Chamber and committees

The agreed transaction structure secured the earliest realisation of the commercial and wider economic benefits of the deal and prevented the closure of the last remaining steel plant in Scotland and the loss of hundreds of highly skilled jobs.

The Scottish Government has today published the Violence Prevention Framework for Scotland: Annual Progress Report 2023-2024. This can be accessed on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836017684.

The report highlights work undertaken by our partners in the first year, over 2023-24 to implement the actions set out in the Violence Prevention Framework for Scotland to prevent violence and reduce its harm when it does occur.

Further Progress Reports will be published on an annual basis.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

National Records of Scotland have today published: ‘Scotland’s Census 2022: Education, labour market and travel to work’.

Scotland’s Census results are designated as Accredited Official Statistics and form an integral part of the statistical system in the UK. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, awards Accredited Official Statistics designation based on the quality, good practice and comprehensiveness of official statistics.

More detail about the schedule for future reports can be found here.

Our Green Industrial Strategy is published today and is available online at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836016847. This strategy will ensure that Scotland gets the maximum possible economic benefit from the opportunities created by the global transition to net zero. To create good, well-paid jobs we need to translate Scotland’s huge strengths into competitive advantages in a global race: that is why this strategy provides a clear direction and focus to create confidence and encourage investment. We will use all the powers at our disposal to make Scotland a fantastic place to invest in the green economy opportunities which the strategy identifies.

There is currently no projected underspend in the 2024-25 Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

The Scottish Government publishes figures relating to the supply of affordable homes across Scotland, on a quarterly basis, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/.

The following table provides a breakdown of mid-market rent homes delivered with Scottish Government funding in each local authority area between April 2019 and end March 2024. The figures include Registered Social Landlord mid-market rent and Council mid-market rent homes. The figures also include other mid-market rent homes delivered through programmes such as National Housing Trust, Local Affordable Rent Housing Trust, Places for People Capital MMR Initiative and Rural and Island Housing Funds.

Local authorities as strategic housing and planning authorities are responsible for assessing affordable housing needs in their area and setting out their investment priorities in their Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs). These plans set out planned proposals for affordable housing supply over a five year period, including homes for mid-market rent, and should be available on each local authority’s website.

The Scottish Government only holds development information relating to projects on site and does not hold information relating to projects in planning beyond projects outlined in SHIPs. It is worth noting that not all mid-market rent projects in planning would necessarily be delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP).

The following table provides a breakdown by local authority area of mid-market rent homes receiving funding through the AHSP which are currently on site. The figures include Registered Social Landlord mid-market rent and Council mid-market rent homes, and other mid-market rent homes through programmes such as Places for People Capital MMR Initiative and Rural and Island Housing Funds.

While we have no such plans given the important role that homes for mid-market rent play in the wider housing system, we will continue to work across the Scottish Government and with local and UK Government to respond to the housing emergency and to deliver on our target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 – of which at least 70% will be for social rent.

As set out in Programme for Government 2024-25 we are making a new long-term commitment of £100 million, to grow with institutional investment to at least £500 million, supporting the construction of around 2,800 mid-market rent homes by making public funds go further.

The creation of a Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Glasgow is progressing well - construction work is nearing completion to convert the existing facilities and make them fit for purpose and necessary staff recruitment and training is well underway. A provisional opening date of 21 has been announced by Glasgow Council.

We are committed to help deliver drug checking facilities across Scotland. The three pilot areas (Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow) have now submitted their licence applications to the Home Office and we are providing support as they are being progressed. We expect the application for the National Testing Laboratory, which will provide additional analysis of drug samples, to be submitted shortly. Edinburgh have also recently joined the national project group and they are at the early stages of considering the establishment of a similar facility.

Over £38 million has been made available through two rounds of the Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme (RRRCP) to increase residential rehab capacity across Scotland. This fund supports eight capacity projects – of which four are new projects and four are expansions to existing services. This will provide 140 more bed by 2025-26.

36 of these beds are already operational and additional projects will be completed over the coming year to add a further 34 beds across Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire and Highlands and Islands. Collectively, these not only substantially increase the number of bed spaces available but also importantly widen access to specific groups and addresses geographic barriers to accessing rehab.

Work is continuing through a range of projects and initiatives to expand access to naloxone and the latest estimated reach of the National Naloxone Programme was 74.7% (percentage of people at risk of opioid overdose who have been supplied with THN) at the end of 2023-24 Quarter 3. We continue to support Police Scotland in their carriage of naloxone by all front-line police officers, where it has been administered to over 450 individuals. Our click-and-deliver service continues to distribute large numbers of kits (894 in quarter 3 of 23-24, last data available) while the work we have supported through the Scottish Ambulance Service also meant 211 kits were distributed by them in the same period.

Recent activity to further expand access to naloxone has included making it available in first aid kits (crash packs) within Scottish prisons while also expanding the work being done by the Scottish Drugs Forum to distribute naloxone to people on liberation from prison through peers. We also continue to engage with UK Government colleagues around the forthcoming legislative change to naloxone prescribing regulations which will make accessing kits easier across the UK.

Additional harm reduction measures being implemented can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/alcohol-and-drugs/national-mission/

The Scottish Government does not have a procedure in place to report collisions between its Marine Protection Vessels and cetaceans, basking sharks and other marine mammals. There have been no known incidences of collisions and so no procedure has been developed. Should an incident occur, our crews would assist where possible and report to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, both of which crews have worked with before to assist stranded cetaceans.