Meta: Communities and Local Government Secretary LightningMinion is on a break. I agreed to do the questions session for him but misremembered which date the questions session closed.

Beginning of Statement:

My apologies to all Members of the Scottish Parliament for not managing to answer every question on behalf of the department and Secretary who is on leave at the most recent portfolio questions session. A full written response to unanswered questions is provided below, and if any require further follow ups please enquire directly with my office.

Does the Cabinet Secretary have any plans to devolve more powers to local councils or community councils?

There are not currently any pieces of legislation in development to further council powers.

In the Programme for Government, Cabinet Secretary, it says that the government will:

"work with local authorities to ensure children in care get financial support if they decide to take an apprenticeship as those who go to university do."

How has this materialised and if not can the Cabinet Secretary please elaborate on why not? Unless I have read the budget wrong there is absolutely no mention of this.

I will urgently seek clarification on this and get a full answer to the member directly at a later point.

The Scottish Conservatives at the last election pledged to increase the fine you are liable to pay for antisocial behaviour from £40 to £100. Does the Cabinet Secretary support this and has the government done anything to implement this manifesto pledge this term?

The proposal on that still appears to be in the development phase and as such it is unlikely it will have been achieved by the end of this term due to bills no longer being accepted to the docket for this parliament.

Will the Government commit to supporting Motion on Skills Development Scotland?

If the chamber commends us to exploring its merits then we will do so, and I have personally spoken in favour of the motion and welcome its aims.

How does the Cabinet Secretary envisage the Pensioner's Broadband Fund to work in practice?

I do not have all the information available and will seek clarification from the department over the subject and meet with the member another time to discuss the proposal in more detail.

Does the secretary believe that it is essential that we act fast to avoid small island communities from becoming inaccessible, and that government mandated ferry journeys would stop these communities form becoming inaccessible?

We are extremely conscious of the difficulties facing island communities, and will meet with relevant stakeholders to provide effective solutions.

This is the final portfolio questions the secretary will face this term. Can the secretary sum up what their department has done this term?

Offered stability and confidence in our local government and public services.

Does the Cabinet Secretary believe there is any value in there being large numbers of community owned public and community centers?

Absolutely and it is imperative we promote and protect them.

The Cabinet Secretary said that supporting the retrofitting of houses to be greener was one of his priorities, which goes with the pledge in the programme for government to write to local authorities asking them to prioritise retrofitting homes as part of the £1bn of green grants allocated to local authorities over the coming years as part of the Green Strategy. Has the Cabinet Secretary done this and more widely what has he done to promote the retrofitting of homes to be greener?

My understanding is the budget helps support these schemes and we will continue to strengthen them.

The Programme for Government says legislation will be presented to allow for all homeless people to be given a correspondence address which improves their access to public services. We are now at the end of the term, so where is this legislation?

We will seek to develop this and propose the legislation next term as it is unfortunately too late for bills to be read this term.

This term we’ve seen very little from this department. No legislation, no policy and the budget contains just two items in this portfolio not from another party. So my question to the Cabinet Secretary is what have they done to earn their salary this term?

Noone could've forseen the high turnover of First Ministers and indeed the shock resignation of LightningMinion's predecessor as secretary for the department. In the short time he has held the role having been a finance minister he has been committed to maintaining the PFG and working with the Finance Secretary to ensure the budget upholds its commitments to the department and wider policies of the government.

Does the government see a case for lifting slightly the LVT cap on local authorities, meaning they can raise more money locally, in return for a cut to the block grant they receive from Edinburgh - Making then more financially independent and giving them greater control of their finances.

The member is welcome to meet with the government to discuss this issue however as far as I'm aware it is not in the programme for government nor an issue we are currently making developments on.

Does the Cabinet Secretary agree with me that the Government should financially support seaside resorts that have seen decline in recent years?

Our economy is diverse and we should ensure coastal communities especially ones in which tourism is important continue to be strengthened. As for specific solutions the member is welcome to meet with the government to discuss proposals for the area.

Does the Cabinet Secretary believe that money allocated to local councils in the recent budget is sufficient?

We are extremely proud that this budget strengthens public services and local government, so in short yes.

• Model-Eddy MSP, Deputy First Minister of Scotland