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Where possible the policy decisions are taken on a four nations basis – guidance is developed as a result of those policy decisions, with officials discussing with the UK Government when necessary. This includes working with the UK government for guidance as part of UK-wide systems such as Passenger Locator Form and the CTM booking system.

We regularly update the Scottish Government website to reflect changes to policy, and have aligned with the UK Government on guidance for international travel, including directions for completing Passenger Locator Forms, isolation requirements once in Scotland and advice on country list changes. Some guidance varies where necessary where Scotland has different rules – for example Scottish guidance does not refer to private testing or ‘test to release’.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Legislation was laid on 27 May 2021 to extend the temporary exceptions of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order for a further three months until 30 September 2021. Local authorities have been advised that they should prepare for the temporary exceptions to expire on that date.

Our priority is to keep people safe so we extended these measures while the path of the pandemic remains uncertain, and we will keep the situation under review.

We are doing all we can to ensure that people experiencing homelessness are not housed in unsuitable accommodation for any longer than is necessary. However, it is crucial that we help local authorities to keep people safe during the pandemic.

Our ambition is for all households to have a decent temporary home and to move into settled accommodation as quickly as possible. We will continue to work with councils to help them overcome any barriers as we shift to a new way of dealing with homelessness.

Scottish Enterprise green jobs funding is being delivered through rounds that open and close periodically for fixed amounts of time and from which the best projects will be chosen for support. Details , including eligibility criteria, are published on Scottish Enterprise’s website, at .

The delivery of 801 is planned for the range July 2022 to September 2022 and for 802 delivery is planned for the range April 2023 to July 2023. Following completion of the vessels and successful delivery, CalMac as the operator will require to undertake extensive sea trials and crew and operational service familiarisation before the vessels enter service.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme housing subsidy is flexible and is able to respond to the challenges reported recently by the Federation of Master Builders. In this respect, the amount of grant funding that individual projects require continues to be a decision for Registered Social Landlords and local authorities which – as part of the application process – are required to self-certify that the grant that they are requesting is the minimum necessary to allow a project to proceed once homes are designed and tender prices have been received. The amount of grant requested is then compared with the applicable Affordable Housing Investment Benchmark to determine how the funding application will be assessed. Projects that can be delivered with grant funding at or below the relevant benchmark follow a streamlined application and approval process, with projects which are seeking grant funding in excess of the relevant benchmark following a more detailed value for money assessment.

Data from National Records of Scotland show that over the ten year period 2010 to 2019 inclusive there were three instances of death certificate records (one each in 2016, 2018 and 2019) that mention either exposure to natural heat or the effects of heat and light.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change, as part of a just transition to being a net-zero nation. This includes managing the risks to human health, wellbeing and productivity from exposure to heat in homes and other buildings, the increasing urgency of which has been identified by the Climate Change Committee in its Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk published in June 2021.

Our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, published in February 2021, recognises the impact that climate change may have on the need for cooling in Scotland’s buildings. The draft Strategy sets out our proposals to introduce regulations requiring existing buildings to achieve a good level of energy efficiency and to install zero emissions heating and cooling systems. We will be consulting in 2021-22 on the assessment of the energy performance of existing buildings as a basis for future standards, and such assessments will continue to take into account issues of ventilation, heating and cooling of buildings. In addition, we will now take forward further research to better understand the future cooling needs of Scotland’s building stock in order to strengthen our policy response. We will also consult later this year on a new Housing Standard for Scotland, which will support measures being developed in the Heat in Buildings Strategy and include consideration of additional safety standards.

For new residential buildings, including care homes, we are considering an assessment of overheating risk to be carried out through Scottish building regulations. Such an assessment could help identify instances where passive cooling measures may need to be introduced.

We know that people experiencing homelessness are more likely to have chronic health problems, which can increase the risk of heat-related illness. We are working in partnership with local authorities and frontline homelessness services, who provide year-round health and wellbeing support to people who are rough sleeping. During hot weather this includes the provision of water, sun-cream and well-being checks. Anyone who is suspected to be suffering from a heat-related illness will be supported to access the appropriate medical support.

We welcome this decision by the UK Government as a result of the recent judicial review. We will make similar changes to the eligibility criteria for Best Start Foods as soon as it is practicable to do so.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Data on missing children can be sought from Police Scotland.

We recognise the importance of good, safe, secure and warm homes for people’s wellbeing and our vision is that everyone should have a home that meets their needs.

Priority for social housing in Scotland is based on housing need and an assessment of an applicant’s individual circumstances. Scottish housing law requires social landlords to give reasonable preference to specific categories of applicant. This means that anyone including Service leavers, ex-Service personnel, their spouses and partners who find themselves homeless, threatened with homelessness or with a high level of housing need, for example where they are leaving tied accommodation, need family support or have medical needs, will receive priority for social housing.

Following the publication of the Scottish Veterans Commissioners report “Housing: Making a Home in Civilian Society,” we will consider the recommendation to encourage all social landlords to include ex-Service personnel as a priority group in their Allocations policies and will develop an action plan to take this forward.