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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-12806

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has considered or (b) is consulting on the provision of a train station in the village of Plains, North Lanarkshire.

Scottish Government is aware that North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) instructed consultants SWECO to undertake the Plains STAG (Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance) Transport Options Study on their behalf. Transport Scotland provided advice to the consultants at appropriate stages.

Transport Scotland’s response to the final report noted that the appraisal was well communicated, proportionate and sufficiently detailed for this stage of appraisal.

Question reference: S5W-13288

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11311 by Paul Wheelhouse on 29 September 2017, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how much it is investing into research on the offsite construction sector.

My response to S5W-11311 made clear Scottish Government support for encouraging a higher take-up of innovation in product and process across the construction sector.

We are providing £7.5 million funding, via the Scottish Funding Council, for the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre which provides businesses with a ‘one-stop shop’ for accessing a team of experts and public support along with access to state of the art production, prototyping and technology equipment that allows companies to develop new products and modern methods of construction, including offsite production.

In addition, the Draft Budget 2018-19 announces our intention to deliver a new
£150 million Building Scotland Fund to support the development of new public and private sector housing, of modern industrial and commercial space and industry-led research and development. The cross portfolio fund will be supported by £70 million in 2018-19 and £80 million in 2019-21. We will work closely with the construction sector and Construction Scotland Innovation Centre to ensure this investment acts as a catalyst for skills development and innovation across the sector including encouraging the use of offsite construction where appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-13028

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many new skilled workers it estimates are needed to meet its house-building targets.

Through the More Homes Scotland approach we are taking a number of steps to increase housing supply across the country. We have set out a five year commitment to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes, including 35,000 homes for social rent, backed by more than £3 billion investment.

With our support, these homes will be delivered mainly by local authorities and housing associations, who make their own assessments of need and contract for delivery.

More widely, the Scottish Government is working with industry and others through Homes for Scotland to review the skills position and consider what further measures may be required to support the workforce and new skillsets for the future.

Question reference: S5W-13031

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it will give to the recommendations in the UK Government’s interim report on the review of the gap between planning permission being granted and house building completion, and whether it will consider these when tackling similar issues for housing developments in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-13029

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people are training to enter the construction industry.

Question reference: S5W-13035

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11854 by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2017, how many accredited professionals there are in Scotland, and whether this is sufficient to meet demand.

The range of different accredited professionals to be employed on energy efficiency retrofit for traditional buildings will depend on the specific circumstances of the building. The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on this issue.

We will publish a routemap for Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme in 2018. As part of the development of the Programme we are working with relevant professional accreditation bodies, industry representatives, consumer protection agencies and the skills and enterprise agencies to assess overall current and future capacity requirements over the 15-20 year timescale for the programme.

Question reference: S5W-13034

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ensure that all (a) listed and (b) pre-1919 buildings have an accredited professional adviser on energy efficiency adaptations.

Question reference: S5W-13033

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-11853 and S5W-11854 by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2017, what provisions are in place to ensure the same standards are met for listed and pre-1919 buildings that are not grant-funded by HES.

Question reference: S5W-13039

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether EPC measures for the U-value of stone construction in Scotland fairly represent actual in situ performance.

EPCs are produced using the UK Government National Calculation Methodology (NCM) that conforms to the requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2010/31/EU).

Within the NCM, default U-values for the performance of building elements are provided for use in the calculation methodology where it is impractical to obtain building-specific U-values. These U-values are developed by the UK Government to be representative of typical constructions.

A recent UK Government review of the NCM resulted in changes to default values cited for solid and cavity brick construction. We are currently investigating whether a similar review of U-values for stone external wall construction is merited.

Question reference: S5W-13036

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11854 by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2017, in light of the development of the skills listed being voluntary, what plans it has to make accreditation mandatory for retrofit work on listed and traditional buildings.