Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has recently published refreshed guidance on community engagement and consultation in relation to forestry plans and proposals. The purpose of the guidance is to provide greater clarity around the existing engagement and consultation processes during the development and approval of woodland creation schemes, including commercial forestry projects. The document outlines why community engagement and consultation is important, the processes involved in the development and approval of forestry plans and proposals, roles and responsibilities, and the opportunities for communities to be involved in the development of those plans.

Furthermore, the UK Forestry Standard sets out the technical requirements that applicants developing woodland creation schemes, funded under the Forestry Grant Scheme, should meet in terms of opportunities for the new woodland to enhance landscape and biodiversity opportunities and how to mitigate impacts. These requirement also include the need for detailed wildlife, habitat and landscape surveys and assessments where appropriate.

It is the responsibility of the relevant local authority to comply with the provisions of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).

The Scottish Government has a power to call in a proposal to permanently discontinue a school or a stage of education if it appears to Ministers that one of the grounds in section 17(2) of the 2010 Act applies. Where a call-in notice has been issued, Ministers must refer the proposal to the Convener of the School Closure Review Panel.

If Ministers are of the view that a local authority has failed to discharge a statutory duty relating to school education, they may take action under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (“the 1980 Act”) in certain circumstances. Ministers would require evidence of such a failure before taking the action permitted by the 1980 Act.

In addition, Judicial Review may be available in respect of a failure of a public authority to comply with its statutory obligations.

Former employees of Circularity Scotland attended a Deposit Return Scheme Four Nations Interoperability Workshop in Edinburgh on 27 June 2023 following the organisation going into administration to provide insight into their experience of DRS in Scotland. Scottish Government officials have continued to work with staff acting for Circularity Scotland, administrators and partners.

The eligibility criteria of the Tenant Grant Fund was extended in September 2022 to enable local authorities to use the fund to prevent homelessness for households who had built up more recent arrears, including as a result of the cost of living crisis. National monitoring of this fund was completed in June of this year.

Any local authorities with remaining funds are no longer limited to the criteria of the fund, and can use any remaining monies in ways that best meet the needs of tenants in their area.

The advice provided on the Scottish Government website is correct. Home owners may use either sealed battery or mains-wired fire alarms to meet the Tolerable Standard guidance. The Building Standards Domestic Technical Handbook 2022 sets a higher standard requiring two power supplies for new buildings under the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as amended.

Since 1 February 2022, the Tolerable Standard has required every home in Scotland to have interlinked smoke alarms and a CO alarm where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance.

This requirement already applied to new build and private rented properties since 2013. The Tolerable Standard ensures the same level of protection now applies to all tenures, regardless of whether someone owns their home or rents from a private or social landlord.

The Tolerable Standard sets out the following requirements for coverage in every home:

• One smoke alarm installed in the room most frequently used for general daytime living purposes (normally the living room/lounge);

• One smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such as hallways and landings;

• One heat alarm installed in every kitchen;

• All smoke and heat alarms to be ceiling mounted; and

• All smoke and heat alarms to be interlinked.

Having an interlinked system means the occupier will be alerted immediately, regardless of the room in which the alarm is triggered, increasing the chance to escape.

Sealed battery alarms or mains-wired alarms are compliant with the standard. Both types of alarm are interlinked by radio frequency and do not need WiFi.

If battery alarms are used, they must be sealed tamper-proof units and have long-life lithium batteries. Batteries last for the duration of its operational lifespan, which may be up to 10 years or more - although sensors degrade over time.

The Tolerable Standard is a minimum standard, and does not preclude more effective or extensive systems provided that they meet the basic requirement of (a) a secure power source for the lifetime of the unit, and (b) effective means to provide an immediate alert in the event of any part of the system being actuated.

New build homes and homes undergoing refurbishment work that requires a building warrant are required to comply with the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as amended. Guidance on this is set out in the Building Standards Domestic Technical Handbook. This requires that smoke alarms be mains operated with battery back-up and all alarms interlinked.

However, long-life and tamper-proof battery powered alarms have been allowed as part of the Tolerable Standard in recognition that it may not be possible or may be prohibitively costly to install mains powered alarms in existing properties where there is no refurbishment work planned.

The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 does not require local authorities to consult on the removal of subjects from a school’s curriculum offer.

Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities.

While the Curriculum for Excellence provides the overarching framework and sets out the eight curriculum areas, it is a matter for individual schools and authorities to tailor their detailed curriculum offer.

Whilst there are no plans to collect GP waiting time data, Mr Yousaf announced last November the formation of the General Practice Access Group, with a view to understanding the challenges and issues affecting access to General Practice. This group will establish high level core principles to support and enhance patients’ experience of accessing ‘The Right Care, Right Time, Right Place’. Patient groups have been consulted and we expect the group’s work to be published later this summer.

The General Access group will help to build on the findings from the Health and Care Experience survey ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-care-experience-survey-2021-22-national-results/pages/3/) , which seeks out peoples experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and Out of Hours services.

A table showing the number of social and affordable completions by local authority area can be accessed using the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/affordable-housing-supply-programme-completions-updates/

The homes provided through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme comprise homes for social rent, for mid-market rent and for low cost home ownership. These homes take various forms including; new build homes, rehabilitation projects, conversions and off-the-shelf purchases of both new and second hand homes.

Scottish Government officials were in regular discussions with UK Government officials regarding the Internal Market Act (IMA) exclusion process for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Throughout these discussions officials made it clear that not providing a timely and complete exclusion would jeopardise the future of the DRS in Scotland and by extension the viability of Circularity Scotland. Scottish Ministers and officials wrote to UK Ministers a number of times throughout April and May highlighting the risk to the scheme and to Circularity Scotland due to the uncertainty around the IMA exclusion. This included letters from myself on 19 May and from the First Minister on 22 April and 3 May 2023.

We employ methodologies which align to the Scottish Public Finance Manual. These include processes, guidance and techniques for identifying, owning, assessing, reviewing and reporting risks, risk appetite and response.