- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to end sexual exploitation in Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
- Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the courts system to clear the current reported backlog of cases.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many Green Jobs have been supported since the introduction of the Green Jobs Fund.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how the Affordable Housing Supply Programme process and procedures facilitate the purchase of properties exiting the private rented sector in order to maintain the homes of tenants affected, in light of the publication, RentBetter: Research on the impact of changes to the private rented sector tenancy regime in Scotland: Wave 2 Final Report, which states that half of landlords intend to leave the market.
Answer
The Scottish Government already invests significantly through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and works with private sector funders and suppliers to maximise the delivery of the right homes in the right places. While the Affordable Housing Supply Programme process and procedures guidance does not specifically facilitate the purchase of properties exiting the private rented sector in order to maintain the homes of tenants affected, we were keen to gather views on what more can be done to ensure that the supply of rented homes continues to play a key role in addressing the affordability issues we are facing in Scotland as part of the consultation on the draft rented sector strategy – A New Deal for Tenants. We have specifically sought views on whether there are opportunities to engage with owners/ landlords to allow first refusal to those delivering the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. The consultation closed on 22 April and we will consider the responses in order to determine whether any changes are required to current guidance.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors (a) landlord and (b) stock exits from the private rental sector, and what its policy is for managing these exits.
Answer
The Scottish Landlord Register provides data on the number of private landlord registrations, for example in relation to the number of new applications, renewals made and the number of properties these relate to.
The Scottish Government uses this information to monitor the number of registered landlords operating and properties in Scotland, and to appropriately distribute the applications fees to the relevant local authorities.
The information is also used more broadly to help with gaining insights and understanding of the Private Rented Sector and its regulation in Scotland, alongside other official statistics on the sector such as results from the Scottish Household Survey, which can help to monitor trends over time in overall stock levels of private rented sector households.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-36131 by Maree Todd on 23 March 2021, what percentage of the 435 equity and excellence leads are in post; how many of the posts are vacant, and on what date all posts were filled, including where the post-holder has since moved on.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities to recruit Equity and Excellence lead posts across all 32 local authorities, but does not monitor the movement of specific staff.
Scottish Government publishes snapshot figures of graduate level posts in ELC annually in ‘Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland’. The latest figures were collected in the week commencing 13 September 2021 and published on 14 December 2021, in the ‘Additional early learning and childcare tables’: Supporting documents - Summary Statistics For Schools In Scotland 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
This showed that 356 Equity and Excellence Leads were in post at that point in time, 327 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). This was an increase from 2020 when there were 350 (316 FTE).
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it last reviewed the requirement for affordable housing supply programme "buy-backs" to take place on the open market only.
Answer
Following a recent review, we will be publishing updated guidance on the operation of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme over the coming weeks so that Councils and Registered Social Landlords can apply for grant funding to enable them to purchase existing homes which are not for sale on the open market under the following circumstances.
Councils and Registered Social Landlords will be able to apply for grant funding to purchase homes with vacant possession where it can be demonstrated that the purchase meets a clear strategic purpose, and can clearly be seen to support the achievement of the priorities and objectives set out in a local authority’s Local Housing Strategy. Securing stock where there is a limited supply and limited development opportunities is an example of the type of situation where this might be deemed appropriate.
Councils and Registered Social Landlords will also be able to apply for grant funding to enable them to acquire properties from owner occupiers (particularly those in mixed tenure blocks) who cannot afford the required maintenance or refurbishment of their home, and would therefore wish to sell their home to a Council or Registered Social Landlord and become a tenant in the social rented sector. This will be permitted where is can be clearly demonstrated that:
- the purchase facilitates the consolidation of stock ownership for managing specific planned stock improvement/ refurbishment works, and supports the achievement of the priorities and objectives set out in a local authority’s Local Housing Strategy
- the local authority is unable to facilitate the planned works from local resources under discretionary power to assist
- the homeowner has received (a) advice about their financial situation from an FCA authorised independent financial adviser and (b) independent legal advice on the terms of the proposed sale and subsequent tenancy agreement
- the homeowner will employ a solicitor to act on their behalf with respect to the sale of their home, and
- the homeowner is not eligible for support under the Home Owners’ Support Fund.
The value of any property to be purchased in this situation must be in line with the terms of the Mortgage to Rent scheme. And the amount of money that a household can retain post sale will also mirror the terms of the Mortgage to Rent scheme.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports based on General Teaching Council for Scotland data, which state that, over the last four years, 24 teachers have been removed from the register for sexual offences and 72 have been reported for sexual misconduct.
Answer
The wellbeing and safety of children and young people in Scotland are key priorities for the Scottish Government. All children have the right to be cared for and protected from harm. GTC Scotland is the independent registration and regulation body for the teaching profession in Scotland. Their role is to help maintain trust in the teaching profession. They do this by keeping the Register of Teachers and setting and regulating the standards for entry to, and continued inclusion on, the Register. In the year April 2020 - March 2021, GTC Scotland received fitness to teach referrals in respect of 0.2% of the total number of registrants. For referrals for sexual misconduct specifically, this drops to 0.02%. These figures are consistent with previous years.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to assess the viability, and design policy and legislation to deliver compulsory sale and rent orders.
Answer
Local authorities already have broad compulsory purchase powers which are used for a range of purposes, including restoration of property which may be vacant, derelict or unsafe. Scottish Government officials continue to support and advise local authorities in this important work. As outlined in the Programme for Government, we are committed to modernising the compulsory purchase order process to make it clearer, fairer and faster for all parties, and to support the delivery of projects that are in the public interest. We will continue to engage with local authorities and other stakeholders to identify the most effective levers as the work progresses.
We are also considering the matter of compulsory sales orders as part of this. Any new powers would need to be compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights with careful consideration given to the compatibility with existing powers – this includes any proposals for Compulsory Rental Orders.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland, and, in particular, recommendation 4, which states that no further planning permission should be granted to incineration infrastructure unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity.
Answer
We are carefully considering the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy. We will set out our initial response to the recommendations in June 2022.
