Chamber and committees

This information is in the public domain and can be found on the Scottish Government’s website within the Budget Bill documents covering the last ten years. This information can also be obtained and found on the Scottish Legal Board’s website from their published Annual Accounts.

Deposit Unlock, is an industry led mortgage indemnity scheme which enables buyers of new build properties to purchase with a 5% deposit. Homes for Scotland have kept the Scottish Government informed about the scheme throughout its development.

The UK Mortgage Guarantee Scheme also helps to increase the supply of 5% deposit mortgages by supporting lenders to offer these products through a government backed guarantee on new 95% mortgages until 31 December 2022.

The Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) will continue to be available in Scotland next financial year.

My officials are working closely with the homeowners of the 25 buildings within the pilot phase of the Single Building Assessment. Our approach is to understand the fire safety of those buildings and particularly the external cladding. The programme will be concluded once buildings with unsafe cladding are remediated. We have committed to spending £97.1 million on cladding assessment and remediation and I have recently written to the UK Government to seek clarification on further funding for this work.

In March 2020, we announced a funding package of £350m for an emergency communities fund to ensure local authorities, community groups, the third sector and social enterprise sector were able to support people and communities affected by COVID-19.

This included the £25 million Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF) and the
‎ £40 million Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme (CTSRP).A further £22.5 million was added to the CTSRP fund in 2021-22 to enable it to continue through to late summer.

These funds are now closed however third sector organisations may also contact their local Third Sector Interface for advice and information on funding sources. Here are the contact details for your local interface, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway: www.tsdg.org.uk

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, SCVO, has a website, ‘Funding Scotland’ offering a one stop shop for information about possible sources of funding for third sector organisations and providing details of possible sources of funding from public sector organisations, corporate and charitable trusts - http://www.funding.scot

The carbon levy raised since 2018 is

2018-19 £33,837

2019-20 £40,534

2020 –21 £558

2021-22 Payment due by end March 2022.

The levy is collected by our travel provider and paid back annually. It is not broken down by Ministers and Officials.

The carbon emissions levy is applied to all journeys undertaken by air as follows:

? Domestic – £5 per journey

? European – £6 per journey

? International – £15 per journey

Ministerial travel details are routinely and proactively published here:-

Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that legal assistance continues to be available to all those facing issues such as housing concerns. In our Programme for Government we committed to engage with the legal professionals and other stakeholders to review the Legal Aid system, and to introduce a Legal Aid Reform Bill in this Parliament, ensuring that the system is flexible, easy to access and meets the needs of those who use it.

The Scottish Government has reiterated its commitment to retaining a demand led Fund to support a wide scope of actions. Particular consideration will be given, during the development of the Bill, to how more targeted and planned interventions can support user need.

The Scottish Government recognises the effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on women looking to flee violence at home. That is why over the past 2 years we have invested an additional £10 million to allow rapid re-design of services and address backlogs, supporting organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland. We have created a new Delivering Equally Safe Fund (£19 million per annum in 2021-23) and recently confirmed allocations to 121 projects from 112 organisations working to provide services and prevent gender-based violence. This includes support for women as well as services targeting male survivors such as the Respect Men’s Advice Line and SACRO’s FearFree project.

The Scottish Government and COSLA, in partnership with Public Health Scotland and the Improvement Service, developed supplementary guidance last year for local authorities and other key community planning partners. It ensures that a sustainable, joined-up approach to safeguarding the needs of women, children and young people experiencing domestic violence during the pandemic is embedded at a local strategic level. This is underpinned by our Equally Safe strategy.

The Scottish Government is investing significant levels of funding in frontline services to support survivors of domestic abuse. This includes funding of over £1 million (in 2019-22) to Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline, which provides support and signposting to other services and is open 24/7. The Delivering Equally Safe Fund for 2021-23 will provide £19 million per annum to organisations providing support services and working to prevent gender-based violence. This includes approximately £100,000 of funding for SACRO’s Fearfree project, which supports male and LGBTI survivors of domestic violence; as well as over £500,000 of funding to ASSIST, a specialist independent domestic advocacy service that aims to ensure survivors of domestic abuse are safe, informed and supported throughout the court process.

The government’s Mental Health Transition & Recovery Plan includes specific action on the mental health impacts of domestic violence, abuse, and coercive control. We have also commissioned research from the Improvement Service to help us better understand and address the mental health and wellbeing needs of women and girls experiencing gender based violence and the report will be published this month. We will work with women and girls affected by all forms of gender based violence to determine next steps once we have considered the recommendations of the report.

As part of demonstrating compliance with the EU Emissions Trading System relevant installations must submit verified emissions data. The information for CO2 Equivalent (e) emissions from Scottish Installations for the period 2008-2020 is published online. Peterhead is the only Scottish gas fired power station, however there are other facilities such as at Grangemouth that occasionally may provide electricity to the grid.

https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/union-registry_en#ecl-inpage-1120

2021 data under the UK Emissions Trading System has not yet been submitted.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04578 on 10 December 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.