Chamber and committees

On 25 March 2026, the then Housing Secretary, Mairi McAllan, announced the Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme. It launched on 1 April 2026.

Due to the pre-election period, which began on 26 March 2026, the Scottish Government was unable to advertise this scheme due to restrictions in Government business and communications activity

Advice Direct Scotland have utilised the heating oil and liquid petroleum gas supplier network and have contacted over 1,600 third sector organisations to raise awareness of the Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00791 on 12 June 2026. 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.

The Care Leaver Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026 state that in order to be eligible for the payment, a young person must have been looked after under section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 on or after their 16th birthday, and they must also have left care or continuing care on or after 1 April 2026.

Only young people who are looked after under section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (and meet the other eligibility requirements) will receive the payment. Section 17(6) includes children who are in looked after kinship care, which means that they have been placed with kinship carers by the local authority. Young people who are subject to an order under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 are not looked after for the purposes of section 17(6) of that Act and are therefore not eligible for the payment.

The purpose of the payment is to help ‘care leavers’ (those looked after in accordance with section 17) overcome financial challenges and to provide additional financial security when they leave care and move on into adulthood and more independent living. Research and feedback from stakeholders show that the leaving care transition point is a large life milestone that may be especially challenging for care leavers, if informal support networks are absent.

The Care Leaver Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026 state that in order to be eligible for the payment, a young person must have been looked after under section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 on or after their 16th birthday, and they must also have left care or continuing care on or after 1 April 2026.

The purpose of the payment is to help ‘care leavers’ (those looked after in accordance with section 17) overcome financial challenges and to provide additional financial security when they leave care and move on into adulthood and more independent living. Research and feedback from stakeholders show that the leaving care transition point is a large life milestone that may be especially challenging for care leavers, if informal support networks are absent.

Section 17(6) includes children who are in looked after kinship care, which means that they have been placed with kinship carers by the local authority. Young people who are subject to an order under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 are not looked after for the purposes of section 17(6) of that Act and are therefore not eligible for the payment.

Whilst this cohort of young people will not be able to access the Care Leaver Payment, they may be entitled to the Care Experience Bursary and universally available support including Job Start Payment, the Scottish Welfare Fund and Universal Credit.

The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of the long-term commercial viability of a ferry service between Rosyth and Dunkirk. The decision to introduce an international ferry service is a commercial consideration for the ferry operator and relevant port authorities, including assessing the long-term viability of a route and the business opportunities which would underpin this.

The Scottish Government and its agencies continue to support the wider development of our ports and the potential for new direct freight and passenger ferry services linking Scotland to Europe. We are happy to work with any ferry operator to explore opportunities to promote a new service.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any modelling of the total financial returns generated from Help to Buy schemes it has previously operated.

The Scottish Government has previously published information on the return made on the Scottish Government’s investment through Help to Buy (HTB) (Scotland) from the launch of the scheme in September 2013 to the end of March 2020.

Help+to+Buy+%28Scotland%29+Return+Report+to+2020.pdf

The receipts from shared equity are driven by the actions of the homeowner and not by Government, therefore it is difficult to make projections regarding the timing of future returns. Historic trends are used to inform forecasting and planning.

The annual Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts include estimates of the fair value of Housing Shared equity held by the Scottish Government as at 31 March. This includes equity held from Help to Buy schemes, Open Market Shared Equity, New Supply Shared Equity and First Home Fund, the value is modelled using the House price index to estimate the change in property value.

The Scottish Government’s position is that Scottish universities should consider compulsory redundancies only as a last resort, after all other cost-saving measures have been fully explored.

Presuming the question refers to Scotland’s universities, these institutions are autonomous bodies with responsibility for their own operational decision making, including in relation to their use of cash reserves and decisions regarding redundancies. The Scottish Funding Council is responsible for monitoring compliance of universities with Fair Work principles through annual reporting and accounts, and as part of their Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model, and considers any appropriate interventions to support compliance. The Scottish Government’s position is that Scottish universities should consider compulsory redundancies only as a last resort, after all other cost-saving measures have been fully explored.

The Scottish Government respects the independence of Local Government and the role of individual local authorities – as independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities – to manage their own budgets and workforce, including in relation to outsourcing of specific roles or services. As such, the Scottish Government has not made any assessment of the impact of outsourcing by local authorities. However, the Scottish Government would expect all local authorities to make decisions that meet their responsibility to secure value for money.

Scotland’s universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own operational decision making and compliance with employment law, which remains a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998. Through its engagement with the university sector, the Scottish Government has made clear its expectation that compulsory redundancies should be considered only as a last resort, after all other cost-saving measures have been fully explored.

In line with its statutory responsibilities, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) continues to monitor and seek assurances from Scottish universities regarding their compliance with the SFC’s Financial Memorandum, which is required as a condition of grant funding.