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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: S6F-00778

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00777

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-06157

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has received for evictions and civil proceedings for each rule in each (a) quarter and (b) year since 1 December 2017, and, of these, how many have received a hearing.

Question reference: S6W-05901

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) affordable and (b) social rent homes have been (i) acquired and (ii) built in Stirling since 2017, and how much funding it provided for this purpose.

The following table details affordable unit completions in Stirling since 1 st April 2017 to 30 th September 2021 by (i) new build and (ii) off the shelf.

	Financial Year					Total Homes
	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22*
New Build	53	82	10	49	35	229
Off the Shelf	18	16	63	182	11	290
Rehabilitation	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Homes	71	98	73	231	46	519
* up to end of September (Q2)

The Scottish Government publishes annual Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Outturn Reports. These Outturn Reports provide details of completed housing units by tenure and contain details of all Resource Planning Assumptions by local authority area, as well as actual outturn expenditure. You can access the Outturn Reports for 2017-18 to 2020-21 from this link - More homes: Affordable Housing Supply Programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This web page also includes a link to the published Resource Planning Assumptions for 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-05904

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Forthside green heating network project cost; when work was completed, and what its position is on the impact on Stirling of the project.

The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project cost £5,124,000. The Scottish Government provided £2,005,331 through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme. The work was completed in August 2019.

The district heating network serves a number of buildings in Stirling, including St. Modan’s High School, Forthbank Stadium and Conference Facilities, the Peak Leisure Centre, the Robertson Trust Barracks Development, Jubilee House (owned by Volunteer Scotland) and Moray House.

The project brings several benefits to Stirling, including:

a 10% savings to end users compared to their heating costs using traditional boilers;
reduction in associated operational costs, including servicing and boiler replacement;
income generation to Stirling Council over 40 years;
wider community benefits include local job creation, upskilling and regeneration of the local area.

The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project has scope for expansion, including to future proposed development at the Public Sector Innovation Hub and Heritage Hub.

Question reference: S6W-05995

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have received funding through Individual Training Accounts in each year since their inception.

The Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) replaced the Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) and were launched in October 2017. Since their launch in 2017 the following numbers of individuals have received funding and training through the scheme:

Financial year:	October 2017 - March 2018	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	April 2021-1st February 2022
Confirmed claims	7087	20572	13380	7756	9494

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the number of individuals applying for ITAs and utilising the available funding, however numbers, as indicated on the table above, have started to recover again this year.

Question reference: S6W-05962

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance in relation to owners (a) in tenements forming owners' associations, (b) and building reserve funds and (c) and five-yearly building condition reports, which it committed to support through voluntary and incremental change until legislation is in place.

The Scottish Law Commission have accepted a reference from the Scottish Government, commissioning project work to review the law of the tenement in Scotland and to make recommendations regarding the establishment of compulsory owners’ associations, building reserve funds and building inspections.

The Scottish Government has commissioned research on repair costs and the viability of owners’ associations, and engaged with stakeholders including tenement owners regarding compulsory factoring.

Separately, the Scottish Government will be publishing a public consultation on a new housing standard for Scotland in the course of 2022 which will inform plans for future legislation. We will also be circulating draft guidance for private landlords on changes to the repairing standard which come into force in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-05955

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the removal of fireplaces in properties in rural communities in order to meet new housing standards, in light of the potential impact that this could have during events such as Storm Arwen, and whether it will consider allowing fireplaces to be kept as a back-up heating source.

Social landlords are responsible for ensuring their housing stock complies with housing standards including the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). Decisions on how the energy efficiency ratings required by EESSH are met, is an operational matter for individual social landlords and not something in which the Scottish Government can intervene. EESSH does not require the removal of fireplaces. Any decisions to remove fireplaces in social housing in rural communities lies solely with the social landlord who owns the housing stock.

Compliance with EESSH is reported to the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) and social landlords can claim exemptions where there are significant obstacles relating to cost, technology and necessary consent.

Question reference: S6W-05986

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current sentencing guidelines are for those convicted of fly-tipping.

Flytipping is a criminal offence. People who flytip can be issued with a fixed penalty notice up to £200. If prosecuted, a person who is caught flytipping can face a fine up to £40,000. SEPA are engaging with the Scottish Sentencing Council on behalf of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to help develop sentencing guidelines on environmental offences.

In December 2021, Scottish Government launched a consultation on potential additional measures to tackle flytipping in Scotland, including actions to further strengthen enforcement. Proposals include raising fines, extending local authorities' enforcement powers and exploring the use of civil penalties to enforce flytipping offences.

Responses to the consultation, which is open until 31 March 2022, will inform the development of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-05983

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities, emergency services, and energy and connectivity suppliers will be permitted to share vulnerable people's contact information to facilitate the provision of support to those people in times of emergencies, such as during the response to Storm Arwen.