Parliamentary questions
Mary Mulligan
707 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Nov 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish new guidance for local authorities on the allocation of housing on the basis of priority needs and local needs.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28570 on 13 November 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/App…
2 Nov 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish examples of best practice by local authorities in respect of the allocation of housing on the basis of priority needs and local needs.
Answer · Alex Neil: Yes. Following recommendations from its Allocations Policy Review Advisory Group, the Scottish Government has committed to providing social landlords with a new practical guide to social housing allocations. This will address the areas considered by the group…
29 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to the relationship between a housing investment bank and the European Investment Bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: The scope for a potential housing investment bank is still under consideration. All options that help boost the supply of new affordable housing, including the relationship between a housing investment bank and the European Investment Bank are being examined.…
29 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to the relationship between a housing investment bank and the Scottish Investment Bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: The scope for a potential housing investment bank is still under consideration. This includes the relationship between a housing investment bank and the Scottish Investment Bank.</p>
29 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration is being given to including infrastructure development in the concept of a housing investment bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: The scope for a potential housing investment bank is still under consideration. All options that help boost the supply of new affordable housing, such as infrastructure development, are being examined.</p>
29 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the concept of a housing investment bank is being considered by the Housing Supply Task Force.
Answer · Alex Neil: No.</p>
29 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive with what organisations the Minister for Housing and Communities has had discussions on the concept of a housing investment bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Minister for Housing and Communities has identified the need for a wide range of alternative private finance options in order to help boost the supply of new affordable homes. Discussions about this have taken place with a variety of organisations and sta…
26 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Council of Mortgage Lenders regarding the Home Report since its introduction.
Answer · Alex Neil: Officials have had continued informal contact with the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) representatives since the introduction of the Home Report, including a meeting on 6 October, to monitor whether there has been any change in the position on the Home Repo…
26 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of evidence that banks are refusing to provide a mortgage because of a lack of confidence in a Home Report.
Answer · Alex Neil: We discussed the Home Report with all of Scotland''s major lenders for house purchase mortgages (as distinct from remortgage) around the time the Home Report was introduced and they confirmed that they would regard the Home Report as a sound basis for valuati…
9 Oct 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what housing rents are being charged by each housing association and local authority.
Answer · Alex Neil: Statistics on average Registered Social Landlord (RSL) rents are published by the Scottish Housing Regulator at:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_statisticstables2008-09.hcsp#TopOfPage"…
29 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Housing Finance Corporation will charge fees for handling loans from the £50 million lending facility from the European Investment Bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: All lenders, even not-for-profit bodies like The Housing Finance Corporation, incur administrative costs which need to be paid for. Lenders recover these costs from their customers and The Housing Finance Corporation charges a fee to its customers in order to…
29 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £50 million lending facility from the European Investment Bank will be available for social rented housing.
Answer · Alex Neil: Yes. The Housing Finance Corporation is only permitted to lend to registered social landlords (housing associations) and the European Investment Bank only allows funds for housing, provided through The Housing Finance Corporation, to be used to fund homes for…
29 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what rate of interest will be charged on loans from the £50 million lending facility from the European Investment Bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: The rate of interest to be charged will only be known when the loan agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and The Housing Finance Corporation is finalised. Because the EIB is AAA-rated, it is able to source funds from the international capital …
29 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the timeframe is for access to the £50 million lending facility from the European Investment Bank.
Answer · Alex Neil: Scottish housing associations are expected to be able to access the £50 million of European money from The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC) from around December 2009. This depends on completion of the formal loan agreement between THFC and the European Inve…
29 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in its announcement on 28 September 2009 regarding loans from the European Investment Bank, what is meant by “new affordable private home developments”.
Answer · Alex Neil: We apologise for any misunderstanding. The news release should have read new affordable home developments. The word private was duplicated in the text by mistake.</p>
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders who benefited from Stage Three of the Energy Assistance Package (EAP) have then had applications for EAP refused.
Answer · Alex Neil: All householders benefiting from Stage Three of the Energy Assistance Package have had their applications accepted.</p>
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the spend was on the Energy Assistance Package during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26882 on 11 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/A…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders who are pregnant and receiving a qualifying benefit benefited from the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders with a disabled child under 16 and receiving a qualifying benefit benefited from the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders with a child under five and receiving a qualifying benefit benefited from the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders aged 60 or over and receiving a qualifying benefit benefited from the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders aged 75 or over benefited from the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders benefited from Stage Four of the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders benefited from Stage Three of the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27707 on 8 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps…
24 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders benefited from Stage Two of the Energy Assistance Package in each local authority area during April to July 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: The number of applicants between 6 April and 31 August 2009 who have been referred for different types of help under the Energy Assistance Package within each local authority are shown in the following table. It is expected that the number of applicants will …
2 Sep 2009 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations have been made to it by COSLA regarding COSLA’s anticipation of significant funding pressures over the next 10 years.
Answer · John Swinney : <i >This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0910-01.htm">http://www.scot…
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses built by local authorities in 2008-09 were for low-cost home ownership.
Answer · Alex Neil: There were 336 houses completed by local authorities in 2008-09 “ however, the number that were for low-cost home ownership is not held centrally. The latest figures on local authority house building have been published by the Scottish Government and can be f…
1 Sep 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses built by housing associations in 2008-09 were for low-cost home ownership.
Answer · Alex Neil: There were 680 houses for low-cost home ownership completed by housing associations in 2008-09. This figure has been published by the Scottish Government and can be found in the latest Housing Statistics for Scotland Publication which was released on 27 Augus…
20 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-26061 by Alex Neil on 3 August 2009, what steps are being taken to monitor any improvement in consultation by community planning partnerships.
Answer · Alex Neil: A majority of local authorities and their community planning partnerships (CPPs) set out plans for strategic deployment of the Fairer Scotland Fund (FSF) in Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) for 2008-09. A smaller number of CPPs presented stand alone FSF plans…
20 Aug 2009 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many homeowners have benefited from the mortgage to shared equity scheme since January 2009.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) scheme was introduced on 16 March 2009. So far, nine households have been eligible for consideration. We wrote to these households and offered them the opportunity to proceed through the MTSE scheme and so far:</p> <p al…