 yn byw gwyntaf o yrお不錯 blaenau gwahanol, potesebid i gael ganddachedigion eisteddfod wych a gyfo grannu gweithio gwasanaeth olio.' Felly wrth gwzirgynlaid Ulgiadau, roedd gennych datblygu awardeddanno beginningau gwaith yn Gael gwaithio eromblus dsl Starserne思. popular but Madagliel We support social landlords and their tenants to benefit from energy efficiency and heating improvements through our social housing net zero heat fund. We support every household in Scotland with free and impartial advice about greener energy use and lower energy bills from our Home Energy Scotland service. I thank the minister for that response. The vast majority of homes in my constituency as he knows rely on heating oil, LPG or electric storage heaters as they cannot connect the gas grid. My constituency also has some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country. Is there any additional support available to households in rural and island areas to help them to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and move to greener heating solutions? Yes, indeed. We recognise that households in remote rural and island communities face higher costs, as well as experiencing some of the highest rates of fuel poverty in Scotland. That is reflected in the targeting and level of support available. Since last December, we have provided an extra £1,500 on top of our £7,500 Home Energy Scotland heating energy efficiency grants due to the higher costs in rural areas. Fuel poor households in off-gas areas also benefit from higher levels of funding as part of the area-based schemes and warmer homes Scotland service. Under our social housing net zero heat fund, which is making £200 million available up to 2026 to support social landlords in this agenda, rural areas will benefit from an 11 per cent uplift while those in remote areas can get 22 per cent more funding. I have visited a number of social housing providers, including in Argyll community housing association, who have already installed more than 1,400 air-source heat pumps, more than a quarter of their housing stock, and a great many of those organisations are leading the way. A recent parliamentary question answered by the minister showed a massive disparity between Edinburgh and Glasgow and the number of homes that have been retrofitted through the social housing net zero heat fund. In the last two financial years, Edinburgh has been awarded a total of 116 grants compared to Glasgow's 7,260. Glasgow accounted for 65 of all grants delivered in Scotland. I appreciate that Glasgow has a higher number of social housing landlords than other parts of Scotland, but that does not seem to account for the disparity. Can the minister explain why Glasgow has received a disproportionately high number of grants and what is happening for other parts of the country? The social housing net zero heat fund is available throughout the country and it requires organisations to bed. We work very well with social housing providers throughout the country. I am happy to explore the figures if Mr Briggs wants to write to me about that in particular. The most important thing is that social housing providers in all parts of the country—urban, rural, east, west, north, south—are already benefiting from the investment and we are keen to continue to work with them. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how and when it will introduce a leavers fund for victims of domestic abuse, which would provide a social security payment for those who feel the need to flee their homes. We strongly believe that financial uncertainty should not be a barrier to women leaving an abusive relationship, which is why we are firmly committed to looking at what we can do to provide financial support when needed. We are continuing to work closely with organisations such as Scottish Women's Aid and COSLA to explore how a fund providing immediate financial assistance could work in practice and be best targeted. We hope to be able to provide further detail on this work very shortly. Domestic abuse crimes have risen to record levels in recent years. A leavers fund to help survivors of abuse to leave their homes safe would be a big step forward, and charities would save lives. It was agreed by the Scottish Government in 2020, but we still do not have a timeline for its implementation. Is it still going to go ahead and, if so, when does it expect the fund to be operational? As I said in my original answer, we expect to make the announcement on this very shortly. This is something that the Government is and will remain committed to recognising that we need to support women to ensure that they have any support that they require to leave an unsafe or abusive relationship. I repeat again that we will make that announcement very shortly. To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering specific solutions to support the City of Edinburgh Council and other relevant organisations to address Edinburgh's social housing shortage and growing population pressures, including providing additional resources in its 24-25 budget. I have met the Edinburgh's housing community on a number of occasions and invited bespoke proposals to address specific challenges facing the capital city, which have formed a basis of an in-depth discussion on potential areas of Scottish Government support for Edinburgh. My officials regularly engage with the Edinburgh Council on additional expenditure capacity that they may have, which is dependent on the availability of resources and delivery of their existing programme. We are making available £234 million in Edinburgh over this Parliament to support affordable housing delivery. Decisions on capital spending for 24-25 will be presented to the Parliament in due course. Ben Macpherson. I thank the minister for that answer and I appreciate the severe pressures on the public finances and the significant investment in housing nationally that the Scottish Government has made since 2007 and is making in the period ahead. I also appreciate the minister's communication there about discussing bespoke solutions with the City of Edinburgh Council. As part of that, can the Scottish Government commit to altering the way that the affordable housing supply programme is allocated through the strategic housing investment plan to build more social houses in Edinburgh quicker considering the population pressure on the specific issues? Can the minister consider how additional resources can be provided to the City of Edinburgh Council in addressing the serious issues of homelessness? The strategic housing investment framework, which is a mechanism for allocating funding to local authorities, was agreed with COSLA in 2012 and covers 30 of the 32 local authorities in Scotland with Edinburgh and Glasgow sitting out with us. If Edinburgh wishes to open up that discussion, it should take that forward through COSLA. Funding for Edinburgh over this Parliament is 21 per cent higher than the previous Parliament in last year. We were able to direct an additional £10 million for investment in Edinburgh. Officials continue to engage regularly with council partners to discuss programme capacity not only just now but for future years of development. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding funding to address the housing shortage resulting from population growth. Probably answered probably in the previous question there, but affordable housing supply programme investment, as I said, was at a record level of £234 million. Officials are in regular discussion with the Edinburgh Council around additional capacity, as I said, not just at this moment but in the strategic areas of investment going that forward as well, and just as I'm referring to the previous question, the Edinburgh Council benefited from a further £10 million at that particular time. Resource planning assumptions are in place for each year up to 25-26. Can I thank the minister for his answer and declare and register of interest my former work with SFHA? I'm sure that the minister will be aware that in the last three years the actual numbers of housing built for social rent is way below the level needed and that the city has been underfunded for years. Would the minister commit to today to address the fundamental issue of increasing the share of funding for Edinburgh and say whether he agrees with the City of Edinburgh Council estimate that 1,000 new social rent homes are needed every year over the next decade? Will he accept that Scottish Government funding is critical to delivering the level of growth given the population increases that we've got and the fact that the house building sector needs confidence and certainty to deliver the supply change, the staff and the land that we need to build that housing? I think that coming back to the point that I made to Mr McPherson, we are in discussions now round about what the capacity is within the council to look at within this year's and in the future, he's obviously in this parliamentary term, in terms of looking at other strategic development sites, we are in discussions then with the council around what we can do to work with them in that regard. Obviously, we are in regular discussions and talking about bespoke solutions, not just around the resource funding but also the capital funding as well. To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources are being allocated to help support Edinburgh City Council to address housing shortages, including the number of families in temporary accommodation, in light of the figures showing that over a quarter of all children in temporary accommodation are in Edinburgh. This year, the Edinburgh Council has said that it is receiving a record £234 million to address its housing priorities and probably referring to the answers that I've made to Ms Boyack and Mr McPherson. The number of households with children in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh is concerning. I'm not going to dispute that. Houses with children spend longer in average in temporary accommodation due to the demand for larger homes. We are in bespoke discussions around that in terms of what we need to do specifically for Edinburgh. We are working to acquire more housing for use as temporary homes and maximise the use of existing homes. We will invest at least £60 million this year through the affordable housing supply programme to support our national acquisition plan. That will help to boost affordable housing supply. Edinburgh is open to inviting applications for that. I thank the minister for that answer. I'm not sure if the minister or the cabinet secretary are aware of the emergency situation that we are seeing in Edinburgh. Latest figures show that 2,265 children are living in temporary accommodation, up 20 per cent on last year and an increase of 930 per cent since 2002. We need to see more action than what we have heard to the three answers today. As Ben Macpherson has said, the capital faces unique challenges with higher land costs and greater demand for housing. So can I ask the minister if the Scottish Government will look specifically at a temporary accommodation fund for Edinburgh to actually look at some new solutions and models to try to address that? The number of points is probably just to raise that. One, obviously, I talked to her in bespoke conversations that are going on. That's already going on in the big capital and also on resource. In terms of the points about being fully aware of the situation, I've met the convener probably three or four times since being in post and I've another meeting coming up very shortly. I also met Shelter very recently on that matter and also met Crisis in that regard as well. Obviously, there's a temporary task and finish recommendation that came forward. We talked about the £60 million for acquisitions and also talking about allocations and so on. Those are part of the discussions that we have with Edinburgh at the moment. The discussions are on-going, they'll continue on-going. Officials meet every week with Edinburgh Council and they said that I meet regularly with Edinburgh and we'll meet with them again very shortly. Thank you. I'm noting that these are questions about Edinburgh Council's budget and housing. I call a supplementary from Audrey Nicholl. Thank you. The £60 million national acquisition plan announced this summer looks set to accelerate the Scottish Government's work to get people and families out of a temporary accommodation and into a space that they can call their own. Can the minister provide an update on the rollout of this fund and the work being done with experts and local government to ensure that it is effective? Can I thank the member for that question? At the moment, the £60 million is available for local authorities to apply to. There are a number of authorities that indicate an interest in that, so there are discussions on-going in that regard. Obviously, we work very closely with COSLA as well as key partners. I mentioned a previous meeting with Shelter and also Crisis, so there has been significant discussions around that. 5. Michelle Thomson To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the social justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the support available to families experiencing poverty, including as a result of high energy costs. Tackling poverty is at the heart of what we do as a Government, and I recently convened the first meeting of the new tackling child poverty ministerial oversight group, which will meet regularly to help drive action where required. We know that households are struggling after years of austerity, a hard Brexit and the economic mismanagement at the hands of the Conservative Government at Westminster. That is why we have allocated almost £3 billion to tackle poverty and protect people from harm during the on-going cost of living crisis, with the fuel and security fund tripled to £30 million this year. Michelle Thomson, I thank the cabinet secretary for those remarks and I welcome the significant interventions of the Scottish Government using the limited devolve powers at its disposal, especially on this challenge poverty week. Does the cabinet secretary agree that poverty reduction in Scotland is undermined by a frankly illogical approach to social security in Westminster, and that perhaps an essential guarantee from the UK Government would go a long way to alleviating the disproportionate pressure being placed on devolved budgets? Michelle Thomson raises a very important point, and I absolutely agree with her on it. The Joseph Rowntey Foundation estimates that if universal credit standard allowance were set at £120 per week for a single adult and £200 for a couple this year, that could lift 1.8 million people out of poverty, including 600,000 children across the UK. Levels of universal credit have been too low for too long, and the Scottish Government has called on the UK Government to introduce an essential guarantee, and I have written to my UK counterpart on this issue. It is very important that we all do everything that we can to ensure that social security benefits adequately cover the cost of essentials and better protect our most vulnerable people. In Shetland's local annual child poverty action report, it was estimated that a household in Shetland would need to earn £104,000 a year to avoid being in fuel poverty. Shetland's cooler and windier climate poor insulation levels and lack of availability of the cheapest energy options further compound the effect on families of high energy costs. What does the Scottish Government's support strategy to help to prevent children and families from experiencing poverty from living in cold and unheated homes this winter? Direct beacheswisher to the answer that was given by my colleague Patrick Harvie earlier on to Alistair Allen, which dealt with many of those issues. For a summary of that, I would say that we have allocated £350 million to heat energy efficiency and fuel poverty measures this year, including £119 million targeted at fuel poor households funding for our updated warmer homes Scotland service, which we started on Monday, stands at £55 million, its highest ever level, and the budget for our local authority area-based schemes also continues at a record level of £64 million this year. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission independent analysis of the impact that its interventions, including the Scottish child payment, carers allowance supplement and the baby box, have had on social justice? We have published evaluations for the Scottish child payment, carers allowance supplement and the baby box. Those evaluations, which included research by independent contractors, showed a positive impact on social justice in Scotland with the Scottish child payment contributing to the overall aim of reducing child poverty. The young carers grant positively impacting on carers finances and their feelings of wellbeing, and the baby box having a positive impact on families, particularly for a first-time, younger and lower-income parents. I thank the cabinet secretary for her reply. The Joseph Rowntey Foundation's annual Poverty in Scotland report was published this week, highlighting the significant impact that the increased Scottish child payment is likely to have had on child poverty levels. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, and I ask if, how I access this data, which would be useful in supporting all the interventions, not just the Scottish child payment that is having on poverty in children. We know that our actions are making a difference with 90,000 fewer children expected to live in relative and absolute poverty this year as a result of Scottish Government policies. That includes lifting an estimated 50,000 children out of relative poverty through the investment in our Scottish child payment, described by Professor Danny Dorling as the biggest fault in child poverty anywhere in Europe for at least 40 years. I would be happy to provide Christine Grahame and other members in the chamber with further details about the work that we are doing to ensure that we are on the right track to meet our statutory targets, eradicate child poverty in Scotland and the difference that the Scottish Government policies are making and what a shame that UKE welfare policies at the same time are pushing children into poverty. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on cladding remediation in Scotland. The safety of homeowners and residents is our absolute priority, that is why the programme for government sets out proposals for a cladding remediation bill that will give ministers new powers to ensure the remediation of buildings with unsafe cladding and why are we seeking the transfer of powers in order to create a building safety levy. We are undertaking a robust programme of single building assessments. Those assessments are being completed and remediation work is already under way. We are committed to undertaking a stock survey and ensuring buildings in the pilot programme or on a single building assessment pathway. Minister, the reality is that progress towards removing dangerous cladding has been pitiful. The Scottish Government has the financial resources it needs, but it has spent barely 4 per cent of the UK Government's allocation for cladding remediation. Now we are hearing that more powers are needed to make progress. Can the minister provide a timeline for the proposed cladding remediation bill and explain what action will be taken to expedite this process in the meantime? I would obviously disagree with our assessment of the progress that is made so far. I have had a number—I think that one of the key things in terms of this is to make sure that we are working with developers on this as we develop the programme. I have met them on a number of occasions, both on the round table and individually. I think that one of the key things in that regard is to work with them extensively, and we are working very closely in that regard. On the bill, we are going through the process just now. I met my colleague Miles Briggs a few weeks ago and talked to him about the principles of the bill, but I agreed to meet him. I am happy to meet him again, Ms White, in terms of when the full details of the bill come through and to discuss that further. The Cladding Remediation Bill is a welcome addition to the programme for government. Can the minister elaborate on how the new powers in the bill will build on the groundwork that has already been carried out by the Scottish Government and local partners to identify high-rise buildings in the need of remedial workplaces? I thank the member for his supplementary. Again, coming back to the discussion, we have had a number of questions and meetings with developers on that. We will introduce a bill to support the delivery of the cladding programme and prioritise the safety of homeowners and residents. My discussions with homeowners and developers and evidence from our own pilot work has highlighted key issues. Those include challenges in securing consent, assessment and remediation work, especially from non-resident homeowners delivering on the commitment to create a register of buildings that have undergone assessment and required necessary remediation to be carried out. We are committed to ensuring that developers make a fair contribution to the programme and to identifying buildings in scope. Thank you minister. That concludes portfolio questions on social justice. There will be a brief pause while front benches change before we move on to the next item of business.