Chamber and committees

There are no plans to establish a public portal for the nomination of potential opportunities to unlock and accelerate affordable housing delivery on vacant and derelict land and in empty town and city centre buildings.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting local authorities and communities to tackle persistent vacant and derelict land and empty town and city centre buildings.

This is supported through our regeneration investment programmes which are providing up to £52 million in resource and capital programmes for community-led regeneration across Scotland in 2026/27. This may be used to transform vacant and derelict land and empty buildings into homes. Local authorities may also choose to use Affordable Housing Supply Programme grant to convert empty properties into housing.

Additionally as part of ongoing work to support the establishment of More Homes Scotland, we are undertaking an exercise alongside local authorities to understand potential opportunities to unlock and accelerate affordable housing delivery on vacant and derelict land and in empty town and city centre buildings.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting local authorities and communities to tackle persistent vacant and empty town and city centre buildings.

Local authorities have responsibility for delivering local housing development and local regeneration. They are best placed to develop the right partnerships to deliver regeneration and to identify suitable sites and funding for regeneration activity.

This is supported through our regeneration investment programmes which are providing up to £52 million in resource and capital programmes for community-led regeneration across Scotland in 2026-27. This may be used to transform vacant empty buildings into homes. For example, previous investment is supporting the reuse of the B-listed Tureen Street School in Glasgow. This is a derelict, B-listed building will be repurposed, retaining the façade and renovating the site to build 42 new homes for social rent.

Local authorities may also choose to use Affordable Housing Supply Programme grant to convert empty properties into housing.

Additionally as part of ongoing work to support the establishment of More Homes Scotland, we are undertaking an exercise alongside local authorities to understand potential opportunities to unlock and accelerate affordable housing delivery on vacant and derelict land and in empty town and city centre buildings.

The Scottish Government provides support for the historic environment through our sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, our lead public body that investigates, cares for and promotes Scotland’s historic environment. Historic Environment Scotland actively engages with a variety of international stakeholders, enabling the exchange of knowledge and expertise that can help inform historic environment policy and practice in Scotland.

While there is currently no specific plan to evaluate local government procurement practices in relation to heritage and conservation policies, procurement can and should be an enabler of public sector policies. Where relevant to the local governmental body, this can include policies and good practice set by Historic Environmental Scotland.

We are seeking to transform Scotland’s childcare offer to better support families with the cost of childcare, for children from 9 months to the end of primary school. As this Parliament agreed in May, this is a priority, and must be informed by learning from the ELC 1140 expansion and the voices of those who use and deliver childcare in Scotland.

Our Programme for Government set out our intention to publish and consult on a blueprint for the future, building on learning from the last ten years of childcare design and delivery. Given the scale of our ambition it is only right we take the time to develop that blueprint, and we will publish it for consultation next year. The Scottish Government will of course inform the Parliament of the blueprint’s publication in line with standard procedures.

The Scottish Government recognises the valuable contribution that children and young people who speak English as an additional language (EAL) make to Scotland's schools and communities. We are aware that the number of pupils recorded as having English as an additional language has increased over recent years, reflecting Scotland's increasingly diverse population and our proud reputation as an attractive and welcoming country.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people receive the support they need to access learning and achieve their full potential. Responsibility for the delivery of education and for meeting the needs of pupils who require EAL support rests with local authorities. Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, education authorities must identify, make provision for and review the additional support needs of children and young people whose education they are responsible for. We recognise that support for EAL will reduce as pupils’ English language levels increase.

Through the local government finance settlement, local authorities receive funding to provide education services and to respond to local needs and demographic changes. Between 2012-13 and 2024-25, ASL spending has increased from £540m across all local authorities to almost £1.1 billion - an increase of £560m in the last 10 years. The Scottish Government also funds Enquire, the national advice and information service on additional support for learning, who provide information, advice, training, learning resources and support services to help support children and young people with specific additional support needs, including those with English as an additional language.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to monitor emerging pressures, share effective practice and ensure that schools have access to appropriate guidance and support to meet the needs of Scotland's increasingly diverse learner population.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02346 on 2 September 2026. 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.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy focuses on building community flood resilience and resilient placemaking, by putting people at the heart of the process and supporting an increase in the range and rate of delivery of actions both to manage our flood exposure and reduce the impacts of flooding when it does occur.

The Scottish Government supports the Scottish Flood Forum to deliver practical action for individuals and communities at risk of flooding across Scotland. It helps people understand their flood risk and prepare for flood events, which includes supporting new local flood resilience groups to form, and then provide training and build capacity. We also fund SEPA's Scottish Flood Forecasting and Warning Service, which provides vital warning information to communities at risk of flooding. Following research we commissioned to design a Household Flood plan, we are working with stakeholders to develop and roll that out to raise awareness of flood risk and promote improved preparedness.

In addition to the £42m of the local government General Capital Grant allocated to flood resilience activity in communities, we have also committed £15m to improve the resilience of communities across Scotland most at risk from flooding.

The ask and act homelessness prevention pilot programme, which awarded funding in November 2025 to fifteen consortia made up of a range of named relevant bodies across sectors including health and justice, runs until end December 2026. We have commissioned external research on the outcomes of the pilots, which will report in the summer next year. Advice Direct Scotland, the organisation that manages the pilots, publishes quarterly progress reports on its website: Advice Direct Scotland - User Portal - Quarterly Reports. The latest report, published on 1 September, notes that most pilots are now routinely embedding prevention approaches in their work.

There is an administration fee of £650 charged to all buyers. This is collected after the Award Letter has been issued and no later than three weeks before the expected settlement date. If the transaction falls after payment of the fee, the fee is to be refunded to the buyer in full.

Any other costs incurred during the home buying process are not set by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is working with partners and senior advisers to develop a High-Growth Unit to identify and support fast growth businesses that have the potential to grow to Unicorn scale in Scotland.

The High Growth Unit will sit within Government, and Parliament will be updated on the design and structure of the Unit in due course.