Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of the temporary reduction in beds at Kilbryde Hospice.

South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has been clear that the temporary reduction of beds is due to clinical and operational reasons associated with current staffing challenges and are undertaking work to address this.

It is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards to plan and commission adult palliative and end of life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control, including workforce planning and allocating resources for staffing.

Clean Air Day (CAD) is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the impacts of poor air quality on human health and the environment and the actions to address it. CAD 2023 saw a variety of events taking place across the country such as poster competitions for schools, presentations about air quality, health walks, fuel efficient driving, green travel surveys to vehicle idling campaigns, alongside activity on social media platforms.

The Scottish Government supported the delivery of CAD 2023 in Scotland through funding to Environmental Protection Scotland and Global Action Plan. SEPA and the Scottish Government also run a range of air quality activities throughout the year.

The Scottish Government welcomed the Climate Emergency Response Group’s (CERG) annual report, which set out their four key areas of proposed action.

We are already taking action to address many of the issues highlighted by CERG, including: undertaking a pilot this year to introduce a net zero assessment of Scottish Government policies; publishing the final route map to reduce car kilometres; and through our commitment of £1.8 billion of funding over this Parliament towards heat and energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Government looks forward to continuing our engagement with the CERG on tackling the climate crisis.

I meet with a representative of ALACHO on a quarterly basis at Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG) and at Housing to 2040 Strategic Board meetings. The dates of these meetings can be found here: Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Housing to 2040: Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . I also met with an ALACHO representative on 20 December to discuss the draft Scottish Budget 2024-25 and with representatives of ALACHO and the Chartered Institute for Housing on 14 December to discuss their letter to me on pressures on the housing and homelessness system.

Following the deep dives agreed by HPSG, four task and finish groups were established from June 2022 onwards, which met regularly (between every four to eight weeks). Scottish Government officials were represented on these groups, one of which (the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group) was co-chaired by a representative of ALACHO.

A representative of ALACHO chairs the rapid rehousing transition plan (RRTP) sub-group, attended by Scottish Government officials and, since 2021, has met with the Scottish Government on other strategic homelessness related issues, such as the Domestic Abuse Implementation and Monitoring Group, the Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone Group and the Short Term Housing Supply Group. Finally, Scottish Government officials have met with ALACHO regularly in 2023 (every two to three months) to hold discussions on topics including local connection, RRTP funding, the proposed new homelessness prevention duties and the homelessness statistical data review.

The Scottish Government welcomes all initiatives that support our work to tackle social isolation and loneliness, a public health issue which has been exacerbated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to be affected by the ongoing cost crisis.

The Social Isolation and Loneliness Strategy, and associated delivery plan that was published in 2023, outlines the strategic actions and priorities we are taking to tackle this issue. This includes funding support to 53 organisations across Scotland delivering community-led activity that responds to local needs by providing opportunities for people to connect. Priority groups targeted by the fund are young people (aged 16-24), disabled people, people with a mental health condition, older people (aged 75+) and people living in areas of deprivation or on a low income.

Since 2021, we have invested £51m in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, with 3,300 grants being made to local organisations across Scotland to tackle issues including social isolation.

The Scottish Government encourages the Big Braw Community campaign to engage with the Social Isolation and Loneliness Advisory Group to explore collaborative working on this issue.

We agree with Audit Scotland on the scale of the challenge to decarbonise heat in our buildings. That is why we are consulting just now on proposals to prohibit the use of polluting heating systems in Scotland’s homes and buildings by 2045. This, alongside our proposals for standards for social housing, the development of heat networks and the introduction of a New Build Heat Standard, will transform the way we heat and insulate our buildings.

The Scottish Government’s draft national Good Food Nation Plan sets out six over-arching Outcomes which indicate key areas to further develop our status as a Good Food Nation. These Outcomes have been developed with regard to a range of issues and principles set out in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, including the role of the food system in improving animal welfare and the importance of recognising all parts of the supply chain. The consultation on the draft national Good Food Nation Plan launched on 24 January and closes on 22 April ( https://consult.gov.scot/agriculture-and-rural-economy/national-good-food-nation-plan/ ).

We are aiming to increase the consumption, production, and provision of local food. The Scottish Government is using its legislation and policies to maximise the impact procurement can have for public bodies, suppliers and local suppliers and the Scottish economy. To promote local and sustainable produce public bodies have the flexibility to:

• Design menus that include Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) food
• Specify food produced according to recognised assurance schemes, e.g. Quality Meat Scotland, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Red Tractor, RSPCA, or equivalent bespoke company systems
• Specify free range and organic food
• Specify requirements based on menu plans that are based on freshness, high nutritional value using food in season and flexible and frequent delivery times
• Divide contracts into small product lots and geographic areas to encourage the active participation of local businesses where it is proportionate to do so
• Introduce a facility on some frameworks to enable small manufacturers who do not have national delivery logistics in place to bid on a supply only basis
• Introduce a secondary price list within tenders to allow framework suppliers the choice to offer Scottish produce

The Scottish Government is committed to continuous improvement in animal welfare: a statutory review into animal welfare legislation is due to be published in 2025. In 2023 there was a Programme for Government commitment to consult on phasing out cage production for laying hens and gamebirds: this will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government has a broad range of delivery programmes which make advice and funding support on energy efficiency and low carbon heating available to households and businesses across Scotland. The Home Energy Scotland (HES) and Business Energy Scotland (BES) advice services offer free, bespoke, impartial advice, and also act as the gateway to our flagship fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland, and to other Scottish Government funding schemes such as the HES Grant and Loan and the SME Loan and Cashback.

Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) supports the construction of new zero direct emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland.

Registered Social Landlords are encouraged to make use of available funding sources for retrofit, which includes the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund. This fund supports both the deployment of clean heating and ”fabric first” enhancements, helping landlords deliver warmer and more energy efficient homes.

Communities and local council areas are also supported through Area Based Schemes (ABS), delivered by all local authorities in Scotland, which target fuel poor areas to provide energy efficiency measures to a large number of Scottish households and help reduce fuel poverty, and the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) which provides advice and funding to communities across Scotland looking to develop renewable energy, heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their communities. Similarly, we would expect public bodies to exhaust all options to make any required efficiencies before cutting any services.

The 2024-25 Scottish Budget is a budget built on our values. It seeks to protect people and sustain services through these tough times. All budget decisions are subject to robust assessment in line with the Fairer Scotland Duty Act of 2018, which requires Scottish Ministers, when making strategic decisions, to reduce the inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage. Our funding for the third Sector will continue to prioritise investment in key infrastructure organisations and programmes which in turn provide critical support to the wider sector.

The third sector needs clarity and stability to increase its resilience and capacity to deliver services. That is why we have committed to develop a Fairer Funding approach for the sector to create conditions for it to thrive as part of a mixed economy.