 Emsiwn peynlladyn ar gyda'r oedden nhinc gşaith-femiwn hanf traveledd yn yr onion yn y sebyd, ac yn ddechrau iawn d laughing jedidd i ddechrau iawn ddengw어�, yn y chi'n agonion ei therytion yn cael i UK, specification yna efallais'r gyda'r plast Dunedd, ddod yn dem gan blaenio cyn ar ddweud rydw i gefnodaeth, ac yn lleiwledd yn lidiwledd yn â'i ddam plaenio y bod yn exies hайт-glugirio NYAD someoneion yn ei medž diabetes credu, I call question number one Michelle Thompson. As the Scottish Government, what discussions it had with local government about any impact the prevailing economic conditions are having on the delivery of local services? Minister Ben Macpherson. Ministers and officials meet COSLA and also individual local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of issues, including support and delivery of front-line services. The budget acknowledges the corrosive effect of inflation on the delivery of our finances and those of all public services, recognising those challenges. Last week, the Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government wrote jointly to COSLA to reaffirm our commitment to working with local government on how we can operate and collaborate on reform to ensure sustainable people-centred services. I thank the minister for that response. Like the Scottish Government, my local council of Falkirk has been affected by economic chaos overseen by the Tory-led Westminster Government. Inflation in particular is a huge issue with a resultant impact and cost to deliver key services and capital projects. What further fiscal flexibilities is the Scottish Government considering for councils as they too struggle with the latest wave of Westminster austerity? Minister Ben Macpherson. I thank the member who raised those important points. The Scottish Government is working alongside COSLA and SOLAS to agree a new deal for local government in Scotland that will give councils greater certainty and flexibility and greater scope for discretionary revenue raising, including potential changes to council tax and the introduction of a local visitor to levy bill to Parliament in due course. However, we would also welcome further suggestions from local government and we make that point to them regularly and will engage constructively on proposals that are raised by local government and others. However, we would also welcome support from across the Parliament as the Scottish Government continues to press the UK Government for additional funding to invest in our public services, including the key priorities that we share with our partners in local government. I call question number two, Mark Griffin. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Draw members' attention to my register of interest, which shows that I'm on all of our rental property in North Lanarkshire. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what guidance it gives to landlords in all sectors to help prevent and deal with damp condensation and mould in their properties, including when that was last revised. Minister Patrick Harvie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The Scottish Housing Regulator wrote to all social landlords on 1 December 2022 on the importance of appropriate systems to identify cases of mould and damp. The regulator works with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers to identify and promote good practice. For private landlords, the tolerable standard, which includes standards on dampness, was incorporated into the repairing standard in 2019. That means that issues can be raised to the first-year tribunal who have powers to require landlords to carry out repairs to meet the standards. Mark Griffin. The minister for that answer, I think that most people would agree that it's utterly devastating that it's taking the tragic case of our British Act for damp mould and condensation to rise up the agenda in the public debate. In Scotland, beyond the estimates from the Scottish Housing Conditions Survey, we don't actually have an entirely accurate picture of how bad the issue is. There are no statistics from the Government or a regulator that allows us to identify the problem, particular problem areas or buildings. I wonder if the Government would instruct an urgent data review across local authorities, registered landlords and private sector associations and commit to issue interim guidance on how to tackle the issue, which seems to be more and more commonplace among MSP colleagues' inboxes. Minister. I would certainly share Mark Griffin's sentiment about the case of our Beishack and the reaction that has provoked right throughout the UK, including in Scotland. It is worth reinforcing that Scottish Housing has been improving in 2019. The Scottish Housing Conditions Survey showed that 91 per cent of homes in Scotland were completely free from any sign of damp or condensation, and that is an improvement from 86 per cent in 2012. Of course, there is still much more to do, and that is why we will be consulting on a new cross-tenure housing standard, which will move beyond traditional models of fitness for human habitation to a new model that meets people's expectations for housing as a human right and delivers homes that underpin health and wellbeing. Mark Griffin is right to continue to say that there is more that we need to do, and we will keep this area under active consideration. In terms of damp and mould, the minister will be aware that the survey has pointed towards 14 per cent of social sector homes having either mould or damp issues. Can I ask specifically whether the Scottish Government will look at a reporting system in place to track that within the socially rented sector, and potentially that could then be extended? I have, in my first answer to Mark Griffin, set out the requirements that already exist on the social rented sector. Landlords are required to meet the Scottish Housing Quality standard as part of the social housing charter, and progress against that is monitored by the Scottish Housing Regulator. Guidance on meeting those standards, including detailed advice on dealing with issues of dampness, is already provided to social landlords and is regularly updated, as well as the work that we are doing on the repairing standard, which is due to come on into force next year for the private rented sector. I would reinforce that significant work is continually under way on this area, and we will continue to ensure that any further actions are taken in the future. Inability of a household to properly heat their home can make a problem of mould and dampness occurring much worse. Can the cabinet secretary on the line what support is available for households in Scotland who aim to improve energy efficiency and lower the energy bills while keeping their homes warm and damp free? I am grateful for the inadvertent promotion, but Home Energy Scotland is our flagship domestic energy efficiency service. It provides free and partial advice on energy efficiency, renewable heating and fuel poverty. It provides support for people in Scotland to go greener at home as well as reducing their bills. Home Energy Scotland is the main referral point for our funding schemes, including our national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland and the new Home Energy Scotland grant and loan. We are also investing £64 million in 2324 as part of our locally delivered area-based schemes, enabling more fuel poor households to benefit from a whole-house retrofit. As I have in the past, I would encourage all members to make sure that their constituents are aware of the forms of support and advice. What more can the Scottish Government do to provide practical tools and guidance for landlords to measure damp condensation and mould issues and advice and support to tenants to establish the correct insulation and ventilation in modern and older homes in order to prevent such an instance as that that happened with the two-year-old in England? Several of the areas of activity that I have already mentioned go some way to addressing the member's question, particularly the advice and support that is available through Home Energy Scotland for householders. The work that I mentioned earlier in developing a cross-tenure housing standard moving beyond the concept of fitness for human habitation and towards standards that deliver homes that underpin health and wellbeing. All that work will continue to address the issues that the member raises. Question 3 has not been lodged. Before I call question number 4, I would wish to say that, as members will be aware, a petition for judicial review of the cost of living tenant protection Scotland Act 2022 has been lodged with the court. I would make clear, therefore, that questions 4 and 5 were lodged prior to the petition for judicial review. However, for the purposes of the sub-judice rule, members should avoid referring to matters under consideration in the on-going judicial review and the specific provisions of the cost of living tenant protection Scotland Act 2022 that are under challenge. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effects of the current rent freeze on the availability of rented accommodation. Minister Patrick Harvie. While it is an administrative rather than statistical source, the most recent sector-wide data is from the Scottish landlord registration system, which shows that in December 2022 there were 340,149 private rented properties registered in Scotland. That is slightly more than the 339,632 properties that were registered in August 2022. The Scottish Government monitors landlord registration data on a monthly basis, and registration and related data is analysed in our first report to the Scottish Parliament on the operation of the cost of living act, published on 12 January. Minister will know that a topic of very considerable debate at the Finance Committee of recent weeks has been the concern over behavioural change that some aspects of Scottish Government policy has, and the rent freeze is just one of those. It is all very well to say that it is helping the cost of living situation, which it is, but it is also creating some worrying reactions from landlords which are now hindering rather than helping the housing market. Can I ask whether the Scottish Government recognises the serious concern about that? Minister. I am very pleased that Liz Smith acknowledges that the actions that we are taking and have taken do help the cost of living crisis and are necessary for people in that context. I am aware of surveys that are being carried out by landlord bodies, which look at the possible intentions of landlords in the future. I would caution that it is difficult to interpret those because it relates to what landlords may or may not choose to do in the future. It also does not directly translate into the number of properties that might be affected, nor does it take into account new landlords entering the sector either. There has, as I said in my first answer, been no fall in properties on the landlord registration system. I acknowledge that it would take some time from any decision to sell before the sale is completed and the property is deregistered. We will continue to monitor trends in the register and other data. I would finally say that, over the longer term, it is really important to acknowledge that, since devolution, the Scottish household survey shows a very significant growth in private rented sector tenancies through a period of increased regulation. That needs to be acknowledged. To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted on the effect of the rent cap on the number of homes available for rent in the private sector. Obviously, I would refer Mr Simpson to the answer that I was just giving to Liz Smith. Private renting is a dynamic sector. It is made up of tens of thousands of small-scale landlords with constant coming and going within the sector. Those landlords who leave the sector may in turn sell to other landlords and new landlords also enter the sector. Over the long term, since devolution, the size of the private rented sector has significantly more than doubled even through a period of generally tightening regulation. As the report from the cross-party group on housing, which Mr Simpson is involved with, acknowledged, regulated markets can, in fact, be attractive to institutional investors. I thank the minister for that answer, but he appears to be in denial over this. Data from property marks shows that 85 per cent of letting agents have reported that landlords want to sell up. The Scottish Property Federation estimates that £700 million in residential investment has been paused or lost. Will the minister at least accept this? If he imposes policies such as blanket rent freezes that can have negative consequences? I remind Mr Simpson of what I have said repeatedly. I hope that he is not the one in denial of the reality that the number of properties registered in the private rented sector has slightly increased over the first three months between August and December. We will keep that under review. The work that Mr Simpson refers to as data is surveys of landlords' possible intentions in the future. It is not data about properties being deregistered or no longer being available in the private rented sector. Finally, I would come back to the wider point that, if we look not only at the last 20 years or so of the private rented sector more than doubling in a period of tighter regulation but also at the experience of a number of other European countries with a more regulated rental market and a bigger and more viable rented market than we have in this country, it is perfectly clear that an approach that seeks to achieve everyone's human right to adequate housing is entirely compatible with a viable rental market. I call question number six, Fulton MacGregor, who is joining us remotely. Mr MacGregor, we can't hear you. Could you maybe do something at your end to sort that out? Who asked the Scottish Government how you need children? Mr MacGregor, could you just start from the beginning again? Thank you. We didn't hear any of it. Please start again. Okay, thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how many children are estimated to be eligible for the Scottish child payment in the Cope Ridge and Cleistin constituency. Minister Ben Macpherson. Official statistics for Scottish child payment are routinely published by Social Security Scotland, including application and payment data by local authority area. The Scottish Fiscal Commission produced estimates and forecasts of eligibility for the Scottish child payment, but only for Scotland as a whole and not by region. However, internal Scottish Government analysis suggests that around 7,000 children in the Cope Ridge and Cleistin constituency could be eligible for the Scottish child payment each year from 2022-23 to 27-28. The Scottish child payment is getting money to low-income households at a crucial time and more families than ever are eligible for support, which is a good thing for Mr MacGregor's constituents and all across Scotland. Mr MacGregor. I thank the minister for that answer. This payment will indeed make a significant difference to families in my constituency and in the face of soaring inflation caused by UK Government economic mismanagement, it is most welcome that the Scottish Government has continued to prioritise investment in measures that will help eradicate child poverty. I am aware that the Scottish Government is investing significantly more in social security than the funding it receives from the UK Government. Can the minister outline what the spending will achieve? In 2023-24, we are committing £5.2 billion for benefit expenditure, providing support to over 1 million people. That includes £442 million for the Scottish child payment. That £5.2 billion is £776 million above the level of funding forecast to be received by the Scottish Government from the UK Government through block grant adjustments. This choice that we have taken represents a significant investment in people and is key to our national mission collectively to tackle child poverty. It will help low-income families with their living costs, to support older people to heat their homes in winter and enable disabled people to live full and independent lives. Ministers and officials have regular meetings with representatives of all Scottish local authorities, including East Renfrewshire Council, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people and communities of Scotland. We also of course meet with COSLA on a regular basis. East Renfrewshire Council has never specifically requested to meet me, but if they ever did want to do so, I would of course be open to such an invitation. I thank the minister for that answer. I know that he spoke about partnership working, but he will recognise COSLA's disappointment that the Government has refused to engage once again on local government finance. Indeed, the much acclaimed £550 million in additional funding for local authorities is political spin. The figure has been condemned by COSLA, and new analysis has revealed that the reality is more just like £38 million. East Renfrewshire Council has been dealt with a flat cash settlement, despite inflation storing it over 9 per cent, with the council facing a £30 million shortfall. Given the proportion of income that comes from the Government's general revenue funding, local authorities have been forced by the SNP Government to either make unthinkable cuts to local government services and or to raise council tax. I would ask the minister what choice would he advise East Renfrewshire Council to make, reduce school opening hours or make large increases to council tax? When will this Government get back round the table with councils like East Renfrewshire Council and give communities a fair deal? I can assure the member that Scottish Government ministers meet with COSLA as a representative body for local authorities on a regular basis, and have done in recent weeks. Indeed, there will be further engagement later today. In terms of the financial situation, it is factually correct to state that the local government settlement has increased by over £570 million in cash terms. That is in the context of our settlements from the UK Government having suffered a decade of austerity with average real terms cuts of more than 5 per cent, equating to a loss of £18 billion. In that context, we are increasing the resource available to local government by, as I have said, £570 million, which is a real terms increase of £160.6 million or 1.3 per cent. I appreciate the strong feelings on this matter from local government and members. I can assure colleagues that we are engaged constructively and seriously with local government. If Mr O'Gain has suggestions with regard to the budget process, he should submit constructive proposals to finance ministers, because that is the way that we need to engage in this position where the Scottish budget has been affected significantly by inflation, the public finances are under pressure in the round and we need to be solution focused together. I am sure that he has any that my finance colleagues would welcome any constructive suggestions. That concludes the question. Question 8 has been withdrawn. There will be a very short pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow front bench teams to take their positions.