Chamber and committees

25 of the 29 buildings we have contacted are from the 80 block 2021 Expressions of Interest group. Once we ascertain consent and key details, we will move to the contracting process.

We have begun the SBA delivery process for 15 buildings using our grant based approach, with an additional 29 contacted to offer directly commissioned assessments.

Since announcing the move to direct procurement for Single Building Assessments, we have tendered for and completed commissioning of an initial test and are using the learning from this to plan the scaling up of the additional surveys announced on 12 May 2022. The initial test procurement now has a fire engineer on site delivering the SBA. We expect costs to range between £20,000 and £100,000 in the first wave of buildings using our direct procurement approach.

The Scottish Government does not hold a breakdown of the requested figures by local authority area. The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership was formed in 2010 and the annual figures from 2011 onwards are shown in the following table:

In 2020-21 academic year, the estimated number of school leavers who self-identified as deaf/having a hearing impairment was 170, which represented 0.6% of all school leavers who were enrolled in college. Of the estimated 680 school leavers recorded for Young Person’s Guarantee funded courses (which began in January 2021), 10 were school leavers who self-identify as deaf/having a hearing impairment, which represented over 1% of enrolments. The number of enrolments in 2020-21 for Kickstart placements cannot be provided due to small numbers.

Advancing equality and inclusion, and working to eliminate discrimination, is central to the Young Person’s Guarantee, ensuring that no one is left behind. Provision is supporting tailored education, training and employment opportunities for young people with protected characteristics across Scotland, including young people who identify as deaf or have a hearing impairment.

Through the Guarantee we have provided colleges with additional funding of £10m per year in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, to enable them to deliver shorter industry focused opportunities for young people, including skills boost and fast track courses, to meet the needs of employers and support economic recovery. We are continuing to engage with the college sectors and key partners to ensure opportunities are targeted at supporting individuals who experience barriers to participating in the labour market, including disabled young people.

It’s important to note that as disabilities and health conditions are self-declared at the point of application, these figures may not provide the total number of deaf school leavers accessing these opportunities. The figures are also estimates based on data returned from colleges.

The site is identified as a national development in the current National Planning Framework 3 (2014). The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) (November 2021) does not propose a national development designation for Cockenzie, however its spatial strategy notes that there are existing assets and infrastructure at coastal former baseload power generation sites that can be repurposed to form the basis of new proposals. At Cockenzie it identifies ongoing work to develop the Climate Evolution Zone.

The comments received through the Parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation processes are being analysed prior to laying a revised NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament in the autumn.

The latest Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service monthly statistics, published on 19 July, show that there were 37,174 scheduled trials at the end of June. It is not possible to state how many of these trials relate to sexual offence cases, due to the data being held on a live case management system that is designed to meet operational needs, rather than provide statistical breakdowns by offence type.

The Scottish Government continues to support justice agencies to address the backlog to ensure cases can be progressed, including sexual offence cases. In 2021-22 we committed an additional £50m to support our ‘Recover, Renew, Transform’ programme for the Criminal Justice System. This included setting up 16 additional solemn and summary courts from September 2021, increasing the system’s capacity to progress cases, including for the most serious offences. We have committed a further £53.2m in 2022-23 for recovery, renewal and transformation activity across the justice system. Recent statistics published by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service demonstrate that measures introduced to address the backlog, including the additional trial courts, are having a positive impact on court throughput, and the total number of scheduled trials outstanding has reduced each month in 2022.

We recognise that sexual offence cases can be particularly distressing to those involved, and we are committed to improving victims’ experiences of the justice system. We understand the value that criminal justice advocacy services offer to victims navigating the system, and that is why - following a competitive bidding process - we are providing Rape Crisis Scotland’s National Advocacy Project with more than £6 million over the next three years, through the Victim Centred Approach Fund. The National Advocacy Project provides invaluable practical and emotional support to victims of sexual crimes throughout the court process.

We have regular ongoing discussion with the Welsh Government on matters relating to cladding remediation, including the recently launched buy-out scheme.

To ensure local authorities had the capacity and resources required to deliver any new policy commitments in the last two years, all new policy or changes to existing policy that had a financial cost for local government were approved through the formal financial governance process which required agreed recommendations from the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Officers’ Settlement and Distribution Group and political sign-off from Scottish Ministers and COSLA political Leaders.

Officials have discussed the site with East Lothian Council in relation to the development of the Draft National Planning Framework 4. The site was last discussed with East Lothian Council in July 2021.