Parliamentary questions

Mary Mulligan

707 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

10 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether drafting a national policy statement and developing a scheme of assistance, core care and repair services and a care and repair brand are to become the responsibility of a new national co-ordinating body.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government published Reviewing Care and Repair in Scotland 2009: Report of the findings of the review of Care and Repair on 17 August 2009. The review identified the development of a national policy statement as an important role for the …

10 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Care and Repair Working Group is still in existence and, if not, for what reason it was disbanded.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Care and Repair Working Group (CRWG) is no longer in existence. The group comprised of Scottish Government officials working with COSLA and the Care and Repair Forum Board. The decision was taken to disband CRWG as it was not considered representative of …

10 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the housing debt is of each local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the level of housing debt in each local authority is published annually in the Local Authority Housing Income and Expenditure official statistics publication. Data up to 31 March 2009 and projected levels as at 31 March 2010 were publis…

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what means it has put in place to evaluate the landlord registration scheme.

Answer · Alex Neil: We have committed to an evaluation of the landlord registration scheme in 2010, which will look at the overall impact that registration has had in the private rented sector.

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many landlords were involuntarily removed from the the landlord register in 2008-09, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: In 2008-09, one landlord was involuntarily removed from the register by East Ayrshire Council.

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private landlords were refused registration in 2008-09, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: Details are as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > Local Authority </td> <td valign=top > Number of Applications Refused in 2008-09…

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive at what interest rate housing associations have obtained funding from the European Investment Bank.

Answer · Alex Neil: As no housing associations have yet drawn down their share of the £70 million allocated to them by The Housing Finance Corporation, it is too soon to know the interest rate obtained by each of them from the European Investment Bank. The timing of any draw dow…

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive over what period European Investment Bank funding has been provided to housing associations.

Answer · Alex Neil: The £70 million from the European Investment Bank, allocated to housing associations in Scotland by The Housing Finance Corporation, is for a loan period of 20 years.

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which housing associations have accessed funds from the European Investment Bank and how much each received.

Answer · Alex Neil: Housing associations in Scotland have been allocated a total of £70 million, 20% of the total being made available across the UK by the European Investment Bank through The Housing Finance Corporation. The allocations to individual associations are given in t…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make an announcement regarding plans for European funding to be used for energy efficient retrofit.

Answer · Jim Mather: We have raised the issue of attracting funding for energy efficiency work in Scotland in our consultation document on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan, and will give further details on this when we publish our plan in the spring of 2010.

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28662 by Alex Neil on 16 November 2009, what the local authority areas were of the three cases where a lower rent was set in 2008 and the five cases in 2009.

Answer · Alex Neil: I have asked Isabel Montgomery, President of the Private Rented Housing Panel to respond. Her response is as follows: For 2008 where Committees of the Private Rented Housing Panel determined a rent lower than that set by the statutory Rent Officer in…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28661 by Alex Neil on 16 November 2009, what the local authority areas were of the 32 cases in which higher rents were set in 2008 and the 46 in 2009.

Answer · Alex Neil: I have asked Isabel Montgomery, President of the Private Rented Housing Panel to respond. Her response is as follows: In 2008 Committees of the Private Rented Housing Panel determined a rent higher than that set by the statutory Rent Officer in 32 ca…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the houses classified as rehabilitated in the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme were in use at the time of rehabilitation.

Answer · Alex Neil: We do not hold information on whether the houses classified as rehabilitated in the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme were in use at the time of rehabilitation.

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme was for sale.

Answer · Alex Neil: The percentage of the houses provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) in 2008-09 for sale was 16%. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at: <a href…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme were for sale.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of houses provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) in 2008-09 for sale was 993. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at: <a href="http:…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme was for social rent.

Answer · Alex Neil: The percentage of the houses provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme in 2008-09 that were for social rent was 71%. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at: …

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme were for social rent.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of houses provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) in 2008-09 that were for social rent was 4,429. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at: …

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme was rehabilitated houses.

Answer · Alex Neil: The percentage of the houses provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) in 2008-09 that were rehabilitated was 7%. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics Web page at: </…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme were rehabilitated houses.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of houses provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) in 2008-09 that were rehabilitated was 426. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at: …

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme was off-the-shelf purchases.

Answer · Alex Neil: The percentage of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) that were off-the-shelf purchases was 13%. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web pag…

3 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the houses provided through the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Investment Programme were off-the-shelf purchases.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of units provided in 2008-09 through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) that were off-the-shelf purchases were 824. Details of the units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Government''s Official Statistics web page a…

1 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many units were provided through Affordable Housing Investment Programme activity in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2002-03, (d) 2003-04, (e) 2004-05, (f) 2005-06, (g) 2006-07, (h) 2007-08 and will be provided in 2009-10.

Answer · Alex Neil: Details on the number of units provided through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme for the years 2000-01 to 2007-08 can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statisti…

25 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a deposit is required of applicants to the Open Market Shared Equity programme.

Answer · Alex Neil: No, the Open Market Shared Equity programme does not require applicants to have a deposit to access to the scheme. However, an applicant''s lender may require a modest mortgage deposit and this has been the case with most lenders for some months.

25 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what average amount it has paid for Open Market Shared Equity programme houses, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: As at 30 September 2009, the average spend for Open Market Shared Equity programme houses broken down by local authority is: Average Open Market Shared Equity Programme Grant Paid <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=263 > <thea…

25 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the Open Market Shared Equity programme have not yet been granted.

Answer · Alex Neil: At the end of September 2009, 7,143 applications forms had been issued by registered social landlords administering the Open Market Shared Equity programme. Of these, 2,997 applications were returned of whom 1,521 were eligible. An update to Hous…

17 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to set up a group to examine evictions, as referred to by the Minister for Housing and Communities at the meeting of the Local Government and Communities Committee on 11 November 2009 (Official Report c. 2629).

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government held an event with a range of key stakeholders on 19 November 2009 to consider how the overall number of evictions could be reduced in the social rented sector through sharing best practice and addressing obstacles to achieving this. A…

5 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for how many regulated tenancies determined by the Private Rented Housing Panel in 2008-09 the panel fixed a rent lower than that established by the local rent officer.

Answer · Alex Neil: I have asked Isabel Montgomery, President of the Private Rented Housing Panel to respond. Her response is as follows: In 2008, committees of the Private Rented Housing Panel determined a rent lower than that set by the statutory rent officer in three…

5 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for how many regulated tenancies determined by the Private Rented Housing Panel in 2008-09 the panel fixed a rent higher than that established by the local rent officer.

Answer · Alex Neil: I have asked Isabel Montgomery, President of the Private Rented Housing Panel to respond. Her response is as follows: In 2008, committees of the Private Rented Housing Panel determined a rent higher than that set by the statutory rent officer in 32 c…

5 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have purchased properties under the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme since March 2009, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of properties purchased under the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme between April and the end of June, broken down by local authority is as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=160 valign=bottom > <p al…

5 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have purchased properties under the New Supply Shared Equity Scheme since March 2009, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of properties purchased under the New Supply Shared Equity Scheme between April and the end of June, broken down by local authority is as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=175 valign=bottom > <p ali…