Chamber and committees

Under current arrangements, applications to sponsor or host under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are made to the UK Government, and processed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Home Office.

The UK Government published data relating to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, but has not published data on numbers of available hosts or sponsors. Published data is available at: Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Scottish Government will be releasing data on matching progress for super sponsor visa holders in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government monitors trends in arrears and repossessions data published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and UK Finance which is collated in the quarterly Scottish Housing Market Review Scottish housing market reviews - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Home Owners Support Fund is a last resort scheme aimed at properties at the lowest 20% of the housing market. Applicants must have either mortgage arrears or have an interest only mortgage that has reached the end of its term and have no appropriate option to either repay the loan or to re-mortgage. There are a range of protections, advice and support services already in place for homeowners and not all of those affected by the current cost of living crisis will apply to the scheme.

The following table shows Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF) budget and expenditure for each of the last six years broken down by Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE). HOSF is a demand led scheme and any difference between budget and actual spend reflects demand in that year and so there is no underspend or carry forward.

An internal review of the Home Owners Support Fund began in the Spring and will complete later this year. If Ministers decide to make any changes to the eligibility or operational arrangements for the scheme updated guidance will be published.

My officials give priority to cases with repossession orders and where a trustee is forcing the sale of a property, the requirement for secured loan payments to be 3 months in arrears will be waived. The Scottish Government does not hold data relating to the number of these types of applications that have been processed.

Confucius Classroom Hubs do not receive funding directly from the Scottish Government or the Chinese Government. Hubs in local authority schools are funded by the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS) via local authorities. Specialist classrooms (such as at Edinburgh Zoo), and Jordanhill School receive their funding directly from CISS.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided CISS with a grant of £490,573. CISS publishes a joint annual report with Scotland’s Centre for Languages (SCILT) which includes information about funding and spending (available at: About Us (scilt.org.uk) ) . According to the 2021-22 annual report, approximately £400,000 was allocated from China in that year.

It is the responsibility of local authorities and schools to choose which languages to teach, and to determine what resources to draw on and partners to work with in order to support learning. Schools and teachers also remain responsible for curriculum making and the teaching in the classroom.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures.

The Scottish Government aims to deliver a strong and consistent enforcement model across Scotland that is fit for purpose, promotes positive behaviours and acts as a proportionate deterrent and effectively stops people from littering and flytipping.

We will publish the final Strategy later this year, taking account of consultation responses.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of fixed penalties issued for the offence of littering, nor information on how many of these have been paid.

This detailed information can be obtained by contacting individual issuing authorities. Authorised officers from Local Authorities, Police Scotland and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park can issue Fixed Penalty Notices for the offence of littering.

Through the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG), work is currently underway to establish the optimal approach to increasing the out-of-hours availability of thrombectomies, the resources required to do so and the appropriate timescales for safely increasing access.

The Scottish Government continues to work with stakeholders to better understand what resources will be required for the development of a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service.

While employment law remains reserved to the UK Government, we will use our Fair Work policy to promote fairer work practices across the labour market in Scotland, including within the renewable energy sector.

We have concluded a public consultation on the action needed for Scotland to become a leading Fair Work nation by 2025. We will publish a refreshed Fair Work Action Plan this year, incorporating the views from our public consultation, and focusing on minority ethnic and disabled people’s employment and the gender pay gap.

Fair Work is a key driver for achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth and a wellbeing economy. Through our flagship Fair Work First policy we are using the Scottish Government’s financial powers to drive fair work practices and achieve our ambition for Scotland to be a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025.

Through the landmark Bute House Agreement, we will strengthen Fair Work conditionality. We will introduce a requirement on public sector grants recipients to pay at least the real Living Wage to all employees and to provide appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, such as trade union recognition, subject to limits on devolved competence.

In the National Strategy for Economic Transformation we have also committed to work with employers and trade unions in sectors where low pay and precarious work can be most prevalent to deliver sectoral Fair Work agreements, that deliver payment of the real living wage, better security of work, and wider "Fair Work First" standards.