Chamber and committees

Our Fuel Poverty Act is the most ambitious fuel poverty legislation in the UK, setting us challenging but achievable targets, that in 2040 no more than 5% of households are fuel poor, and no more than 1% are in extreme fuel poverty. As required by the 2019 Fuel Poverty Act, a new statutory Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel was established from January 2022. The panel is an advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) which will oversee the implementation of the Fuel Poverty Strategy, providing an important means of external scrutiny of our progress towards meeting the statutory targets.

As the 2019 Act requires the Scottish Government to formally consult with the panel on the strategy, we are presently working with them to seek their views in relation to appropriate next steps. The panel are also working collaboratively with the Poverty and Inequality Commission to inform advice for Scottish Ministers.

We are committed to tackling fuel poverty – not least by delivering on our Fuel Poverty and Heat in Buildings Strategies, which will help make homes warmer, greener and cheaper to run. We will invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to insulate and install modern climate-friendly heating in homes and other buildings. This year alone (2022-23) we have allocated £336 million to heat, energy efficiency and fuel poverty measures including £119m targeted at fuel poor households. Our Warmer Homes Scotland fuel poverty scheme has its highest ever annual budget of £55 million, with recently revised eligibility criteria making a further 110,000 households eligible for support across Scotland. In addition, the Programme for Government commits us to using our Emergency Budget Review to double the value of our Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million, to ensure support continues to be available to people affected by rising energy costs who may be unable to afford their fuel bills this winter. Also subject to the emergency budget review, we will be investing an additional £5 million in Discretionary Housing Payments and allowing local authorities flexibility to use them to help with energy costs as well as rent payments.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products that strike a balance between protecting all non-smokers from the potential harms of vaping, while still providing existing adult smokers with the information they need to make an informed choice on cessation. The responses from this consultation together with the analysis report and responses from the consultation as part of the 2016 Act are informing and shaping the final vaping restriction regulations. In addition findings from the consultation will be used to inform the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan, which is due to be published in 2023. In the meantime we will be working to ensure people better understand the risks around vaping. We will also continue to work with the UKG over joint approaches such as further regulation of flavourings.

Please see the following table of contracts which have been awarded so far by year, as part of the National Care Service Programme.

Currently, there is no additional budget specifically allocated for procuring external advice from private companies, although the National Care Service Programme will retain flexibility to procure external expertise as necessary to deliver the National Care Service.

Scottish Government analysts are considering options for increasing our understanding of the nature and level of unmet need in adult social care, and will continue to engage with external partners to develop appropriate approaches and deliver new insights over the coming months.

I regularly meet with and engage directly with island communities to seek their views on the provision of ferry services and areas which the travelling public are keen to see improvements.

This work will be carried out as part of the preparatory work for the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract. We are committed to ensure that the views and perspectives of key stakeholders and communities are considered, reflected upon and help shape the detail within the next CHFS contract.

This decision was taken on 14 September.

There are more than 1,200 social care providers across Scotland, with local authorities responsible for providing or commissioning services. Local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships will wish to ensure that, in providing a range of services, their workforce planning arrangements take full account of the need to have safe and sustainable numbers of staff.

To maximise capacity to meet demand, and maintain integrated health and social care services throughout autumn and winter, our winter plan highlights the additional funding of £528 million allocated directly to Health and Social Care Partnerships for 2022 23. This funding was aimed at the following social care measures:

• £124 million to enhance care at home

• £144 million to support the December 2021 uplift to £10.02, as well as a   further -

• £200 million to increase the minimum hourly rate of pay in adult social care

• £20 million to support interim care arrangements

• £40 million to enhance multi-disciplinary teams

• Waiving fees for mandatory PVG checks for new entrants to social care

• Extension of the Social Care Staff Support Fund to 31 March 2023, to ensure   that social care workers absent with Covid-19 receive their full pay

Alongside this, SG have established a social care winter planning working group, to consider a number of potential/feasible options to ease the current pressures in the Adult Social Care Sector in advance of the winter period 2022-23. Local government are among those represented on this group.

To help alleviate the current pressures in social care, we are working with partners to scope out and design localised support with recruitment for the winter period. This will include marketing assets which can be adapted to meet local needs, and providing more in-depth support with recruitment where capacity to recruit is a barrier. This work is being taken forward in collaboration with key stakeholders representing the sector.

The Scottish Government will carry out the review required by section 41 of the EU Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021. This Act requires Ministers to review and consult on the effectiveness of the governance arrangements introduced by the Act, access to justice on environmental matters and whether the establishment of an environmental court could enhance the environmental governance arrangements. The report has to be presented to the Parliament within six months of Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) adopting its first full strategy.

The ESS strategy has recently been laid in the Parliament and is expected to be published shortly, subject to the Parliamentary process. The review is planned to be published and the subsequent consultation to be launched in spring 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a new right to a healthy environment as a part of the planned Human Rights Bill.

The Scottish Government sees the only place for vaping is as a possible aid to help existing smokers from using tobacco, they are not a lifestyle accessory for children or adult non-smokers. We recently published our consultation analysis on proposed restrictions on vaping products and are aiming to bring forward new regulations in the New Year. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

The majority of Integrated Joint Board reserves are earmarked for specific purposes, in particular the ongoing response to COVID-19 and cannot be used to fund new spending commitments.

Further Covid funding has not been available from the UK Government for Covid related pressures in 2022-23.

Further work will be carried out to assess the amounts to be re-couped from IJBs in line with Covid requirements

More than £1.6 billion has been provided for social care and integration in 2022-23in addition to support for Covid, and we are committed to increasing spend in social care by at least 25% by the end of this Parliament, an increase of over £840 million.