Chamber and committees

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) is a National Statistics publication for Scotland and includes statistics on fuel poverty, energy efficiency, the condition of housing, the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) and other key descriptors of the occupied housing stock in Scotland.

The 2015 survey indicated that 748,000 households were in fuel poverty in 2015, almost 100,000 fewer than in 2014. Whilst the Scottish Government welcomes this reduction, we know there is much more work to be done. The Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group and the Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force both published reports with collectively over 100 recommendations and we will formally respond to their recommendations in February 2017. Both reports are the first step in the development of our new fuel poverty strategy, including a new overarching fuel poverty target, which we will consult on later this year.

The SHCS results demonstrate that there has been a long term improvement in energy efficiency of Scottish homes. The share of the most energy efficient dwellings (rated C or above) has increased by 74% since 2010. Through Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP), we will build on this success and accelerate improvements across all buildings in Scotland. SEEP will start from 2018. We are committed to investing more than half a billion pounds in energy efficiency and combating fuel poverty through SEEP over the next four years, setting out a clear commitment to develop this programme with substantial annual public funding.

The SHCS found that the level of disrepair in Scottish homes remained unchanged since the previous year. In 2015, 73% of all dwellings had some degree of disrepair. This includes fairly minor and non-urgent disrepairs. The SHCS found that 2% of homes are below the tolerable standard – this is the statutory minimum standard for homes to be fit for human habitation. There is a longer term trend of improvement in homes that fall below tolerable standard and 2015 levels represent a drop of nearly two percentage points since 2012. Minimum standards are required in social and private rented housing and local authorities have a range of powers to enforce work needed on all homes that are below tolerable standard or otherwise substandard, and discretionary powers to provide assistance. The Scottish Government requires local authorities to produce a local housing strategy which must, in particular, set out how they will address houses that do not meet the statutory tolerable standard, and their strategy for providing assistance for improving homes.

The Scottish Government is currently piloting a scheme to provide equity loans to home owners to help carry out essential repairs and energy efficiency improvements.

The Scottish House Condition Survey Key Findings Report 2015 estimated that 52% of homes in Scotland have some disrepair to critical elements of the dwelling. The condition of critical elements is central to a dwelling being wind- and weather proof, structurally stable and safeguarded against further rapid deterioration. The presence of disrepair does not mean that a home is not wind- and water-tight. This includes fairly minor and non-urgent disrepairs.

Scottish Ministers are committed to improving the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes. We have allocated over £650 million to households across Scotland since 2009 and, under Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP), we will make available a further half a billion pounds over the next four years to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency. This means that by the end of 2021 we will have committed over £1 billion to making our homes and buildings warmer and cheaper to heat.

The recently announced expansion of the existing support package for eligible taught postgraduate students was informed by an independent review, led by Professor Bryan McGregor of Aberdeen University, of Scottish Government support for taught postgraduate study. The review’s scope did not include consideration of introducing new support for research postgraduate courses.

We will monitor the impact of changes to the support format for taught postgraduate study on students and universities, with a view to considering the potential for further refinement of the programme in future, in dialogue with representatives of both students and universities.

The Scottish Government receives regular feedback from local authorities about the interactions between the Scottish Welfare Fund and reserved benefits and we are aware of the increased pressure on the Fund as a result of the UK Government’s welfare reforms, including the roll out of Universal Credit which remains reserved. Although we can never fully mitigate the impact of the UKG Government’s welfare cuts, we are taking action to support those affected, including introducing new flexibilities around Universal Credit payments. On 16 January we launched a consultation exercise on the draft Universal Credit regulations which will offer people the choice on the frequency of payments and on the ability to pay the housing costs of Universal Credit direct to landlords. This is an important improvement, made by the Scottish Government, to the DWP approach which will enable people in Scotland to decide how best to manage their budget in a way which suits their personal circumstances.

Bumblebees, butterflies and moths are subject to regular, structured monitoring in Scotland. This monitoring is undertaken by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation and the Light Trap Network (Rothamsted) respectively.

Use is also made of the UK indicator D1c Status of pollinating insects: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-6851 and the Scottish indicator Terrestrial insect abundance: Butterflies http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/B424909.pdf

The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has recently been awarded a three year contract by DEFRA to develop a pollinator monitoring scheme. The contract has a GB/UK scope and will make use of existing volunteer networks.

We are currently in discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding potential funding for this project. I will ensure that the Member is updated once a decision has been made.

The Pollinator Strategy for Scotland 2017–2026 and associated Implementation Plan are currently being finalised by SNH, in conjunction with key organisations linked to pollinator conservation. The objective is to have the Strategy and Implementation Plan published in Spring 2017.

Both Work First and Work Able have eligibility criteria, and key indicators and standards will determine the level of service every customer should receive, such as integrated skills and health support according to individual needs. These will be underpinned by the quality assurance processes set out in detail in the response to Parliamentary question S5W-05519 on 20 December 2016.

The groups set out below will be eligible for Work First and Work Able support.

Work First customers must:-

• be of working age;

• have a recognised disability (as defined by the Equalities Act 2010) that means they find it hard to get or keep a job;

• cannot be helped through other existing DWP provision;

• require support in work as well as help with finding work;

• have in work support requirements which cannot be overcome through workplace adjustments required under the Equality Act and/or Access to Work support; and

• be assessed by the JCP Work Coach as being able to enter work for a minimum of 16 hours within 26 weeks with the possibility of extending this to 34 weeks in some cases.

Work Able customers should be:-

• 18 years and over;

• not in employment;

• in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit equivalent; and

• be assessed as capable of progressing into work within a 12 month period and want to work.

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 Scottish Government are committed to delivering value for money within both the Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland programmes.

Actual spend per head on individuals engaging on both programmes will be based on a range of factors once both programmes commence in April 2017. However the anticipated spend per–head for those supported through Work First Scotland will be £4,231.20. Contracts have not yet been awarded for Work Able Scotland but the pricing model offers a maximum unit cost of £3,250 (£3,500 in rural areas).

Direct comparisons between Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland and previous DWP employment programmes are not possible due to the different structure, payment model and client groups within the transitional Scottish Programmes.

We do not yet have detailed information on the number of young people who have requested continuing care but I understand that initial uptake has been less than the anticipated 74 per annum. The entitlement to Continuing care came into force on 1 April 2015 so we will shortly embark on a check across all Scotland’s local authorities to clarify numbers in the year post implementation.

The first full year of data on Continuing Care will be collected in 2017-18 and depending on data quality, published from 2019 in the annual National Statistics publication Children’s Social Work Statistics.