Chamber and committees

The SPCB provides a free school engagement programme. Our Education Services staff deliver sessions and tours at the Parliament, online, and visit schools across Scotland. Digital and outreach education sessions are popular and especially appreciated by those who don’t want to travel to Edinburgh or who find coming to Edinburgh to be too challenging. Last school year, we reached schools in 69 out of 73 constituencies, and expect to reach all constituencies by the end of June 2024.

The SPCB commissioned a review into how best to deliver our education services in the most effective and inclusive way post Covid. As part of this review, our education team has engaged with schools from across Scotland to fully understand their barriers to accessing our services.

We know from this that the cost of travel can be a significant barrier, and similarly so can time out of the classroom, support availability, and transport options.  There is no single solution that addresses all barriers and we have asked officials to undertake some further work. The SPCB will consider the matter again later in 2024.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10243 on 7 September 2022. The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of enquiries relating to the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF).

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 Scottish Government does not have any powers to compensate those waiting for affordable housing for any delay that may occur in completion of any development.

High-quality, nutritious food which is sustainably produced is key to our wellbeing – in economic, environmental, social and health terms. The national Good Food Nation Plan sets out six over-arching Outcomes which indicate key areas to further develop our status as a Good Food Nation. These Outcomes have been developed with regard to a range of issues and principles set out in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, including the fact that each part of the food system plays an important role in the provision of food. The importance of supporting food production is particularly reflected in Outcome 4: “Our food and drink sector is prosperous, diverse, innovative, and vital to national and local economic and social wellbeing. It is key to making Scotland food secure and food resilient, and creates and sustains jobs and businesses underpinned by fair work standards.”

As well as the national Plan itself, we are also currently consulting on the list of specified functions that will, once set out in secondary legislation, give practical effect to the Good Food Nation Plan. The consultation can be found at https://consult.gov.scot/agriculture-and-rural-economy/national-good-food-nation-plan/ .

Paul McLennan: During the last 12 months (January – December 2023), 40 new applications were made to the Homeowners Support Fund (HOSF).

All applicants to HOSF receive advice from an accredited money adviser who offer holistic services that best meet applicant’s needs. Accredited money advisers are appropriately qualified to determine when homeowners meet the HOSF eligibility criteria. This ensures all options and potential solutions have been considered before an application is made. All 40 applications were accepted for further consideration by SG officials.

Applications are made to the overall HOSF programme, and all are assessed by SG officials to determine suitability for either Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) or Mortgage to Rent (MTR). Every application is carefully considered.

The Scottish Government values the diverse social housing sector in Scotland. We support the community ownership of social housing asset wealth where the landlord meets the required legal, regulatory and financial framework and where it is in the interests of its tenants.

Building regulations already require that, in residential buildings, a proportion of rooms intended to be used as bedrooms must be accessible to a wheelchair user. Guidance offered within the Building Standards Technical Handbooks promotes an inclusive approach to design, generally aligning with the good practice recommendations detailed in British Standard 8300. As such, the ratio of accessible accommodation sought in such buildings is one bedroom in 20, or part thereof, which directly aligns with the one room or five percent (whichever is greater) of the total number of bedrooms recommended within the British Standard.

However, building regulations do not apply to mobile homes or other structures which are capable of being moved from one place or another. Smaller types of accommodation, such as holiday pods, may not be subject to the above provisions. The Standard described above therefore cannot be directly applied to these structures.

Nevertheless, building owners and service providers should be aware of the duties imposed under the reserved legislation of the Equality Act 2010, including a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled people can use a service as close as it can be reasonably possible to a standard usually offered to a non-disabled person. Other policy areas such as development or licensing may also have potential to address this issue.

While this issue goes much wider than the regulatory scope of building standards, I would welcome an opportunity to discuss the matter further to explore potential solutions.

The Energy Consents Unit does not have a target timescale for logging representations. Representations may be made to the Scottish Ministers in line with statutory timeframes set out in public notices, which require to be given in accordance with applicable regulations. Representations are managed such that the material issues raised within are always taken into account before any decision is taken by Scottish Ministers.

All representations submitted within statutory timeframes are logged such that the material issues raised within such representations can be taken fully into account prior to a determination being made on an application.

The Scottish Government is committed to growing and diversifying Scotland's visitor economy, and also to ensuring places across the country can develop, manage and benefit from tourism effectively and responsibly.

In August 2023, I met with SkyeConnect to discuss a range of issues related to the local visitor economy. SkyeConnect have received public sector financial support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for a range of destination development activities, including the development of a post-Covid recovery plan. HIE continue to offer practical support through their existing wide-range of client products and programmes.

In addition, the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill would give councils the power to introduce a visitor levy in all or part of their area to raise funding for local tourism facilities and services. Before a visitor levy could be introduced a local authority will be required to consult with local businesses, communities and tourism organisations.

The Scottish Government would welcome any local tourism management plan that is in line with Scotland Outlook 2030, the national tourism strategy.