Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34535

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties bought in the calendar year 2024 were liable for the Additional Dweller Supplement, broken down by (a) the local authority area of the property, (b) properties in the purchase price band of (i) £0 to £100,000, (ii) £100,001 to £200,000, (iii) £200,001 to £300,000, (iv) £300,001 to £400,000, (v) £400,001 to £500,000 and (vi) £500,001 and above and (c) whether the buyer (A) was resident in the UK or (B) had a primary correspondence address abroad.

Revenue Scotland is responsible for the collection and management of Scotland’s fully devolved taxes, including Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT).

Management information data from Revenue Scotland regarding the LBTT Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is provided in the following tables. On (c), the information provided is based on the correspondence address included in the tax return. The return does not however require information to be provided regarding a taxpayer’s residency status.

Where an amount of ADS is due in relation to a transaction, it may in some cases later be reclaimed.

(a) Tax returns submitted in 2024 with ADS declared due by local authority

Local Authority	Tax Returns
Aberdeen City	1,310
Aberdeenshire	900
Angus	380
Argyll and Bute	580
City of Edinburgh	2,700
Clackmannanshire	170
Dumfries and Galloway	610
Dundee City	770
East Ayrshire	370
East Dunbartonshire	310
East Lothian	350
East Renfrewshire	270
Falkirk	480
Fife	1,360
Glasgow City	2,600
Highland	1,050
Inverclyde	230
Midlothian	240
Moray	330
Na h-Eileanan Siar	100
North Ayrshire	530
North Lanarkshire	1,000
Orkney Islands	110
Perth and Kinross	710
Renfrewshire	780
Scottish Borders	450
Shetland Islands	90
South Ayrshire	460
South Lanarkshire	1,290
Stirling	390
West Dunbartonshire	270
West Lothian	540
Unknown	150
Total	21,870

(b) Tax returns submitted in 2024 with ADS declared due by band

Total Consideration Band	Tax Returns
£0 to £100,000	6,770
£100,001 to £200,000	7,190
£200,001 to £300,000	3,560
£300,001 to £400,000	1,910
£400,001 to £500,000	940
£500,001 and above	1,490
Total	21,870

(c) Tax returns submitted in 2024 with ADS declared due, by location of buyer’s address

Buyer	Tax Returns
Total tax returns submitted in 2024	21,870
…of which buyer address in UK	21,170
..of which buyer address outwith-UK	700

Notes for tables:

1.These data are management information figures derived from data as held in Revenue Scotland’s Scottish Electronic Tax Management System (SETS) at February 2025. These figures may potentially change due to administrative updates.

2.Some records in table (a) could not be readily assigned to a local authority. In some cases this can be where the addresses had not been assigned when the property was transacted.

3.Totals in tables may not be the sum of the values in the table due to rounding.

Question reference: S6W-34930

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations have become rural housing bodies each year under section 43(6) of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003.

The following organisations were prescribed as rural housing bodies in the following years. Please note that there is no requirement to notify Scottish Ministers when a rural housing body is wound up or ceases to operate.

2004

Albyn Housing Society Limited

Barra and Vatersay Housing Association Limited

Berneray Housing Association Limited

Buidheann Taigheadais na Meadhanan Limited

Cairn Housing Association Limited

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Dunbritton Housing Association Limited

Fyne Homes Limited

Isle of Jura Development Trust

Lochaber Housing Association Limited

Muirneag Housing Association Limited

Orkney Islands Council

Pentland Housing Association Limited

Taighean Ceann a Tuath na’Hearadh Limited

The Highlands Small Communities’ Housing Trust

The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust

The Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust

The North Harris Trust

Tighean Innse Gall Limited

2005

Buidheann Tigheadas Loch Aillse Agus An Eilein Sgitheanaich Limited

Ekopia Resource Exchange Limited

Rural Stirling Housing Association Limited

West Highland Housing Association Limited

2007

Colonsay Community Development Company

Community Self-Build Scotland Limited

Dumfries and Galloway Small Communities Housing Trust

Fyne Initiatives Limited

2008

Argyll Community Housing Association

HIFAR Limited

North West Mull Community Woodland Company Limited

West Highland Rural Solutions Limited

2009

Craignish Community Company Limited

The Highland Housing Alliance

2013

Down to Earth Solutions Community Interest Company

West Harris Trust

2014

Yuill Community Trust C.I.C.

Mull and Iona Community Trust

2017

Kilfinan Community Forest Company

Dormont Passive Homes (Scotland) Ltd.

2019

Arran Development Trust

2023

Argyll and Bute Council

Hebridean Housing Partnership Limited

Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn

2024

Shapinsay Development Trust

Tayvallich Initiative Ltd

Question reference: S6W-34932

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many rural housing burdens have been issued each year since 2003.

Question reference: S6W-34929

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties have had a rural housing burden applied to their title deeds in each year since 2003, broken down by (a) council tax band and (b) local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, I have contacted the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (the Keeper) and they have been able to provide some of the information. The breakdown by each year the rural housing burden was applied is not available. The property registers maintained by the Keeper do not include council tax band. The following number of titles contain rural housing burdens by local authority:

Argyll and Bute 134

Dumfries and Galloway 109

Highland 388

Inverclyde 1

Moray 4

Na h-Eileanan an Iar 110

Orkney Islands 24

Perth and Kinross 13

Total 783

Question reference: S6W-34931

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many bodies designated as a rural housing body under section 43 (6) of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 have issued rural housing burdens, broken down by year.

Question reference: S6W-34536

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure the sustainability of cultural facilities in the Central Scotland region, in light of Creative Scotland's decision not to award multi-year funding to Cumbernauld Theatre, which has been reported as being "heartbreaking".

The Scottish Government has demonstrated its commitment to the culture sector across Scotland with an increase of £34m in 2025-26 to the culture budget. The largest part of this is an additional £20m for Creative Scotland to provide core funding through its Multi Year Funding programme. This is a foundational moment for culture and the arts in Scotland which means that more organisations than ever, in more parts of the country, will benefit from the stability of core funding. 251 organisations have been successful in securing support, up from 119 currently, and a further 13 organisations will join a development stream and have the possibility of joining the portfolio of funded organisations from 2026-27.

I recognise of course that those organisations that have not been successful in the Multi Year Funding process, such as Cumbernauld Theatre, and their communities will be deeply disappointed. While these funding decisions have been for Creative Scotland to take, I am reassured that the small number of unsuccessful applicants will all be offered bespoke support from Creative Scotland.

I would encourage the Cumbernauld Theatre to continue to engage with Creative Scotland to understand the basis of this decision and take up opportunities offered through the transition support that they will be eligible for.

Question reference: S6O-04325

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average waiting times are for a neurodevelopmental assessment and a speech and language therapy assessment for children and young people in NHS Lanarkshire and in Scotland as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-33597

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a summary of the reasons for the continued delay in the transfer of responsibility for delivery of the Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is prioritising longer term reform so that Employment Injury Assistance better meets Scotland’s needs. This is the option which was supported by the largest number of responses to our public consultation held last year.

Our work on Employment Injury Assistance has taken longer than initially intended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated delays to the development and delivery of social security benefits. Furthermore, we have prioritised the delivery of Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment, in line with the expectations of disabled people and stakeholders.

The Industrial Injuries Scheme has undergone minimal reform by successive UK Government’s since it was introduced more than 75 years ago. While reform will therefore take time, a like-for-like replacement would have been complex, not offered value for money and would not meet the needs of people in the modern workforce.

Question reference: S6W-33596

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects to have held the first meeting of the employment injury assistance steering group.

The Scottish Government is in the process of establishing a stakeholder group on Employment Injury Assistance which will be comprised of organisations and experts with experience of Industrial Injuries Scheme benefits.

Invitations for the Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group will be issued in the coming weeks. The first meeting will take place early this year, subject to members’ availability.

This group will take forward considerations raised in the consultation and provide valuable input for our ongoing work on Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04261

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the uplift in the Scottish Prison Service budget for 2025-26 will be spent on improving the prison estate.

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