Chamber and committees

Following the initial data collection exercise in December 2023 on the presence of RAAC in social housing, the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) published an update to the original figures at the end of March 2024.

This provides information on the number of social homes identified as containing RAAC and how many were still under investigation. At that time 1,994 homes were identified with RAAC present across 13 social landlords and 8,311 homes were still under investigation. The findings are available on the SHR website. Regulator publishes further update on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in social housing | Scottish Housing Regulator.

SHR are shortly undertaking further data collection and will release their updated findings in the coming weeks. In April, SHR published their Engagement Plans for every social landlord in Scotland, setting out why they are working with a landlord and what the landlord needs to do. Within these Plans, SHR has set out how they will engage with social landlords who have identified RAAC in their housing.

The Aviation Statement focusses on new actions where the Scottish Government can make a meaningful contribution to growing Scotland’s direct international connectivity, securing lifeline services in the Highlands and Islands and contributing to decarbonising aviation. The Memorandum of Understanding with Heathrow airport is designed to ensure that any expansion of Heathrow approved by any UK Government results in significant job creation and investment opportunities in Scotland. As this has not changed, and as Heathrow expansion is not approved or underway, even though the new UK Government may support it, there was no need to include it in the Aviation Statement.

The Scottish Government’s response to the UK Climate Change Committee's report, including its recommendation on Air Departure Tax, will be published shortly.

We continue to explore all options to implement Air Departure Tax in a way that protects Highlands & Islands connectivity and complies with the UK Government’s subsidy control regime. We will set out the high-level principles of ADT, including how it will support emissions reductions, and will proceed with more detailed policy development as soon as possible.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has provided Revenue and Capital Grant support to Scottish Canals as follows:

It is the responsibility of Scottish Canals to ensure that the maintenance and improvement of the canal network is resourced from its allocated budget and aligned to the aims of its Asset Management Strategy.

Following recommendations made in the research report on women and girls' safety on public transport, a number of actions are being taken forward. These include:

Transport Scotland officials are continuing to work with colleagues across Government to ensure that specific actions in development to tackle antisocial behaviour on bus take into account the safety of women and girls.

ScotRail, Network Rail and British Transport Police are working together with stakeholders to deliver a wide range of activity to reduce anti-social behaviours across the rail network. For example, ScotRail established a Travel Safe Team, made up of 24 officers and 3 supervisors, in 2023. The team work mainly across the central belt and in the southwest and ScotRail are looking into how it can be expanded. The team promote safe behaviours as much as challenge bad behaviour. They engage closely with customers and staff to identify issues; this is then followed by targeted engagements e.g. they will spend time talking with (and maybe travelling with) people to explain the importance of buying tickets and the benefits of considerate behaviour to everyone.

All ScotRail train carriages are fitted with CCTV. All but two ScotRail stations have CCTV. The two stations without CCTV are on private land and legal issues are currently being worked through. Of the ScotRail stations that have CCTV 246 are monitored continuously within control centres. Waverley has its own CCTV system and control room. Glasgow Central has plans to update its CCTV, which is out of date, but it does not have a dedicated and staffed control room for monitoring it.

ScotRail are investing in increasing numbers of body worn cameras and encourage staff to wear them. They are working to persuade Trade Unions in particular of their benefits.

Advertising campaigns and literature on board trains and at stations highlight ways to report incidents to the British Transport Police, for example via the Text 6-101-6 service or by reporting via the Railway Guardian app.

Transport Scotland is writing to Scottish Rail Holdings to draw attention to the research recommendations, and asking that the recommendations be taken forward. Transport Scotland will also circulate the report from the stakeholder event hosted by Transport Scotland in December 2023 and the research report to bus and ferry operators to highlight the recommendations. The report from the stakeholder event can be found on the Transport Scotland website here:

Women's Safety on Public Transport Workshop: Next steps to ensure a safer public transport system for women and girls in Scotland.

Transport Scotland will publish a page on the Transport Scotland website which will feature the Principles that have emerged from the stakeholder event and provide links to other relevant information produced by Transport Scotland and partner organisations.

Transport Scotland will report on progress of the research recommendations on an annual basis to coincide with 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, and also as part of reporting on the National Transport Strategy.

Transport Scotland will continue to work with Violence Against Women and Girls colleagues across the Scottish Government to support the sharing of good practice in relation to progress on the principles. Transport Scotland will also publish research which explores literature around the use of personal safety apps for use in public spaces, particularly on public transport.

In addition, the Cabinet Secretary held a round table with rail delivery partners and stakeholders to ensure collaboration on measures that will increase the safety of passengers and staff. 

Transport Scotland also work with the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) to support sharing best practice amongst bus operators.

Between 1999 and 2023, 28 of the 32 Local Authorities transferred funds into their Housing Revenue Account. It is important to note that Ministerial consent is not necessarily required for such transactions and would depend on the fund from which the transfer was made. Ministerial consent has been requested and granted by the following local authorities:

• Midlothian Council – 2022-23 – use of capital grant to meet HRA loans fund repayments (as part of the Local Government pay deal)
• West Dunbartonshire Council – 2022-23 – use of capital grant to meet HRA loans fund repayments (as part of the Local Government pay deal)
• Falkirk 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 - hostel grant transfer
• East Ayrshire Council – 2012-13 - transfer from the repairs and renewal fund to the HRA for 5 years
• Stirling Council – 2009-10 - use of Capital Grant for Homelessness Hostel
• Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – 2006-07 - closure of HRA & transfer of reserves
• Edinburgh Council – 2006-07 - transfer from Repairs and Renewals Fund
• West Dunbartonshire council – 2005-06 – transfer from Housing Trading Account to HRA

Consent was also provided on an all-Scotland basis in 2023-24 to allow local authorities a specific flexibility to replace revenue reserves earmarked for capital purposes with capital grant, thereby allowing the release of those revenue reserves to meet the costs of the 2023-24 Local Government pay award.

Following the signing of the Developer Commitment Letter by nine developers in 2023, work has been ongoing on the development of the Developer Remediation Contract. We are continuing to work at pace on the Contract to ensure alignment with the Housing (Cladding Remediation) Scotland Act 2024 and the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification, which was published in June 2024. We appreciate the desire from developers to receive a draft contract and we will share this as soon as we are able.

As confirmed by the then Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy in December 2023, the Scottish Government will share with the Economy and Fair Work Committee its assessment of the economic contribution of the Grangemouth refinery. This assessment will be published shortly.

Special Advisers in the Scottish Government are paid using the following Pay Bands and Pay Ranges which are effective from 1 April 2024:

The terms of Special Adviser contracts of employment are reserved to the UK Government. Those contracts include a requirement that severance payments are made to special advisers where their employment is terminated in the circumstances where a First Minister demits office, or on the dissolution of Parliament prior to a Scottish Parliamentary election. The value of severance payment due is dependent on an individual’s length of service and range from the equivalent of 3 months’ pay up to a maximum of 6 months’ pay.However, payment of severance is subject to agreement that should an individual be reappointed as a special adviser, they will repay any severance pay less the amount of salary they would have been paid had they been employed during the period between the termination of the previous contract and re-appointment on a fresh contract. Therefore the amount of severance to be repaid upon reappointment varies depending on the length of time between termination of employment and later reappointment. The following table sets out for each of the last 5 years to July 2024, the net cost of severance payments once the approximate level of repayments received are taken into account for those who were reappointed: