Chamber and committees

There are 107 entries in the pilot of the Cladding Remediation Programme.

Pilot assessments have been undertaken for 30 of the entries. A pilot assessment includes those carried out prior to the publication of the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification on 21 June 2024. This number relates to known pilot assessments only; developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Works to mitigate or remediate risks have started for five of the entries. Works in this context refers to any action taken to address known cladding-related risks, including Urgent Interim Measures. This number relates to known works on a pilot entry only; developers or other organisations could have carried out works without informing the Scottish Government. Again, this means the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Works to remediate risks have not been completed for any of the entries. Although work on the external wall cladding system has been undertaken on one building, an SBA – carried out to the standard to be specified by Scottish Ministers under section 32 of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 – is required to ensure that all works required have been identified and completed ahead of the remediation being designated as complete.

Within the National Electricity Supply Framework no power is procured from community – owned energy providers.

The framework has been set up to supply electricity to all of the Scottish Public sector. The supplier on the framework is required to purchase power on the futures market through a risk managed hedging strategy. The strategy is owned by a Risk Management Committee who represent all of the main Public Sector bodies.

The framework supplier needs to ensure it has the capacity to secure forward purchases on behalf of all framework customers. The supplier also needs to account manage each individual customer organisation including billing, invoicing, meter reading queries, complaints, energy efficiency queries, and social value programmes within the framework. As well as managing the consumption for over 30,000 meters for electricity that are part of the portfolio. Therefore, the supplier needs to have capacity to trade large volumes and achieve Value For Money for the whole Scottish public sector.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries in the pilot can comprise a single block or building, or a development, or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings.

Only a Single Building Assessment meeting the Scottish Standards can identify what cladding if any, a building has and further identify whether the cladding is unsafe.

Developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

The Scottish Government has provided Scottish Agritourism with £60k funding in 2024-2025 to support with preparations for Scotland hosting the 2026 World Agritourism Conference.

The Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, despite the most challenging budget settlement from the UK Government since devolution.

As announced in the Programme for Government in 24-25 around 10,000 hectares of new woodland, including around 4,000 hectares of native woodland will be created. Putting this in context, it will still allow Scotland to create more woodland than the rest of the UK combined.

To support this work Scottish Forestry continues to develop the Woodland Carbon Code, which provides an alternative revenue stream for land owners to support woodland creation. Scottish Forestry have already exceeded the target to increase the woodland carbon market by 50% by 2025. This year Scottish Forestry are piloting a new funding scheme allowing applicants to access a reduced public grant alongside Woodland Carbon Code funding, which will allow greater woodland creation to take place with reduced public funds. SF are also in the process of rolling out improvements to systems and processes to make the woodland creation application process more efficient and transparent, these are captured in a new Woodland Creation Route Map which will be published shortly.

The National Electricity Framework is used by all sectors including, Local Authorities, NHS bodies, Universities and Colleges, Central Government inc NDPBs and agencies, Housing Associations, Charities etc. The split of % usage of the electricity framework is as follows:

On 23 September, we published a progress update on the Investing in Planning Consultation. It confirms that we are taking forward a package of proposals to improve capacity, skills and resources within the planning system. This includes the establishment of a National Planning Improvement Hub; changes to planning fees to support the resourcing of planning authorities; and proposals to streamline the system and support professional skills and capacity.

Within the difficult financial environment a decision has not yet been made on the funding for the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme for 2025-26.

Any decision on funding for LIFT will be made within the full context of the Scottish Government’s budget discussions for FY 2025-26.

Information on Single Building Assessments and the number of buildings in the Cladding Remediation Programme and the level of spend on the programme, is published and updated on a quarterly basis on the Scottish Government website -Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)