Chamber and committees

Following the announcement on the Islands Housing Fund, the Scottish Government issued a news release in September 2016 to confirm availability of the Fund. Information on the fund is also available on the Scottish Government website, including links to a number of projects that have already completed homes. Presentations have been made by the Scottish Government at relevant rural housing events, including Community Land Scotland Conference, Rural and Islands Housing Association Forum conference and two Rural Housing Scotland conferences. The stakeholder group for the development of our Rural Housing Fund, which comprises a wide range of stakeholders representing the housing sector, has also promoted the availability of the Fund. The Scottish Rural Network, local authorities and partner organisations regularly promote the opportunity directly to communities.

A total of 16 homes have been approved through the Islands Housing Fund, with seven complete. A further 20 projects have been assisted with feasibility support and overall £1,343,551 has been allocated towards Island Housing Fund projects.

The Scottish Government has continued to have regular engagement with Orkney Islands Council since 2016 regarding the resources available to the Council for the delivery of affordable homes in Orkney. Scottish Government and Orkney Islands Council officials work closely together to maximise the delivery of affordable housing on the islands. Orkney has an agreed Strategic Housing Investment Plan and continues to deliver various housing options for Orkney communities with both mainstream affordable housing supply programme and the Islands Fund.

A total of £136,377 from the Islands Housing Fund has been spent in Orkney since 1 April 2016.

Rural Housing Scotland was one of the organisations on the rural housing sounding group that helped inform the fund set up and guidance. The group was reconvened in autumn 2017 to discuss progress of the fund and to provide comments on the guidance. Rural Housing Scotland did not put forward any specific changes to the written guidance at that time. The rural housing sounding group is due to meet again in autumn 2019 to further look at the operation of the fund and guidance. There are around 250 homes in the pipeline which have had initial feasibility funding and are now working through the detail of securing planning, building warrants, tenders and starting on site. The evidence from project applications does not support the statement that there are substantial barriers to using the funds. However, by their nature rural housing projects can take considerable time from concept to delivery, whether supported through the funds or otherwise.

In respect of other settings and through the quarterly reporting templates agreed with Integration Authorities (IAs), we have specifically asked what recruitment is being undertaken, the roles involved and where exactly the workers will be based.

The level of detail received from the IAs in respect of this request has been varied. Some areas have provided specific detail on the roles of the workers to be recruited and where they will be based (for example support workers recruited through the third sector to work in a community hub providing an out of hours service).

However some areas have only provided a general statement around the initiatives they are looking to develop and how this will assist people in mental health crisis/distress. One of the reasons for this is because they are still in the planning stages for these (as with the key settings of the commitment) for years three and four of Action 15.

Policy officials however remain in constant dialogue with IAs on their recruitment plans under this commitment and a fourth quarterly update will be published in November 2019.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. These initiatives aim to raise awareness of cybercrime and fraud, and provide advice to help people improve their online and telephone safety. I would encourage everyone to make the most of the resources available in order to protect themselves online.

The Scottish Government supports the efforts of Police Scotland and partners to tackle fraud and cybercrime, and reduce the harm such crimes inflict upon communities across Scotland. The investigation of fraud and cybercrime is an operational matter for Police Scotland and you may wish to contact them directly for an update on their investigative and fraud prevention work on the Orkney Islands.

I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of fraud or cybercrime to report it to Police Scotland by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.

We've been considering the consultation responses and engaging with stakeholders, and partners, to refine the National Action Plan on Neurological Conditions, which will be published in final form later this year.

The following table shows laboratory confirmed reports in Scotland of Borrelia burgdorferi , the bacteria which causes Lyme disease , reported to Health Protection Scotland (HPS) June 2014 to May 2019 in each NHS board area by year