Chamber and committees

Information about how the Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant scheme will operate will be set out in due course. Funding for the Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant will be considered as part of preparation for the Scottish Budget 2027-28.

The Scottish Government has supported and used modelling to inform planning across the wider Trauma and Orthopaedic specialty.

This includes modelling undertaken through the Performance Management and Assessment Tool (PMAT), which considers demand and capacity across the full Trauma & Orthopaedic waiting list to support delivery planning and Scottish Government targets. However, this modelling is not undertaken specifically for hip and knee replacement services.

In addition, work has been undertaken with the University of Strathclyde through the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to model aspects of orthopaedic demand and capacity. This work was conducted at whole-specialty level rather than at the level of individual sub-specialties such as hip and knee replacement surgery.

Separately, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, which is the largest hip and knee replacement centre in the UK, employs a Clinical Fellow who undertakes modelling relating to arthroplasty demand through the Scottish Arthroplasty Project.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with Motability to understand how its changes might affect customers in Scotland under the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment (AVE) Scheme.

As a result of our engagement Motability has committed to providing additional mileage, on top of its reduced standard allowance, to customers living in very rural and island communities in recognition of their having to drive further to access key services.

Also, customers in any area who for essential purposes need to drive more than 3,000 miles each year above the 10,000 standard annual inclusive mileage will be able to apply for support with the increased excess mileage charge.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the AVE Scheme and to ensuring that all eligible clients can access the right support through it to meet their mobility needs.

The Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan supports our target to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, at least 10% of which will be in rural and island areas.

From 24 March 2022 to 31 March 2025, we supported delivery of 5,890 affordable homes in rural and island areas towards the target. Overall during this period we supported delivery of 28,536 affordable homes across Scotland towards the target, meaning that delivery in rural and island areas is around 20%.

Delivery of affordable homes in rural and island areas is primarily supported through the local authority area Resource Planning Assumption element of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. Demand-led funds, such as the £37 million Rural and Island Housing Fund and the £25 million Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund are a key and additional part of our approach working with local authorities, as the strategic housing authorities, to address specific rural housing issues where they arise.

In 2025-26 the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS) received 1,063 applications, of which 777 were approved and 154 were rejected. The remaining 132 applications have a variety of statuses including still to be assessed, withdrawn, or offer letters have been issued but have yet to be returned by the applicant.

Since April 2026, 156 applications have been approved and offered contracts, with 61 of those already accepted. A further 50 applications have either been withdrawn or rejected.

Grants awarded through the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme are not paid at the point that the applications are approved. Payments can only be made once the successful applicants have completed the works and submitted their claim, which is then assessed by scheme officials.

As set out in the answer to question S7W-01822, the Scottish Government is currently improving its understanding of the issues that have been raised regarding the delivery of factoring services and considering what action may be required. The views and experiences of homeowners and property factors will be an important consideration as that work progresses, and the approach to stakeholder engagement will be developed alongside it.

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.

While house-building remains the cornerstone of our response to increase housing supply, we are using every lever at our disposal to ensure existing stock supports the housing needs of our communities. This is happening via three routes: action led by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership and local authority empty homes officers to support privately owned empty homes to return to use, the conversion of empty commercial/ retail properties into residential housing and a reduction in the number of empty local authority/ social housing units.

Privately Owned Empty Homes

• Our investment of £5.7m in the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership has helped return almost 13,000 privately owned empty homes to use since 2010 (a record 2,066 homes in 2024-25 alone – 10% more than the year before. Figures for 2025-26 will be available later this year).
• This investment has expanded the Partnership’s core service, boosted empty homes officer capacity (15 additional posts in 2025-26) and funded a number of national and local initiatives e.g. the new empty homes Compulsory Purchase Hub facilitated by Aberdeenshire Council and the Society of Lawyers and Administrators (SOLAR) that will support more local authorities to be able to use this power to bring empty homes back into use.
• A further £1.3m is being allocated in 2026-27 to continue the SEHP core activities, as well as to help local authorities to offer grants to empty homeowners to renovate and let their homes for affordable rents.
• We continue to work with partners to increase the delivery of more affordable homes through acquisitions, the majority of which will be for social rent. In 2025-26 90 privately owned empty homes were acquired and returned to use in this way.

Conversion of empty commercial/ retail properties

• Local authorities may choose to use Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) grant to convert empty properties into housing. A recent example is the Kingdom Group's redevelopment of New City House, a former office block in Dunfermline. This was supported by over £3 million from AHSP and transformed the building into 32 energy-efficient two and three bedroom apartments for mid-market rent.
• In addition, in 2026-27 we are providing up to £52 million in resource and capital programmes for community-led regeneration across Scotland. This may be used to transform empty buildings into homes. Some examples of this since 2019 include £800,000 to refurbish an empty commercial building in Airdrie Town Centre into four flats, £441,000 to acquire and convert a former YMCA building in central Motherwell (alongside development of adjacent vacant and derelict land) to provide 48 new town centre residential units and £400,000 to develop a vacant military site at Comlet Invergordon in the Highlands into 93 affordable homes.

Empty local authority/ social housing

• 620 void properties were supported back into use in 2024-25 and 2025-2026 through targeted use of £120m AHSP grant for acquisitions and voids.

The Scottish Government is responding to ongoing cost of living pressures being felt by households across Scotland. We are working towards a consultation on the price cap on essential food items within 100 days of the start of this Government.

The consultation will be an opportunity for interested parties to inform the further development of the policy and any future legislative proposals. Any proposals brought forward would be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

A bypass of Girvan was included in the long list of options considered as part of the transport appraisal that supported the second Strategic Transport Project Review (STPR2).However, this option is not part of the 45 STPR2 recommendations, published in December 2022, which make up our long term framework for investment in transport infrastructure.