Chamber and committees

Since reporting requirements came into force on 31 st October 2019, no operators have, to date, been found liable for environmental damage under the Environmental Liability (Scotland) Regulations 2009, as amended by The Environmental Liability etc. (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2019.

The Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme Warmer Homes Scotland offers eligible households High Heat Retention Storage Heating systems where these are technically appropriate for the property. Households may also be offered micro-generation measures, such as Micro-hydro, Micro-wind or Solar PV and/or domestic battery storage systems where these are technically feasible. Local councils can also provide high heat retention storage heaters and microgeneration measures as part of their Area Based Schemes.

Households that are not eligible for help as part of our fuel poverty programmes can apply for a Scottish Government loan via Home Energy Scotland. Help is available with the costs of purchasing and installing an electric heating system (warm air units or high heat retention electric storage heaters). Loans of up to £5,000 are available (£4,600 loan plus £400 cashback). Households can also apply for up to two home renewables systems per home as part of an overall loan package worth up to £17,500.

In addition we offer funding for energy efficiency measures up to £15,000 (including a maximum cashback amount of £6,000). More information about the cashback and loans available from the Scottish Government is published on the Home Energy Scotland website.

The Scottish Government has provided support to households for energy saving measures through a number of support and advice schemes over the last 5 years. Home Energy Scotland, administered on behalf of the Scottish Government through Energy Saving Trust, acts as a single point of access for advice on sustainable energy and fuel poverty support in Scotland. We also offer support and advice through other Scottish Government schemes providing energy saving help or fuel poverty relief to households. The information on these schemes has been provided to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre at BIB number 63123.

From the 26 July 2021 to the 21 November 2021, 65 applications for Child Disability Payment did not progress to part 2 within the six week time period.

Social Security Scotland routinely monitors applications received and the time between when part 1 and part 2 of applications are submitted.

Information on applications received is published as part of routine Official Statistics publications on Child Disability Payment. The second high level statistics covering the period from 26 July to 21 November 2021 were recently published on 18 January 2022 and are available at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/child-disability-payment-pilot-high-level-statistics-to-21-november-2021 . The next set of Child Disability Payment statistics are due to be published in February 2022. This will cover the period from 26 July 2021 to 31 December 2021.

Forestry and Land Scotland have received no funding from the Scottish Government for their Starter Farm Programme. The funds allocated to the initiative by FLS have been generated by their Operational activities (i.e. management of Scotland’s national forests and land).

The FLS budget for FY 22/23 to maintain, repair and ensure compliance to meet statutory landlord obligations across its nine Starter Farms is £124,000.

The FLS Starter Farm programme was only established in FY 12/13 and therefore no funds were available prior to that year.

FLS made available £1,641,043 of capital to bring the Starter Farms up to a compliant and tenantable standard prior to letting.

The total cost of ongoing repair, maintenance and compliance (to meet statutory landlord obligations) between FY 13/14 – FY 21-22 was £661,858. That is broken down by financial year as follows:

The Scottish Government is taking robust action to ensure that women feel safe by improving our laws, encouraging more victims of recent and historical cases to come forward and improving support. That is why our Equally Safe strategy continues to have a decisive focus on preventing violence and tackling the underlying attitudes that perpetuate it. Our new two-year Delivering Equally Safe fund will award £38 million to projects which focus on early intervention and prevention.

We have established an independent Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland Working Group, chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC. The Working Group’s report will be published in February 2022 and will inform the further policy decisions we take to further address the many forms of violence, transgression, and abuse experienced by women.

Police Scotland's new verification procedure, following the murder of Sarah Everard, has a clear message that the onus is on the service to provide reassurance to women. However, effectively tackling and challenging gender based violence is not just the responsibility of women or frontline organisations. It is incumbent on men to take action to prevent such behaviour and make communities safer places.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health without stigma, including medication where this is the most appropriate intervention.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the numbers of children and young people aged 19 and under who were prescribed antidepressants in conjunction with psychological therapy in 2019-20.

NICE guideline NG134 sets out the procedures for clinicians treating children and young people who may be experiencing instances of depression. The guidance is clear that psychological therapy and other therapeutic interventions are the first recommended treatments for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate depression. The guidance also makes clear that antidepressant medication should only be offered to a child or young person with moderate to severe depression in combination with a concurrent psychological therapy.

The numbers of children and young people being prescribed with antidepressant medication is extremely small. The latest Public Health Scotland data, shows that in 2019-20, in the 0–19 age category, 1.8% of children and young people in Scotland were prescribed anti-depressants.

We are clear that there is no place for harassment or abuse of any form, whether in the workplace, schools, in the home, or in society. That is why Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls, challenges the notion that violence is inevitable or acceptable and prioritises primary prevention.

Education settings have an important role in preventing violence against women before it occurs through teaching children and young adults about healthy relationships and consent. In August 2021, we launched our ‘Equally Safe at School’ initiative which was developed with Rape Crisis Scotland, Zero Tolerance, and the University of Glasgow. Our Mentors in Violence Prevention peer education programme delivered in schools throughout Scotland seeks to enable young people to recognise and speak up against gender based violence, bullying, abusive and violent behaviour, as well as the negative societal attitudes and assumptions which underpin this behaviour.

Over the next two years, the Delivering Equally Safe Fund will invest £817,350 in the continued delivery of the national sexual violence prevention programme and the implementation of the ESAS whole school approach to preventing GBV. Furthermore, the Delivering Equally Safe funds White Ribbon Scotland £150,000 to maintain and develop projects and events which engage with men and boys to end violence against women, particularly in seeking to prevent violence before it happens.

Additionally, all higher education institutions in Scotland are expected to adopt and adapt the trauma informed Equally Safe in Higher Education Tool Kit and factor a gendered analysis into their approach to this issue. We are taking action to improve gender equality in workplaces and improve the attitudes that create the societal conditions for gender based violence to perpetuate through the employer accreditation programme Equally Safe at Work.

In Autumn 2021, Police Scotland launched the 'That Guy' sexual violence campaign across various forms of social media and TV advertisements which urged men to take responsibility and to address their behaviour as well as challenging those of their peers. The campaign stimulated conversations and turned the narrative away from preventative advice to women, towards focusing on men’s behaviour.

The Scottish Government has committed within the Programme for Government to expand the availability of the Caledonian System and increase our investment to £10 million over the next two years. The innovative and internationally recognised Caledonian System programme provides male perpetrators of domestic abuse with specific rehabilitation services to address and challenge their harmful behaviours.

The Area Based Schemes funded by the Scottish Government deliver energy efficiency improvements to fuel poor households. This does not include funding for general energy saving or energy efficiency advice, as Home Energy Scotland is available as a free and impartial service for householders across Scotland.

We require ABS projects to comply with all relevant building regulations, retrofit standards and guarantee requirements. In most cases, householders referred or invited to participate in an ABS project will receive separate technical advice about energy efficiency measures that is specific to their property. The recommendation to install an energy efficiency measure will typically be based upon the findings of a physical survey or inspection; recommendations from any relevant Energy Performance Certificate (EPC); and conform with advice on building standards. Councils will invite householders to agree to works on this basis.

To help ensure the benefit from any measures installed through ABS projects, householders will usually receive an information pack about caring for the energy efficiency improvement to their property; along with relevant product guarantees. Councils must set out the quality assurance and complaints process for their ABS projects. Typically the contracted installer and/or the manufacturer of the measure will also provide a helpline service for follow up enquiries.