Chamber and committees

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Douglas Millican, Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

Since 1 April 2018, Scottish Water has approved 2775 burst allowance applications. The number by year is detailed in the following table.

The Unsuitable Accommodation Order was extended to all households in May 2020 to ensure all homeless households are provided with the highest quality accommodation to support them out of homelessness.

This means that the maximum number of days that local authorities can use unsuitable accommodation for any homeless person is seven days and has the effect of ending stays in unsuitable accommodation, such as hotels, apart from in emergency situations.

Any household placed in unsuitable accommodation for longer than seven days should be recorded as a breach.

The Scottish Housing Regulator is obliged to monitor and assess local authority compliance with the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO) and, if any UAO breaches are reported, will intervene as appropriate.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Age Scotland 2022 Impact report and recognises the work Age Scotland undertakes to support and benefit Older People in Scotland.

We will meet with Age Scotland and other Older People Strategic Action Forum stakeholders later this month.

The following buildings have dedicated cycle parking spaces:-

The Scottish Government values the contribution the electronic music industry makes to our cultural and economic offer in Scotland. Those in the industry are talented and skilled artists, and are held in high regard. According to the Night Time Industries Association report, Scotland’s electronic music industry is worth £550 million to the economy and asks questions on support, regulation, education and promotion of the sector.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the sustainable recovery of the night-time industry, as we have throughout the pandemic. We have backed our economic recovery with more than £1.7bn since March 2020 – on top of over £4.7bn provided in Covid-related business support. Some £256 million in Covid support funding was also provided to help cultural organisations to navigate the challenges brought on by the pandemic.

We are committed to working with the business community to ensure the smooth application of regulation and have established a Joint Taskforce with COSLA, local authorities, our regulatory agencies and business to consider the differing impacts of regulation on business.

Culture and creativity is also recognised within our National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) under ‘Productive places’ to sit alongside economic and sectoral policies as part of a joined-up response to the priorities of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

We are in regular dialogue with business organisations and leaders to monitor impacts of the cost crisis. We will continue to engage with the night-time industry and monitor the evolving impacts, while pressing the UK Government to help businesses and ensure sustainable development within the night-time economy.

Stations fitted with defibrillators to date are:

No Scottish Government official or Minister has been called to give evidence to the Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry. As the Inquiry is independent of Ministers, it is for the Chair to determine how the Inquiry’s terms of reference are interpreted and direct how the Inquiry carries out its duties. It is entirely for the Chair to consider who to seek statements from and who to call to give evidence to the Inquiry.

Parliamentary question S6W-15763 asked “how many patients under 18 have been admitted to an NHS facility for vaping-related illnesses or disorders in each year since 2019”. At that time (March 2023) Public Health Scotland (PHS) responded that these data were not currently held. However, PHS are now carrying out work to identify the number of individuals with vaping related illness in Scotland and will publish figures in July 2023.

I’m very much looking forward to meeting with police officers and staff across Scotland as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs.

My predecessor met with police officers at Wester Hailes Police Station on 14 December 2023 and was pleased to attend the Chief Constable’s Bravery and Excellence Awards at Tulliallan Police College on 10 February.

The Scottish Government is not required to hold this information. As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Douglas Millican, Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

The average wait time for customers calling Scottish Water’s customer helpline between 1st April 2022 and 1st April 2023 was 19 seconds. The chart below provides information about how many calls were handled by Scottish Water in each year since 2016.