Chamber and committees

We have committed to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to support growth in zero emissions heat and energy efficiency measures, and to support those least able to pay.

(a) Home Energy Scotland provides up to £15,000 interest-free loans for energy efficiency measures and up to £17,500 for renewables measures. Registered private landlords owning five or fewer properties are eligible for interest free loans, and owners of six or more properties are subject to interest at a rate of 3.5% APR.

We are working with the private rented sector to introduce regulations in 2025 which will require all private rented properties to reach a minimum standard, with a backstop date of 2028. We have also committed to introduce an all-tenure zero emissions heat standard to be phased in for off-gas grid areas from 2025 and on-gas grid areas from 2030, with all buildings meeting this standard no later than 2045. We are establishing a Green Heat Finance Taskforce and will take account of its recommendations ahead of the introduction of regulations, so there is a clear and identified range of financial mechanisms available to support building owners to meet proposed regulatory obligations.

(b) We will review the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2), and are currently considering the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce’s recommendation that this review happen before 2023. We have committed £200 million to the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund over the course of this parliament, investing in a sector that is already leading the way in energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation.

Scotland welcomes international students and recognises the important and valuable contribution they make to institutions, the economy and Scottish society. Hundreds of EU students will be supported to study in Scotland through the new £2.25 million scholarship programme.

A total of 290 places have been allocated to institutions, with an estimated average spend of £7,759 per student. This is based on a split of £4,000 per college place and £8,000 per university place.

On 5 February 2020 the Independent Care Review published its conclusions which became ‘The Promise’ . On the same day the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament agreed to implement all the findings of the Independent Care Review by 2030. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with The Promise Scotland to progress the actions set out in Plan 21-24 and Change Programme ONE .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04361 on
‎ 24 November 2021. 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 Scottish Government will hold a debate in the Scottish Parliament before the end of the year to set out its plan to deliver this commitment.

The plan will detail how every General Practice across Scotland will have access to a Mental Health and Wellbeing Service by April 2026, creating 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and help direct social prescribing.

(a) The latest available information for Recorded crime data is for the financial year 2020-21 and is presented in the following table:

Wildlife crime Recorded by Police Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of pharmacies that have closed over the past 12 months nor reasons for closures. The provision of community pharmacy pharmaceutical care services are the responsibility of territorial Health Boards as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, including pharmacy closures. Each Health Board holds separate data on those community pharmacies that have been unable to deliver pharmaceutical care services due to closures.

Any challenges faced by community pharmacies in ensuring the safe and effective dispensing of treatments should be discussed with the local Health Board to minimise impact and risk to patients.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04288 on

‎ 24 November 2021. 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

Having been driven to extinction, beavers are now again an established part of Scotland’s wildlife, and the Scottish Government recognises that they will play an important role in restoring Scotland’s natural environment. Through their creation of wetland habitats that support a range of species including invertebrates, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. Beaver dams can also play an important role in filtering sediment from watercourses and in mitigating flooding.

We will support trapping and translocation projects as a proactive measure to help establish beaver presence in areas of Scotland outside their current range and beyond areas where it might be expected that natural expansion would reach in the short term. As set out in the Shared Policy Programme, financial and practical support will be made available to facilitate translocation.

NatureScot have played a key role in working with stakeholders to develop our approach to beaver management and build sufficient experience enable us to take this significant step in expanding the beaver range in Scotland. NatureScot will lead on developing a national beaver strategy to direct this work as part our programme to restore and enhance biodiversity across Scotland. We will ask NatureScot to put this new policy direction into effect from the start of the new trapping season in the summer of 2022. This will mean that projects that aim to create new populations of beavers outside their current range will be considered for licenses. As is normal with these types of projects, groups proposing them would be expected to provide support on aspects such as consultation, monitoring and management. Trapping and translocation as a licensed mitigation measure will be carried out by or on behalf of NatureScot.

We will ask NatureScot to examine aspects of trapping and translocation with a view to guidance and streamlining the process. For example there may be scope for expanding the range of techniques and traps employed, as well as reducing some of the current measures and monitoring of beavers trapped and released within Scotland. We will also ask NatureScot how capacity for trapping and translocation can be increased if necessary to support additional demand.

All use of trapping and translocation will continue to be in accordance with animal welfare best practice and in accordance with the IUCN Guidelines and the Scottish Code on Conservation Translocations. Both of these documents emphasise the need for meaningful consultation and the importance of local acceptance of translocated animals. This will remain an important aspect of the Scottish Government and NatureScot’s consideration of translocation proposals.

The Scottish Government understands that through their modification of the environment, beavers can produce negative impacts on some species, on agricultural land, forestry and on infrastructure. Many of these impacts can be reduced or avoided through mitigation measures that allow beavers to remain in situ . NatureScot will continue to provide advice and financial support for such measures for as long as they are required. We will also promote the development of ideas for beaver mitigation techniques employing new technology. Lethal control will continue to be utilised as a management measure where necessary and as a last resort.

In conclusion we look forward to facilitating the expansion of beavers as part of our efforts to restore Scotland’s natural environment while supporting land managers to manage any risks this may pose. We will build on the experience of managing beavers in Scotland learned over the last twelve years or so and enabling the biodiversity and hydrological benefits to be seen over a wider area of Scotland, while continuing to ensure important economic interests can continue to be protected.

We recognise the key role that ferry services play in supporting the economic, social and cultural development of island and remote mainland communities. We continue to invest in maintenance of the current ferry fleet, alongside our programme of new build and port investments.

The maintenance costs for the CalMac fleet in the period of the request are as follows.