Chamber and committees

We are currently refreshing the Local Housing Strategy guidance to make sure realistic targets are set at local level for the supply of wheelchair housing reflecting local needs and priorities. It is for local authorities to asses need and to identify an appropriate target for the provision of new accessible housing within individual areas.

We will be working with local authorities and other stakeholders including disabled people and the organisations that represent them to implement this approach.

As part of our action plan to 2021 we will ask local authorities to report annually on the supply of wheelchair accessible housing in their area.

We have made it clear to local authorities and housing associations that grant subsidy arrangements for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme should not be a barrier that prevents specialist housing, identified by local authorities as a priority, from being built.

Most of the homes provided through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme will be built to Housing for Varying Needs Standards and will be sufficiently flexible to meet people's varying needs. Latest available statistics show that 91% of homes built by housing associations and councils in 2016-17 met Housing for Varying Needs Standards.

This is a matter for individual local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

In our Fairer Scotland Action Plan, we committed to developing a Financial Health Check service which will offer a personalised service to maximise incomes for older people in retirement. In October 2017, we ran the “You’ve Earned It, Why Not Claim It?” social marketing campaign aimed specifically at older people to encourage increased uptake of benefits. We provided funding of £20,320 to Citizens Advice Scotland to support a pilot to test the use of a Financial Health Check targeted at older people in bureaux over four weeks in November 2017. We are currently considering the best way to extend the Financial Health Check later this year to more older people and low income families based on the learning from the evaluation of the pilot.

The Scottish Government spends over £250 million a year to support the bus industry, allowing operators to keep fares at affordable levels, and provide free bus travel to older and disabled passengers. We also provide support to local authorities via the block grant so that they can support necessary bus services. Local Authorities spent over £50 million on services in 2016-17. We are also seeking to introduce free bus travel for young carers in receipt of the planned Young Carer Grant (16-17 years old and up to 18 years old if still in school) and three months free bus travel for recipients of the proposed Job Grant (aged between 16 and 24 years) once these benefits come into force.

The Scottish Government also meets around two thirds of the cost of running the railway in Scotland. We regulate rail fares to help make rail more affordable for all. Annual fares increases for regulated fares are limited to the level of inflation (as measured by the Retail Price Index) or below. In addition, it is a commitment contained in the ScotRail Franchise Agreement that unemployed job seekers who are not in full-time education have the opportunity to receive up to two free Return Fares each month for travel to and from job interviews and a free monthly Season Ticket if they are successful in securing a job.

Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) ferry fares have been introduced on the west coast, bringing significantly lower fares for passengers, cars, small commercial vehicles and coaches. RET has resulted in a welcome increase in passenger numbers and improved access to affordable ferry travel.

The Air Discount Scheme aims to address the issue of high air fares in the Highlands and Islands by providing a 50% discount on core air fares for residents of the eligible area on eligible routes.

It is the responsibility of each local authority to provide local facilities for sport and leisure, and to set a fair pricing structure for these facilities. sport scotland undertake an annual review of local authority charges for sports participation in Scotland which can be found at https://sportscotland.org.uk/about-us/our-publications/archive/charges-for-sports-facilities/ .

Through sport scotland, we have committed up to £50 million to be invested in our Active Schools programme between 2015-19. Active Schools aims to provide more and higher quality opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime and after school, and to develop effective pathways between schools and sports clubs in the local community. We have seen the number of young people participating in Active Schools rise from 270,691 in academic year 2013-14 to 293,878 in academic year 2016-17 – a rise of 8.6% in 3 years. This programme has a key focus within areas of deprivation in support of our ambitions to raise attainment. The latest analysis of data by sport scotland indicates that the Active Schools model of providing free and low-cost opportunities has been very successful in addressing the inequalities in participation between the areas of lowest and highest multiple deprivation seen in many other sport and physical activity programmes.

The Scottish Government wants to make Scotland the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. The implementation of the National Parenting Strategy published in October 2012, is key to driving this ambition.

Nearly six years on from publication, we have made significant progress around commitments on extending the provision of early learning and childcare, improving access to co-ordinated family support, widening access to relationship support, developing the PlayTalkRead campaign, offering Family Nurse Partnership and Triple P on a wider basis – which all aim to make a real, practical difference for families.

Through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund the Scottish Government has awarded £15 million in 2018-19 to 119 organisations which support children, families and communities across Scotland, of these, 21 are for organisations in the area of parenting and family support with funding of over £4 million. This funding has also recently been confirmed for 2019-20.

The Rental Income Guarantee Scheme (RIGS), launched last year, is part of a wider package of Scottish Government measures to support growth and attract investment in the emerging Build to Rent sector in Scotland. RIGS has sent a strong signal to investors and landlords about the Scottish Government’s commitment to growing the sector. By improving investor sentiment towards Build to Rent in Scotland, it is helping to create the conditions for an expansion in the supply of good quality, purpose-built, professionally managed homes for private rent, in order to increase the quality, choice and services in housing for private renting tenants in Scotland.

The information requested is not held centrally. The member may wish to contact the Scottish Library Information Council which provides advice to local authorities and supports improvements in public libraries across our local authorities. Pamela Tulloch, Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Library Information Council, may be contacted on:-

Pamela Tulloch

Scottish Library and Information Council

Turnberry House

Suite 5.5, 175 West George Street

Glasgow

G2 2LB

Tel: 0141 202 2999

Email:- [email protected]

No single body operates the provision of homes at mid-market rents as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. Mid-market rent homes are mainly provided by subsidiaries of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), and in some cases by Charitable Trusts.

The new national minimum school clothing grant has been set at £100 and it will be made available to eligible families in time for the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

We know the cost of a school uniform can be considerable for families, and we are delighted to have secured agreement with CoSLA and Scottish local authorities on the introduction of this grant.