issues. Ward 5 offers detoxification followed by a four-week residential programme.

The Scottish Government recognises the incredible contribution that Scotland’s unpaid carers, including our young carers, make to our communities as well as the pressures many carers are under.

The Young Carers Package, delivered by Young Scot, was put in place to provide additional benefits and opportunities for young carers. The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 defines a young carer as someone who provides (or intends to provide) care who is under 18 (or over 18 and still at school). The package is designed to support children and young people who are not eligible for social security benefits and other support available to young adults.

In recognition of the fact that transitioning from being a young carer to an adult carer can be difficult, as young people look towards work or further or higher education, the package includes a transition bundle to provide extra benefits before young carers turn 19. There is a Young Scot webpage with further information on the transition bundle and young carers transitions more generally at: www.young.scot/get-informed/young-carers-transitions

I would encourage anyone providing unpaid care to contact their social work department or local carer centre to find out what support they may be able to offer.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29341 on 25 September 2024. 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.

We continue to work closely with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to develop and implement a plan that is informed by the lived experience of disabled people and will deliver actions to help with the challenges they are currently facing. Venues should be familiar with and address their broader duties under UK health and safety, and equalities legislation including, for people with a visual impairment, the requirement for service providers to make reasonable adjustments in circumstances where disabled people are placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people. The Scottish Government expects all relevant organisations to comply with the requirement of the Equality Act 2010. We welcome the report’s recommendations which will support venues in meeting these requirements.

Creative Scotland’s regularly funded organisations, which include a number of venues across Scotland, are contractually obliged to develop and implement Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans. Creative Scotland provide their own guidance on how to best achieve this edi-toolkit-dec-2019.pdf (creativescotland.com). This covers all aspects of the work for these organisations, including audience development activities. Facilitating access and participation to culture, is central to the artistic purpose of all Scottish Government funded culture bodies and they all share a desire to communicate with as large and diverse an audience as possible.

Our Programme for Government 2024-25 set out that we will bring forward a Heat in Buildings Bill that is deliverable and affordable for households and businesses, setting the long term direction of travel and, in turn, providing certainty to building owners and the supply chain.

Given the important relationship between our consultations on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill and to reform Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), we are considering responses to both at the same time. We intend to publish our responses to the Heat in Buildings Bill and EPC reform consultations at the same point later this year.

I refer the member to the answer to question: S6W-26978 on 7 May 2024, which details the spend and homes delivered by local authority area; S6W-27110 on 14 May 2024, which provides details on applications approved; and S6W-27112 on 14 May 2024 which details the spend by applicant in the 2023-2024 National Acquisition Programme. 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.

In 2023-2024, the National Acquisition Programme helped to bring almost 1,500 homes into affordable use, 94% (1,413) of which were homes for social rent. Due to the effectiveness of this programme in accelerating the delivery of affordable homes and boosting affordable housing supply, we have allocated the additional £40 million in 2024-2025 to acquire properties to help with temporary accommodation pressures or, where appropriate, to bring long term void properties back into use with a further £40 million being made available in 2025-2026.

The total electricity use provided for in the electricity supply framework is determined by the estimated consumption of all framework customers. This is currently estimated at 2,293, 227MWh (megawatt hours) with a value of £686.7m, which will vary each year, depending on customer consumption.

Supported Businesses make an important contribution to the Scottish economy. Not only through the goods and services they deliver, but also by providing meaningful employment, training, and social support for those who may otherwise be excluded from the workplace.

The Scottish Government values the role of Supported Businesses and is committed to helping them achieve commercial sustainability.

In December 2016, the Scottish Government published the coproduced ‘Scotland’s Social Enterprise Strategy’, in March 2017, the then Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities launched the first of three underpinning action plans, and in March 2021, the then Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, launched the second plan. The second action plan[1] describes our priorities for 2021-24, and details how we will work across the public sector and with partners to build forward and put the social enterprise model at the heart of Scotland's recovery. The action plan includes the following actions:

• We will bring forward a programme to help improve collaborative commissioning and the role of social enterprise in the delivery of public services.
• Review our support for procurement and how we best support mechanisms that will enable social enterprises to prepare, bid, win, and deliver public sector contracts.
• Take continued action to realise the potential of supported businesses to access public contracts, through the use of reserved contracts and other mechanisms.

Procurement officials are working with Supported Businesses and the public sector to make it easier for supported businesses to access public sector contracts.

A multi-supplier Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Requirements Reserved for Supported Businesses provides Scottish public bodies with a route to market for a range of goods and services which can be provided by Supported Businesses.

Having sought the views of both affected suppliers and buyers and considered feasibility of the various commercial options with procurement leads from each centre of expertise, it is evident that a blended approach to Supported Businesses represents the best way forward. A blended approach comprises:

• a new national collaborative solution;
• scoping of opportunities for sectoral commercial arrangements; and
• non-collaborative interventions to support local contracting activity.

This will be coupled with work already underway to raise the profile of Supported Businesses and make the process of identifying them easier for public bodies.

The Requirements Reserved for Supported Businesses Dynamic Purchasing System commenced on 07 September 2023 for a two-year period, following a detailed stakeholder consultation process. Further information on the DPS can be found within the Scottish Government’s contracts directory.

[1]Social enterprise: action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

As well as continuing to seek further legislative powers from the UK Government that will allow us to create a more efficient consenting system, we are also working closely to review consenting processes for larger scale energy proposals, in line with the commitments set out in the UK Government’s response to the Electricity Networks Commissioner’s recommendations.

The Scottish Government are engaging with the UK Government, Ofgem and the Electricity System Operator (ESO) on the implementation of the Transmission Acceleration Action Plan (TAAP) and the Connections Action Plan (CAP). We continue to push for reform, ensure that the proposals in the TAAP and CAP are robust, fit for purpose and tailored to the needs of Great Britain as a whole.

Within the Scottish Government we are increasing staff numbers in the Energy Consents Unit to aid processing times for all Section 36 and Section 37 applications. Additionally, the unit continues to progress a number of efficiency measures and improvements and we are continuing to work closely with stakeholders to improve timescales further; specifically, through implementation of the commitments made in the Onshore Wind Sector Deal and the Transmission Network Short Life Working group.

Following the award of the construction contract for HMP Highland in April this year, the construction is progressing to plan on site and is scheduled to complete in 2026.