We are already delivering 11 benefits, seven of which are new. These include the first major disability benefit, Child Disability Payment, which launched as a pilot on 26 July and will roll out across Scotland on 22 November 2021. The new benefit also marks the start of our complex and large-scale programme of case transfer.

We have ambitious plans for the coming years. Next year we will deliver Adult Disability Payment and extend Scottish Child Payment to all eligible under 16s, subject to DWP cooperation. Last month, we announced further benefit dates including the planned launch of Low Income Winter Heating Assistance in winter 2022 and Pension Age Winter Heating Assistance, provisionally scheduled for winter 2024. We are working with DWP to confirm a launch date for Scottish Carer’s Assistance and will consult this winter on the new benefit.

As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, with a new Ministerial team in post, we will take the opportunity to review our full timetable with our delivery partners in light of what we have learned during COVID-19, to see where there are options to do things differently and more efficiently.

We are removing the overprovision powers from the Licensing Order. Having considered representation made through the 2021 consultation, the Scottish Government is of the view that the powers given to local authorities to establish control areas are sufficient to manage high concentrations of short-term lets, where local authorities wish to do so.

We will publish updated versions of all previously published impact assessments, including an islands communities impact assessment, ahead of the Licensing Order coming into force.

In 2021-22, South Ayrshire Council has been allocated £176,000 from the Ending Homelessness Together Fund. To date, South Ayrshire Council has been allocated an additional £30 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic over and above its regular grant payments. It is the responsibility of individual councils to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

However, South Ayrshire Council has reported that there has not been an increase in homelessness applications and that they are continuing to support people through the system and into settled accommodation as quickly as possible.

The National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) is being delivered through various sector-based projects which will have different application procedures. The data below sets out information on course participants in Year One as far as it is currently available.

In Year One of the NTTF, support for the Aviation sector was provided through Scottish Union Learning. Unite the Union developed a programme which continues this year to enable Aviation workers – many of whom were furloughed - to upskill to help support job retention. This provided a variety of training opportunities for ground and air crew.

In addition, Strand One of NTTF, which was managed by Skills Development Scotland, supported driver training, including Driver CPC, LGV with CPC and PCV with CPC.

In terms of NTTF college delivery, The college figures for 2020-21 are yet to be finalised as collection of college data only concluded on 12 October 2021 and still require to be quality assured before publication as Official Statistics in January 2022.

I have previously advised that a final report on NTTF Year One will be made available this year. As the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) will not publish data until January 2022, I intend to issue a report immediately after the SFC publication is released. I do however, intend to update Parliament in November on anticipated outturns.

We continue to await final confirmed data on college and university based projects, delivery of which continued until the end of the academic year and I hope to provide an update on final anticipated figures for Year One shortly. However, to date, based on available data and anticipated final college and university numbers, at least 7,500 i ndividuals have received training through the programme across a range of sectors including Tourism and Hospitality, Rural, Creative Industries, Aviation and Aerospace.

In Year Two we have broadened the scope of NTTF. While retaining the focus on recovery from the economic impact of Covid-19, we are also supporting sectors affected by Brexit as well as those sectors with significant skills transitions such as the transition to net zero. Year Two data is not yet available.

The level of funding approved by Scottish Government through the Housing Infrastructure Fund for loan and grant between 2016-17 and 2020-21 is shown in the following table.

In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets we have engaged extensively with a range of stakeholders across Scotland, including short-term let hosts and operators and organisations representing their interests, through three public consultations, the Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group and through other meetings with Ministers and officials. Across the three public consultations, we have received over 3,000 responses, of which over half were from hosts and operators, and considered over 1000 letters and e-mails from all types of stakeholders. We have engaged directly with self-caterers, B&B owners and Airbnb hosts. We do not have this data broken down by area.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a comprehensive awareness raising campaign across a range of channels including TV, radio and digital to ensure people are aware of the new legislation and to encourage compliance. This includes material to support third sector stakeholders and leaflets in public libraries. The target audience is all adults in Scotland and the campaign was forecast to reach 95.2% of those.

Because this is a safety measure, we hope most people will see the benefits of it. Local authorities have broad statutory responsibility for tackling substandard housing in their area, and for major defects they can require home owners to carry out work, but any intervention must be proportionate and we do not expect them to go beyond advising home owners about fire alarms. Legislation allows people a reasonable time for bringing homes up to standard. No home owner will be penalised for non-compliance. We will however collect data on fire alarms in Scottish homes in future iterations of the Scottish House Condition Survey.

The Scottish Government has no agreement in place with any preferred installers or providers of interlinked fire alarms.