Parliamentary questions
Meghan Gallacher
342 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
31 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the process is for spending any unclaimed deposits held by SafeDeposits Scotland, and what any such money has been used to fund in each year for which data is available.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 place a duty on scheme administrators to safeguard a tenant’s deposit in a designated account until it is repaid following the end of the tenancy. No end date is provided for within the regulations…
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact in Scotland, what its position is on the finding of the UK Government consultation, Review of the ban on the use of combustible materials in and on the external walls of buildings, that hotels, hostels and boarding houses presented an “equivalent, or greater, …
Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government is currently considering extending the ban on combustible external wall cladding to hotels, boarding houses and hostels. This will be informed by research and consultation, including relevant work undertaken by the UK Government.
29 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will (a) publish the phase 1 research and (b) commit to publishing the phase 2 research carried out by the Building Research Establishment in support of the consultation document, Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed review of fire safety topics including Cameron House Hote…
Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government is committed to publishing both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the research, and intends to do this at the same time.
21 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many tenancy deposits were unclaimed at the end of the tenancy agreement in each year since 2021-22, and what action it takes to promote the uptake of deposits.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The requested information is detailed in the following table:Financial YearIncrease in unclaimed deposits from previous yearTotal number of unclaimed deposits2021-2286212,9122022-2398813,9002023-246,29720,197The total value of unclaimed deposits in the reques…
20 Jan 2025 · First Minister's Question
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.
17 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many rural households (a) applied for and (b) received the additional £1,500 funding uplift available for (i) energy efficiency and (ii) clean heating under the Home Energy Scotland Grants and Loan Scheme, in 2024.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme offers a rural uplift to households in remote rural and island areas, as well off-gas accessible rural areas, in recognition of the higher installation costs often faced by these households. The uplift is a…
17 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to invest in (a) mobile and (b) other modes of training for heat pump installation in rural areas, to increase local expertise, tackle any disparities experienced in rural areas, and remove any barriers to improving energy efficiency.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: We are committed to supporting Scotland’s workforce develop the skills needed for the clean heat transition. We have invested in a mobile training centre, launched in August 2023, for heat pump installation to ensure training is equally available across…
17 Jan 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: 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 ener…
14 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it currently offers to individuals who use prepayment energy meters and are at risk of disconnection.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Energy policy (including pre-payment meters) is mostly reserved to the UK Government, which unfortunately means that the Scottish Government has limited powers to intervene.We continue to call for more targeted support for vulnerable consumers, including thos…
14 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government, as it may relate to Scotland, on introducing a permanent ban on prepayment energy meter installations.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Energy policy (including pre-payment meters) is mostly reserved to the UK Government, which means the Scottish Government has limited powers to intervene.It is important that consumers are able to choose the most appropriate and manageable way of paying for t…
14 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households it estimates currently use prepayment (a) gas and (b) electricity meters in Scotland.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish House Condition Survey provides a snapshot of the Scottish housing stock in each survey year including the construction age and built form of Scottish domestic buildings. Within this it provides estimates of the number of dwellings with a prepaym…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Paul McLennan: 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 120,0…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Paul McLennan: 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 690,0…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Paul McLennan: 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.parli…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many unclaimed tenancy deposits there were as of 1 January 2025.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Scottish Government are provided with unclaimed deposit figures on a monthly basis by the tenancy deposit schemes, and as such cannot provide information from a specific date. The December 2024 figure is not yet available but at the end of November 2024 there…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many tenancy deposits went unclaimed in the (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24 financial year.
Answer · Paul McLennan: 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.…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many unclaimed tenancy deposits there were as of 6 April 2024.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Scottish Government are provided with unclaimed deposit figures on a monthly basis by the tenancy deposit schemes, and as such cannot provide information from a specific date. However, at the end of April 2024, there were 20,357 unclaimed deposits between the…
9 Jan 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Gillian Martin: 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 Sec…
8 Jan 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional measures will be introduced to support rural housing providers to achieve the net zero emissions target by decarbonising social housing.
11 Dec 2024 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Paul McLennan: 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 withou…
11 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) members of the public and (b) organisations have notified it or its relevant public bodies of unsafe cladding on their buildings in each month since January 2019.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government takes the safety of buildings very seriously and works closely with members of the public and organisations to address concerns about cladding. Since January 2019, notifications regarding potentially unsafe cladding have been received …
4 Dec 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress towards creating a Planning Hub.
25 Nov 2024 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce the length of time that children are placed in temporary accommodation.
20 Nov 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to the nightclub industry, in light of the Night Time Industries Association’s launch of The Last Night Out campaign.
13 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many buildings have had flammable cladding removed to date (a) in total and (b) with the assistance of government funding.
Answer · Paul McLennan: 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 withou…
13 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many buildings have had reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) removed to date (a) in total and (b) with the assistance of government funding.
Answer · Paul McLennan: The management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), including assessing its condition and any decision for removal, is a matter for building owners. Information on buildings identified as having RAAC, including its management, can be found in the…
13 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many homes have been secured for key workers as a result of the £25 million of additional funding from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme that it provided for housing for key workers in rural areas.
Answer · Paul McLennan: To date 17 homes have been approved through the demand-led Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund which will operate over the period 2023-2028. This includes 7 homes in Highland, 7 homes in Orkney, 2 homes in Moray and 1 home in North Ayrshire. More Home…
13 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many buildings have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
Answer · Paul McLennan: Information on buildings identified as having Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), is contained in the Scottish Government report available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/raac-in-the-public-sector/.
13 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many buildings have been identified as having flammable cladding.
Answer · Paul McLennan: We have previously estimated that around 350 high-rise and up to 500 medium-rise buildings across Scotland may require assessment and some level of remediation, across all tenure and building ownership types.We continue to use this data as an outline planning…
12 Nov 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding mitigating fire risk from battery energy storage systems, in light of the role that battery storage can play in the future energy mix of Scotland.