Parliamentary questions
Mary Mulligan
707 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications are for Scottish local authorities of the change in interest rate payable on loans from the Public Works Loan Board.
Answer · John Swinney: The United Kingdom Government is directly cutting Scotland''s resources by £1.3 billion next year. The decision to increase the interest rates on loans offered to councils by the Public Works Loan Board is an additional handicap. By putting even more pressure…
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much interest is to be paid on the total housing debt of local authorities.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the level of housing debt and loans charges related to this debt in each local authority is published annually in the <i >Local Authority Housing Income and Expenditure </i>official statistics publication. Data up to 31 March 2010 and estimates…
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total level of housing debt is of local authorities.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the level of housing debt in each local authority is published annually in the <i >Local Authority Housing Income and Expenditure </i>official statistics publication. Data up to 31 March 2010 and estimates as at 31 March 2011 were published on …
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult on the powers of the Scottish Housing Regulator to issue performance targets to housing associations contained in the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government will not consult on the powers of the new, independent Scottish Housing Regulator to issue performance targets to social landlords (local authorities and registered social landlords) in the Housing (Scotland) Bill. The Bill, by requiri…
10 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in what ways the Scottish Social Housing Charter will differ from the Performance Standards for social landlords and homelessness functions.
Answer · Alex Neil: Performance standards for social landlords and homelessness functions are statutory guidance that ministers issued under section 79(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (the 2001 Act). They were developed in consultation with COSLA and the Scottish Federatio…
4 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people retain the right to buy (RTB) their home either through preserved or modernised RTB.
Answer · Alex Neil: The latest official figures show that there are around 285,300 dwellings owned and managed by local authorities that are considered to be normal letting stock. It is expected that all the households currently occupying these dwellings have either preserved ri…
3 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36698 by Alex Neil on 4 October 2010, when the advisory group on housing benefit will report.
Answer · Alex Neil: Rather than producing a final report, the Stakeholder Advisory Group will be asked to contribute on an ongoing basis to our assessment of the impact in Scotland of the proposed housing benefit changes and our engagement with the UK Government. We will use the…
3 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36635 by Alex Neil on 26 October 2010, how many families received support from the Energy Assistance Package in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.
Answer · Alex Neil: Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010, there were the following referrals to the Energy Assistance Package (EAP) for families with children:</b></p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td valign=top > <p >Stage 2 (Benefits Advice)<…
3 Nov 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36709 by Alex Neil on 25 October 2010, how much funding has been distributed to each of the five local authority hubs under the Housing Options programme.
Answer · Alex Neil: To date, we are in receipt of four of the five hub action plans, and currently await the submission of the fifth and final action plan. This has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances within one of the lead authorities. We have requested submission of t…
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many tenants in receipt of housing benefit are unemployed.
Answer · Alex Neil: The best source of information on housing benefit claimants is the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) collected by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). However information from this source does not separately identify housing benefit recipients who …
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many tenants in receipt of housing benefit are in employment.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the employment status of housing benefit recipients is available from the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) managed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). From an analysis of this source provided to us by DWP, of 468,960 housing ben…
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the average level of housing benefit in the private rented housing sector in each local authority area.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer to the member to the answer to question S3W-37166 on 8 November 2010, which includes the average level of housing benefit in the private rented sector.</p> <p >All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website…
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the average level of housing benefit in the social rented housing sector in each local authority area.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37165 on 8 November 2010, which includes the average level of housing benefit in the social rented sector.</p> <p >All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, th…
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many tenants in the private rented housing sector are in receipt of housing benefit in each local authority area.
Answer · Alex Neil: The information below has been provided by the Department for Work and Pensions:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p >Authority</p> </td> <td colspan=2 valign=top > <p align=center …
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many tenants in the social rented housing sector are in receipt of housing benefit in each local authority area.
Answer · Alex Neil: The following information has been provided by the Department of Work and Pensions.</p> <p >Number of Housing Benefit Recipients and Average Weekly Award, by Tenure and Local Authority - July 2010</b></p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <th…
28 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many tenants it expects will be affected by the proposed cap on housing benefit levels, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Alex Neil: Information on the impact of the benefit changes is available on the Department for Work and Pensions website at:</b></p> <p >http://www.dwp.gov.uk/local-authority-staff/housing-benefit/claims-processing/local-housing-allowance/impact-of-changes.shtml.</p>
27 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of what the average difference in benefit will be for housing benefit applicants who are single and under 35 if they are paid benefit at a shared-room rate rather than under the current arrangement.
Answer · Alex Neil: Further information is required from the Department of Work and Pensions to calculate the average difference in benefit. The Scottish Government is currently awaiting this further data and we will make the information available in due course.</p>
27 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of how many people in Scotland will be affected by the UK Government’s decision to pay housing benefit applicants who are single and under 35 at a shared-room rate.
Answer · Alex Neil: The detailed information requested is currently being collated by the Department for Work and Pensions. I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 520…
27 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of an appeal process being established in relation to the UK Government’s proposed changes to housing benefit.
Answer · Alex Neil: There is currently an appeals procedure in place for individuals who are unhappy with the level of housing benefit they have been awarded. The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that there are no plans to change the current procedure of the appeal…
27 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the timescale for the implementation of the UK Government’s proposed changes to housing benefit.
Answer · Alex Neil: The first tranche of housing benefit changes is due to be introduced in April 2011, with the second tranche due in April 2013.</p>
27 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses each of the local authorities that have agreed to participate in the National Housing Trust are proposing to build.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37120 on 4 November 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business…
27 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have agreed to participate in the National Housing Trust.
Answer · Alex Neil: 12 local authorities have agreed to participate in the current procurement for the National Housing Trust initiative. The local authorities and the maximum number of houses they are willing to procure are as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpa…
22 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive by what means tenants in private rented housing are made aware of their rights in terms of the private rented housing panel.
Answer · Alex Neil: It is the landlord''s duty at the start of a relevant tenancy to provide the tenant with written information regarding the repairing standard and their right to apply to the private rented housing panel (prhp) if the standard is not being adhered to. Section …
22 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many tenants submitted appeals for lower rents to the private rented housing panel in 2009-10, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Alex Neil: The number of tenants who submitted appeals to the private rented housing panel in 2009-10 broken down by local authority is:</b></p> <p align=left >Aberdeenshire: 1</p> <p align=left >Dumfries and Galloway: 1</p> <p align=left >City of Edinburgh: 5</p>…
22 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many regulated tenancies determined by the private rented housing panel in 2009-10 had a rent fixed higher than that established by the local rent officer.
Answer · Alex Neil: There were 13 regulated tenancies in 2009-10 determined by the private rented housing panel which had a rent fixed higher than that established by the local rent officer.</b></p>
22 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many regulated tenancies determined by the private rented housing panel in 2009-10 had a rent fixed lower than that established by the local rent officer.
Answer · Alex Neil: There were five regulated tenancies in 2009-10 determined by the private rented housing panel which had a rent fixed lower than that established by the local rent officer.</b></p>
19 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36530 by Alex Neil on 4 October 2010, what individuals or organisations are members of the working group set up to assess the impact in Scotland of the changes in housing benefit.
Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-36698 on 27 October 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Busines…
7 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress there has been in seeking investment in social rented housing from pension funds.
Answer · Alex Neil: I spoke at the National Association of Pension Funds'' annual conference in Liverpool on 7 October 2010, and the Scottish Government is in continuing discussions with pension funds, fund managers and advisers about the investment opportunities provided by soc…
5 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35789 by Alex Neil on 30 August 2010, what the outcomes were of the seminars on the hub model for distribution of funding under the Housing Options programme.
Answer · Alex Neil: Five hubs have now been established, roughly on a regional basis. We currently await the submission of an action plan from each hub, which will provide a basis for consideration as to how the funding should be distributed. We expect to have all five action pl…
4 Oct 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations have been invited to join the stakeholder group that it is forming to assess the impact of the UK Government’s proposed changes in housing benefit.
Answer · Alex Neil: The following housing interests are being invited to sit on the advisory group:</b></p> <p align=left ><![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>COSLA;<…