Chamber and committees

The Scottish House Condition Survey indicates that around 33% of households in the social housing sector were fuel poor in 2015. This equates to around 199,000 households and is around 47,000 fewer households than in 2014.

The Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) aims to improve the energy efficiency of the social housing stock in Scotland. Achievement of the EESSH 2020 milestone by social landlords, will help to reduce energy consumption and to tackle fuel poverty potentially saving social tenants an estimated average of around £210 per year on their energy bills. Social landlords are making good progress with the Scottish Housing Regulator reporting that 69% of social housing met the standard at April 2016. A review of EESSH will begin early next year to consider how best to maximise progress towards the current target and any further milestones.

We have also allocated nearly £4.3 million to 10 projects through the HEEPS: Loan scheme for Registered Social Landlords 2016-17 to help RSLs improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock.

The official source for UK earnings estimates is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) published by Office for National Statistics. The latest information for 2016 was published on 26 October 2016. The long-term trends in relation to the gender pay gap in Scotland are positive.

The most recent estimates of gender pay gap sourced from the ASHE data (based on full-time median hourly earnings excluding overtime) show that the gender pay gap in Scotland has decreased from 7.7% in 2015 to 6.2% in 2016. The gap in the UK stands at 9.4%. However, there is clearly still more to do, particularly for Managers, Directors and Senior Officials in Scotland where the gender pay gap, for full-time median hourly earnings excluding overtime stands at 19.8% (based on the ASHE).

We are working hard to address the complex drivers and causes of the pay gap. We continue to fund the 'Close the Gap' partnership to encourage and work with employers to enable actions to address the gender pay gap. Under the Programme for Government we have committed to almost double the level of free childcare for three and four year olds by 2020; we know that women are disproportionately likely to be in low paid jobs so we actively promote the living wage and currently have 690 employers signed up for accreditation with a target of 1,000 by Autumn 2017. We have brought more transparency to pay issues by lowering the threshold for public authorities in Scotland to publish their pay gap. We also support fair work practices, including flexible working, which can be crucial in helping women and men combine career development with family responsibilities. We have also established a Returner’s Project, initially in the Science sector, so that women can get help updating skills and knowledge and assistance in entering a traditionally male job and so employers can retain skilled staff after a career break.

In the EU referendum, Scotland voted clearly and decisively to remain within the EU, with majorities in every local authority area. The Scottish Government is working to ensure that the vote is respected.

The latest monthly figures from the Office of National Statistics on the changes in prices of renting residential property from private landlords in Great Britain, published on 24 November 2016, show that private rents in Scotland fell by 0.2% in the year to October 2016, whilst rents in the Region of London increased by 2.6% across the same time period, available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/indexofprivatehousingrentalprices/oct2016.

The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, passed by the Parliament earlier this year, will provide rent stability and predictability for tenants in the private rented sector as rents can only rise once in 12 months and tenants will be given 3 month notice of changes to enable them to budget accordingly. In addition, councils will have the power to apply to Ministers for a cap on rent increases in their area for up to 5 years where rent increases are causing undue hardship to tenants.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was put in place to ensure that all children and young people with additional support needs receive the support they require to achieve their potential.

The Act places strict duties on local authorities to meet the additional support needs for all children for whose school education they are responsible, and to tailor provision according to their individual needs. The "Supporting Children’s Learning" code of practice explains these duties, providing guidance to local authorities on the Act's provisions as well as on the supporting framework of secondary legislation.

In addition, the Scottish Government is currently reviewing the guidance on the presumption of mainstream education. The review is being undertaken in partnership with key stakeholders and will be published for consultation early in 2017.

Life expectancy in Scotland is increasing. The gap between life expectancy for men and for women is Scotland is continuing to narrow.

Reducing health inequalities is one of the biggest challenges we face. To tackle this we recognise that the root of health inequalities can be found in income inequalities. We’re taking action focused on addressing the underlying causes of ending poverty, fair wages, supporting families, and improving our physical and social environments.

In Glasgow, the Scottish Government is funding the pilot Links Worker pilot programmes, which is right on the front line of the battle against health inequalities. The Link Worker programme sees a dedicated individual working in GP surgeries, helping patients on a one-to-one basis with non-medical problems that are making them feel unwell. We are committed to increasing the number of community Links Workers in disadvantaged areas to 250 over the next five years, with 40 to be recruited by September 2017.

The number and provision of mental health beds is a matter for each board to determine in terms of its service design.

We have been working with Health boards, to introduce the Inpatient Bed Census for mental health, addictions and learning disability. Undertaken in 2014 and 2016 the census has provided detailed data that identifies the status of bed usage across Scotland and provides a basis for planning and development of future mental health services. The census shows a continuing reduction in the number of psychiatric inpatients, with more people being treated in a community setting or while living at home. This reflects the longer term shift in the provision of care from hospital based to community based and that bed occupancy was 85% - achieving the best practice figure set by the Royal College of Psychiatrists for provision in meeting need across Scotland.

In addition we are allocating £30 million a year to health and social care partnerships to help them tackle delayed discharges. In addition we announced a further £3 million in November to support NHS boards prepare for winter. One of the key ways of ensuring hospitals have sufficient capacity is to reduce the number of people inappropriately delayed, and we fully expect that to happen over the coming months. Glasgow City received £3.99 million of this funding

The Glasgow City Partnership have seen significant improvement in performance following the introduction of discharge to assess, which aims to ensure patients are discharged within 72 hours of being medically fit. This, alongside the increase in step-down Intermediate Care beds, commissioned from private sector care homes, has resulted in significant reduction in delays over winter.

The retail sector remains a very significant part of Scotland’s economy employing over 240,000 people in 2015, 9.6% of total employment in Scotland. The reduction in retail workforce since 2014 equates to less than 2% of total sector employment.

We recognise that the retail sector in Scotland is transforming in response to, among other things, changes to shopping habits and through new technology. The proportion of retail businesses in the UK (with 10 or more employees) making e-commerce sales has increased from 25.8% in 2009 to 39.8% in 2015 and this trend is likely to continue.

The latest Office for National Statistics Retail Sales Inquiry statistics show that the value of on-line sales in Great Britain increased by 26.8% between October 2015 and October 2016, and that online sales took a 15.2% market share in October 2016, compared with 12.7% in October 2015.

This shift to on-line shopping, coupled with UK Government austerity measures, which served to curtail consumer confidence, has had an impact on the sector.

Ministers and officials regularly engage with the Scottish Retail Consortium and other key stakeholders in the retail sector to discuss policy priorities and to better understand the challenges and opportunities that transformational change in the sector will present.

We are using all available levers to create the economic conditions to enable Scotland’s economy to thrive, working closely with delivery partners, including local authorities, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and Skills Development Scotland, to ensure that businesses of all sizes and sectors can access the support they require. This year Ministers and partners across Scotland supported the Small Business Saturday campaign to celebrate the success of businesses and to encourage people to ‘shop local’.

We continue to support the retail sector through the small business bonus scheme and other business rate reliefs. It is estimated that the Small Business Bonus Scheme helped just over 31,000 shops in 2015, more than half the shops in Scotland.

We are promoting investment and economic growth in town centres through the Town Centre Action Plan, designed to support their revitalisation and to assist local action towards achieving this. The Town Centre First Principle that underpins the action plan is about adopting an approach to decisions that consider the vibrancy of town centres as a starting point. The principle is about open, measured and transparent decision making that takes account of medium to longer term impacts on town centres.

In the 12 months to March 2016, 2,031 people started a retail modern apprenticeship in Scotland, all of whom are in employed posts while undertaking their apprenticeship.

In addition, more than 50,000 training places, across all sectors, have been delivered through the Employability Fund since its launch in 2013 supporting people to find employment: a further 11,650 opportunities are on track to be delivered in 2016-17.

Local authorities have the duty to deliver homelessness services in their area including providing appropriate out of hours services in case of emergency. It is for the local authority to determine what form this should take.

This is supported by the statutory Code of Guidance on Homelessness from the Scottish Government which makes it clear that homelessness advice and assistance must be available and accessible to everybody that requires it.