Chamber and committees

Since being established in the winter of 2020, as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, a total of £33.595 million in support has been distributed from the Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) through our third sector delivery partners, namely Advice Direct Scotland, the Fuel Bank Foundation and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. This includes the full £20 million budgeted for in 2022-23, all of which has been drawn down by delivery partners.

We have agreed an approach to monitoring and evaluation of support provided by delivery partners which seeks to avoid excessive demands for data gathering and reporting, in order to ensure the FIF can be distributed to those most in need. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold this information, although we are aware of the unprecedented demand for support from the Fuel Insecurity Fund, which our partners are providing to households. Based on evaluation reports received to date and ongoing monitoring, we estimate over 100,000 households will have received some form of support.

Further information, including FIF partner publications and evaluations, can be accessed directly on their respective websites linked to below.

The Fuel Bank Foundation - Fuel-Bank-Fuel-Crisis-Report-2023.pdf (fuelbankfoundation.org)

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations – 92717.pdf (sfha.co.uk)

Advice Direct Scotland - Publications – Advice Direct Scotland

The Scottish Government does not hold this information at this level of detail. Latest published Scottish Government annual estimates on demolitions from 1999-00 up to the year 2020-21 are available on the Housing statistics: Conversions and demolitions webpage. This information is provided by local authorities but does not include a breakdown by houses or flats.

Note that these estimates are not considered comprehensive. Estimates of demolitions of local authority housing are thought to be generally accurate, however local authorities differ in their ability to provide comprehensive estimates of demolitions of private sector and housing association homes. As such, these estimates should be considered as the minimum level of demolition activity in Scotland.

Time booking practices are not widely used in the Scottish Government and were not used in the preparation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Costs associated with the development of the strategy mainly relate to staffing. Given the wide range of policy areas which have an impact on biodiversity, a large number of staff will have contributed sometimes quite small amounts of time to developing the strategy, in addition to the small core team for whom the development of the strategy was a primary objective. There were also some direct costs associated with the development of the strategy, including consultation analysis, strategic impact assessment and the design/publication of the draft strategy, all of which have been subject to standard government procurement procedures.

The Scottish Government works closely with local partners to monitor delivery of the affordable housing programme on the ground and to overcome delivery issues where they may arise.

We will continue to work with local authorities in ensuring there is an effective pipeline of potential projects, through their annual Strategic Housing Investment Plans, which look five years ahead. We will also consider options for off the shelf purchases where local authorities identify these as a priority.

The potential impact on affordable housing supply of developer contributions, including through Section 75 agreements, is also reviewed regularly.

Yes, the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG) met on 21 September 2022 and 18 January 2023.

Agendas for HPSG meetings are not published. Following a delay in publishing the minutes of the September meeting online, these can now be found here . The minutes from the January meeting are in the process of being finalised and will be published in due course.

The Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) currently comprises of thirty-seven projects. One school project is complete and eight are currently in construction, with the remainder in development by the local authorities. Projects are delivered locally, with a central programme function consisting of design and technical expertise, as well as budget, programme and risk management to support the programme and continue to foster collaboration. Many of the projects are also working in collaboration with other aspects of the public sector with the inclusion of sports, community, NHS and Police Scotland facilities.

The LEIP is subject to the Gateway Review process. In relation to individual projects, post-project reviews and post-occupancy evaluations are required under the LEIP terms and conditions, learning from which will be collated and disseminated to understand if other elements of the programme can also be expanded across other sectors.

The funding model for LEIP has evolved from the concept of the Growth Accelerator model developed by Scottish Futures Trust and Scottish Government, and adapted for the Learning Estate. The aspects that have worked well from both the Growth Accelerator and Learning Estate models - particularly the premise that central funding is for the outcomes investment can achieve, rather than the investment itself - have then been used in the development of the Green Growth Accelerator model, which is currently in use.

There is no licensing scheme regulating the shooting of woodcock in Scotland. Resident and migratory woodcock can only be shot during the open season, which is between 1 September and 31 January, as set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Outwith these dates, woodcock cannot be taken or killed.

The Learning Estate Investment Programme’s (LEIP) outcomes Governance Board, which is co-chaired by Scottish Government and COSLA, scrutinises all aspects of the LEIP on an ongoing basis.

The LEIP has undergone a Gateway Review Strategic Assessment, the recommendations of which have been implemented across the LEIP. A further Gateway Review will commence this month.

Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) provides expertise, for example, in programme and data management, schools design, as well as commercial and financial modelling, and the Scottish Government engages regularly with SFT on ongoing management of the LEIP. SFT also managed the previous Scotland’s Schools for the Future Programme which saw the construction of 117 new or refurbished schools and benefited over 60,000 pupils across the country.

The Scottish Government understands concerns over the decline of European woodcock populations. At present, all woodcock in Scotland are classed as a quarry species and as such are listed on Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which determines the species that can be killed or taken.

As set out in my response to PQ S6W-14320, NatureScot are currently carrying out a review of Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Once the review has been completed, they will provide a report to the Scottish Government for Ministers to consider whether any changes to the Schedule are required.

Today the Career Review Programme Board, chaired by Grahame Smith, have published the Career Review: Final Report, titled 'Skills and experiences to grow and succeed in a rapidly changing world' . This report concludes a comprehensive review of Scotland's career services and provides detail on how the ten recommendations that the Scottish Government accepted in February 2022 will be taken forward.

The report is available at www.careerreview.scot