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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-33790

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any issues related to lower energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings in (a) homes in rural areas compared with homes in urban areas and (b) older homes compared with newer builds.

We provide uplifts in our heat in buildings delivery schemes to help meet additional challenges faced by homeowners in rural and island communities.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan offers an uplift of £1500 to the grant funding available for energy efficiency measures in remote rural areas and islands.

The Warmer Homes Scotland scheme operates a national customer price model to ensure equal access to grant funded installation of energy efficiency improvements across Scotland, including in rural and island areas.

Both our Area Based Schemes and the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund provide an uplift to reflect higher delivery costs in more remote areas, of 11% in rural areas and 22% in remote rural/island areas.

We will work with Historic Environment Scotland, and other key stakeholders to find the best solutions for older and more traditional buildings. We are considering the development of an assessment tool which could provide owners with information on the types of heating systems and energy efficiency measures appropriate for traditional buildings or those with protected characteristics.

We published a Government Response to our consultation on Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform on 21 January. We will lay regulations later this year which will push ahead with reforms to the infrastructure and assessor market operational framework for EPCs.

Question reference: S6W-33210

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many buildings have been identified to date as having (a) safe and (b) unsafe cladding.

I refer the member to the answers given in S6W-31234 on 25 November 2024 and S6W-32253 on 9 January 2025. 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.

In addition to those earlier answers, I can advise that we currently have Single Building Assessments (SBAs) underway for 13 government-led entries on the Cladding Remediation Programme pilot. We expect to receive the reports of these assessments during the first quarter of the year.

We have also commissioned an independent review of all pilot entries as part of our commitment to ensuring they are on an appropriate pathway to assessment. We will commission further SBAs for any buildings that this review finds to also require government-led assistance.

We recently set out our strategic priorities for cladding remediation during 2025 in the answer given in S6W-32849 on 6 January 2025. These include the development of two new schemes for assessment and remediation, as well as working with partners to develop a clear picture of the position across sectors in Scotland. We will be publishing a renewed plan of action in March that will set out how and when we will be delivering these priorities.

Question reference: S6F-03736

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address concerns regarding waiting times in A&E departments, following reports of a mother having to wait 50 hours for medical care at University Hospital Wishaw.

Question reference: S6W-33204

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

The figures requested are as follows:

1. In the 2021-22 financial year, there were 12,912 unclaimed deposits, totalling a value of £3,306,695.

2. In the 2022-23 financial year, there were 13,900 unclaimed deposits, totalling a value of £3,660,948.

3. In the 2023-24 financial year, there were 20,197 unclaimed deposits, totalling a value of £5,419,255.

In reference to the increase of number and value of unclaimed tenancy deposits in recent years, Scottish Government received notification from one of the schemes in August 2023 explaining that they had reviewed the criteria used to report on unclaimed deposits. This resulted in a fluctuation in their figures with a corresponding increase in the total unclaimed deposit value pool amongst the three schemes.

Each of the three schemes may calculate unclaimed deposits differently, as an unclaimed deposit is not currently defined in law. Provisions within the Housing (Scotland) Bill will create a legal definition of when a tenancy deposit can be considered unclaimed, ensuring there is consistency in all three schemes figures if the Bill is approved.

Question reference: S6W-33211

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many children under 16 are currently living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or below.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the occupied domestic housing stock in each survey year, including energy efficiency ratings and household composition.

In 2022, using data from the SHCS it is estimated that approximately 120,000 children under 16 were living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower (under the SAP2012 v9.93 methodology).

This ought to be considered as an approximate estimate as the SHCS survey methodology is not aligned with more robust population estimates by age, from sources such as the Population Census, instead the SHCS methodology focuses on alignment by household numbers and different types of dwellings.

Question reference: S6W-33205

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many unclaimed tenancy deposits there were as of 1 January 2025.

Question reference: S6W-33212

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many individuals are currently living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or below.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the occupied domestic housing stock in each survey year, including energy efficiency ratings and household composition..

In 2022 using data from the SHCS it is estimated that approximately 690,000 individuals were living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower (under the SAP2012 v9.93 methodology).

This ought to be considered as an approximate estimate as the SHCS survey methodology is not aligned with more robust population estimates from sources such as the Population Census, instead the SHCS methodology focuses on alignment by household numbers and by different types of dwellings.

Question reference: S6W-33206

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many unclaimed tenancy deposits there were as of 6 April 2024.

Question reference: S6W-33192

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of the average cost to upgrade social housing to an energy performance certificate (EPC) C rating from a rating of (a) D, (b) E and (c) F.

Analysis has not been carried out to estimate average cost to upgrade social housing to an EPC C rating from a rating of (a) D, (b) E and (c) F. The findings from the Scottish Household Condition Survey in 2022 estimated that the majority of Social Rented Sector dwellings (66%) are already at EPC C or better.

Modelling undertaken for the Scottish Government indicates that an estimated average cost for social rented sector dwellings to reach the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) target of EPC C or D would be around £2,400 per dwelling in 2020 prices. The modelling methodology is available here: Supporting documents - Tackling fuel poverty in Scotland: a strategic approach - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government is working to develop an improved EPC rating system to give consumers better information including on the actual fabric energy efficiency of their building, and on potential improvements they could make.

We are committed to supporting social landlords with these costs, for example through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund to support the deployment of clean heating and energy efficiency measures for those seeking to retrofit their existing housing stock.

Question reference: S6W-32253

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the buildings that have been identified as having unsafe cladding to date have had work commenced to remove such cladding.

We can currently only provide information on mitigations or remediation works that we have funded for entries to the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Developers or other organisations may have carried out such works on other buildings without informing us.

We have funded work to remediate the external wall cladding system of one pilot entry. We have recently commissioned a Single Building Assessment to confirm that all works have been identified and completed.

Works to mitigate or remediate risks have also started for another five pilot entries. In this context, ‘work’ refers to any action taken to address known cladding related risks. This includes what are described as ‘Urgent Interim Measures’.

We have also commissioned Single Building Assessments for 13 pilot entries. This is made up of 12 recently commissioned following an Invitation To Tender (including the one noted above), and another that has now reached the reporting stage. We are fully funding these assessments at no cost to homeowners or residents.