Chamber and committees

Ministers remain committed to exploring the benefits of a four-day working week, which is why the 2022-23 Programme for Government included a commitment to undertake research and advice to improve workplace productivity and wellbeing, including on the delivery of a four-day working week pilot. This work will continue to be informed by experience drawn from similar projects in other countries, and elsewhere in the UK.

Funding allocations for ventilation upgrades and maintenance will be at the discretion of each individual local authority or public body, on the basis of local needs and priorities whilst also fulfilling any statutory obligations where applicable.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12739 on 13 December 2022. 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

Wild harvesting of Wrasse is managed under the licence derogation system introduced following consultation in 2020. In 2021, we added mandatory controls on fishing activity, including obligations for the collection and reporting of data, on a weekly basis, to Marine Scotland. These included minimum and maximum landing sizes, controls on the number and design of traps, a maximum trap lift rate and a prohibition on fishing when water temperature is above 17 degrees. Marine Scotland also require derogation-holders to take observers on board if directed.

This represents a positive step towards sustainable management of this fishery. The time until the next wrasse fishing season begins will enable us to share findings on this fishery and facilitate discussion on next steps.

All of the 16 new R100 subsea cables connecting 15 Scottish islands - Colonsay, Iona, Lismore, Eigg, Eday, Flotta, Hoy, Rousay, Sanday, Shapinsay, Stronsay, Fair Isle, Unst, Whalsey and Yell – were laid during Summer 2022.

Planned post-laying activity is now continuing with work to establish terrestrial connections on those islands underway.

Once we report on the 2021 and 2022 fishing seasons, we will undertake discussions with stakeholders via our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group network in order to help determine the effectiveness of existing management measures, and what if any improvements could be made.

There are already a range of measures in place to protect fish stocks and their habitats, including a network of Marine Protected Areas, controls on fishing gear and catch limits. Work is already underway to develop fisheries management measures for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and protection for the 11 Priority Marine Features most vulnerable to mobile bottom-contacting fishing gears outside of MPAs.

Stakeholder engagement is being undertaken at the moment prior to full public consultation next year. All proposals to manage the MPA network and Priority Marine Features are evidence-led, based on Sustainability Appraisals and underpinned by stakeholder engagement at all stages.

Marine Scotland management measures for wild harvesting of wrasse mean that only licenced and derogated vessels, in possession of a contract with an aquaculture company, may engage in fishing operations for this species. Those who do so are required to provide information on their operations to Marine Scotland. This includes completion of a weekly record of fishing time, location and catch weight and in addition, the number of wrasse landed (by species), the number of fish retained or discarded; and the sizes of fish in the first 20 traps hauled on each trip.

Marine Scotland are currently analysing data gathered from this fishery during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and will publish a report in due course.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of national rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis, and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

The Scottish Government intends to lay an affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument in January 2023 that will seek to amend The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022. Subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament, this amendment will extend the deadline by which existing hosts must apply for a short-term let licence from 1 April 2023 to 1 October 2023.

This is a one-off 6 month extension recognising the wider economic circumstances of the cost of living crisis that is placing pressure on existing short-term let hosts and businesses. It will not unduly delay our primary aim of ensuring that all short-term lets across Scotland meet consistent safety standards and are provided by fit and proper people.

No further flood protection schemes or engineering works have been removed from the list of the 42 formal flood protection schemes since the answer to question S6W-05146.

The 15km value noted in the Strategic Transport Projects Review is representative of the average maximum range from the benchmarking study of similar cities and aligns well with the adjoining urban area of Greater Glasgow. However it is indicative, the exact extents of any Metro system will be for consideration as part of the future business case and design development work to determine.