Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has spent £37,698 including VAT on administration costs for the Home Energy Efficiency Equity Loan pilot over the current contractual period of 2019 – 2023. The reduction in costs for 2022-2023 reflects the end of the pilot in March 2022 resulting in the closure of the scheme to new applicants.

A Call for Evidence in August 2021 sought feedback on the pilot. The pilot’s findings will inform the Green Heat Finance Taskforce’s deliberations on future finance mechanisms to support the greening of Scotland’s buildings.

Scottish Government officials met with representatives from Scottish Power Renewables on 15 February 2023 to discuss the use of diesel generators at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.

The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter entirely reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.

The Scottish Government has spent £292,985 (inc vat) on administering the SME Loan and Grant Scheme over the period 2019-20 – 2022-23 as set out in the following table. This scheme has provided significant financial support to SMEs in Scotland to decarbonise, improve their energy efficiency, cut energy bills and become more economically competitive over the Scheme’s lifespan.

The Scottish Government does not hold complete information on the expenditure of public money on town centre regeneration in local areas. Local authorities are responsible for delivering local economic development and local regeneration in their areas and public money from the wider public sector will contribute to regeneration of town centres.

While noting that many wider public sector budgets and funds contribute to town centre regeneration, the Scottish Government has provided targeted funding to support regeneration, including in town centres. This includes support available through the:

• Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which includes the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
• Town Centre Fund (TCF).
• Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP); and
• Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF).
  

Allocations to North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk from these funds are in the following tables:

Note: The above RCGF figures include investment awarded to support regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The VDLIP was launched in 2021. The table above includes projects that were awarded funding for regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The above table shows the full allocation of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for each local authority. Each local authority is responsible for developing proposals based on its local regeneration priorities and funding may have been allocated across the local authority.

The Scottish Government, as Sponsor, works closely with ILF Scotland on financial monitoring to ensure that funds are available to meet operational requirements whilst not being provided in advance of need or building up large reserves balances. This is consistent with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. In the current financial year, the Scottish Government has provided £47.72 million to ILF Scotland which covers the funding requirement for 2022-23. Financial reserves, held by ILF Scotland that are in excess of minimum requirements, have been used in addition to funds made available by the Scottish Government to meet operational demands.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, are at the discretion of each individual local authority. Local authorities' approaches to school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, should be compassionate, proportionate, and seek to minimise as far as possible the stigmatisation of children, young people, and their families.

The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 allows for new methods of body disposal and we intend to regulate alkaline hydrolysis (also known as water cremation) for use in Scotland. However, all types of body disposal must be equally safe and dignified. We must move forward in a way that ensures the protection of the environment and the public, maintaining their confidence in the process.

It’s therefore important that regulation of water cremation is subject to a similar regulatory framework as other methods before being introduced. This must also interact with the requirements of environmental regulation and national and local planning policy.

We will soon be publishing a full public consultation as part of this process and we will also continue to work closely with the funeral sector to support its delivery of high-quality services to bereaved families.

The Incidents branch sits within the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit in Food Standards Scotland under the direction of the divisional head. The head of Incidents has a team of six incidents officers, each with varying levels of experience. There are no formal requirements for additional skills above those essential for SG employees and most of the training is provided once within the unit. All officers are trained in ‘decision making’ along with other role specific training.

These officers gather the information provided by experts within Food Standards Scotland with regards to scientific risk assessment and risk management options to advise, guide and assist the local authorities who are the competent authority on the ground.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14838 on 9 March 2023. 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 is aware of the severe pressures which rising energy and other inflation-related costs are putting on the sector. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has established a Ministerial Advisory Group to ensure we collaborate effectively to meet these challenges.

Many of the policy and economic levers that would help reduce the pressures on care homes are reserved to Westminster and the Scottish Government has written on a number of occasions to the UK Government to raise these matters.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with NHS Boards and providers of social care across the Highlands and Islands region to understand the challenges they are facing which include the rise in energy costs.