Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how it will take into consideration (a) legally binding net-zero emissions targets and (b) the aspirations of its Biodiversity Strategy when deciding on national developments to be incorporated into National Planning Framework 4.The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 sets out six outcomes to which a future National Planning Framework (NPF) should work towards, including meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and securing positive effects for biodiversity. We are developing proposals for radical change to our national planning policies and spatial strategy to support a transition to net zero by 2045 and economic recovery, as well as adaptation to the long term impacts of climate change. Our spatial strategy will explore how we can promote nature-based solutions to climate change, including woodland expansion and peatland restoration, which protect and restore biodiversity and deliver wider benefits.

We published our criteria for analysing national developments in January 2020 and issued an open call for nominations during our early engagement programme. We are considering all nominations received. The draft National Planning Framework 4, including details of proposed national developments, will be laid in Parliament in autumn 2021. Extensive public engagement will run alongside Parliament’s consideration of the draft and will provide further opportunity for anyone to comment on proposed national developments, or alternatives to them.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government does not presently provide funding specifically for Build to Rent developers and operators, and therefore there is no budget line allocated for this purpose.

The criteria for analysing national developments was published in January 2020 as part of our Call for Ideas early engagement programme. The four criteria are: reducing emissions; supporting health, wellbeing, sustainability and quality of life of our population; reducing poverty and inequality through sustainable economic growth; and protecting or enhancing quality of place.

We are currently assessing the national developments suggested to us against those criteria alongside the development of the strategy, which national developments will help to deliver. We are also undertaking a range of statutory and non-statutory impact assessments which will inform our consideration. The draft National Planning Framework 4, including details of proposed national developments, will be laid in Parliament in autumn 2021. Extensive public engagement will run alongside Parliament’s consideration of the draft and will provide further opportunity for anyone to comment on the proposed national developments, or alternatives to them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00713 on
23 June 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The full information requested is not held centrally.

Some information is available from figures published from the Scottish Household Survey. This includes estimates of the length of time that households have been on a housing list in each of the years 2016 to 2019, by length of time category, available in Table 3.16d at https://scotland.shinyapps.io/sg-scottish-household-survey-data-explorer/ . These figures are not available by local authority due to sample size limitations. Note that Table 3.16d provides details of households currently on housing lists, and not information on households who have been rehoused. The figures are summarised in Table 1 below for each year between 2016 to 2019.

Table 1: Scottish Household Survey: Estimated length of time that households have been on a housing list, by length of time category, 2016 to 2019 (figures are presented as column percentages)

Note: Percentages in the table have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Zero values are shown as a dash (-), values greater than 0% but less than 0.5% are shown as 0%, and values of 0.5% but less than 1% are rounded up to 1%. In line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics base numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Source: Scottish Household Survey: data explorer Table 3.16d: Households on a housing list by tenure - How long the household has been on a housing list (households on a list)

The Scottish Household Survey figures are based on the proportion of households reporting to be on any type of housing list, which will include housing association lists as well as council lists, and include households who are already living in the social rented sector who are looking to transfer to another social rented home, as well as households looking to move into social rented properties from other housing tenures. Note also that the survey figures presented will be subject to sampling variation.

The Scottish Government is committed to action to protect and restore our biodiversity and to the effective monitoring of progress towards this goal. The Scottish Government has recently added a new single high level indicator to the National Performance Framework which measures trends in marine and terrestrial biodiversity in Scotland.

We have committed to introducing an ambitious new Biodiversity Strategy for Scotland within a year of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (CoP15) and the publication of a new global biodiversity framework. Policies to take forward our commitment to tackle the nature crisis and methods to measure progress in this regard will be considered as part of the development of this Strategy and its supporting delivery plan.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of occasions police have responded to a call regarding a person experiencing a mental health crisis.

We are committed to community wealth building in Scotland that will help deliver a stronger, more resilient and sustainable wellbeing economy.

One of the five pillars of community wealth building is the socially productive use of land and property which considers land not solely for its economic use, but also its social and ecological potential. More progressive use of land and property assets can have a significant impact on the fortunes of local people and enterprise, empowering communities to develop the land or asset as they see fit for the benefit of their local area. This requires us to think not just in terms of ownership and use, but also about stewardship for future generations.

The Scottish Government are committed to community wealth building and for the first time have appointed a Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth. The Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform and Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, who will lead on community wealth, will work together throughout this Parliamentary session. The Programme for Government commits us to grow community wealth building (CWB) in Scotland as part of our commitment to building a stronger, more resilient and sustainable economy.

We plan to double the Scottish Land Fund to £20 million per year by the end of this Parliament. This can facilitate more opportunities for communities seeking to explore the acquisition of land/assets and also the actual acquisition of land/assets.

As set out in our manifesto, we will introduce a new Land Reform bill in the current session.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00258 on 7 June 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.