Parliamentary questions
Rhoda Grant
2,396 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
25 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason funding for the rail franchise is to increase from £299.5 million in 2011-12 to £447.4 million in 2012-13 according to the 2012-13 draft budget.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Rail Services (franchise) budget supports the delivery of ScotRail passenger services in Scotland. A change in Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) policy in the 2008 Periodic Review resulted in an increase in franchise payments (rail services budget) to fund …
11 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its winter preparedness plans address the delivery of fuel to vulnerable people not connected to mains gas or the electricity grid.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has met with Scotland's key fuel suppliers including those that supply off-grid areas. A number of winter resilience initiatives have been developed across the sector including a Vulnerable Persons and Customers Framework. The framewor…
11 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with off grid energy suppliers to ensure security of supply as part of its winter preparedness plans.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Government officials have met with the major LPG and heating fuel suppliers since last winter to discuss and encourage preparations for winter and to enhance resilience of the supply chains.
11 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how funds from the Universal Home Insulation Scheme are prioritised and allocated by local authorities and what criteria are used to ensure fairness.
Answer · Alex Neil: Bids submitted by councils for funding from the Universal Home Insulation Scheme were assessed in the first instance by officials, who reported to a Bid Assessment Panel made up of representatives of a range of organisations with an interest in the Scheme, in…
11 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how the Universal Home Insulation Scheme will be publicised in order to encourage take-up.
Answer · Alex Neil: Local authorities are responsible for publicity arrangements for their individual schemes. However, to assist, the Scottish Government has issued guidance on marketing alongside formal offers of grant. Marketing strategies for individual schemes vary, taking …
11 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who can contract for work under the Universal Home Insulation Scheme and when the second phase of the scheme will be implemented.
Answer · Alex Neil: Local authorities have the client role for work under the Universal Home Insulation Scheme and are responsible for the procurement of all services required. This includes both the installation of energy efficiency measures, and the work associated with this i…
11 Oct 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the neediest households can access the Universal Home Insulation Scheme.
Answer · Alex Neil: Local authorities are responsible for selecting areas and designing schemes supported through the Universal Home Insulation Scheme (UHIS). They do so with reference to their existing local housing, energy efficiency and fuel poverty strategies. A key criterio…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that communities worst hit by high fuel prices will see a reduction in fuel costs.
Answer · Alex Neil: As announced on 5 October, I set out the action this government is taking to tackle fuel poverty. We have increased funding for fuel poverty in the Spending Review and also boosted this year’s budget by an additional £5 million. Funding for Fuel poverty and E…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a national strategy on housing for older people.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-00370 on 9 June 2011. 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/MAQASearch…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will create a development strategy to grow and improve the private rented housing sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is working with members of the private rented sector strategy group and other key stakeholders to publish a new strategy for the sector in early 2012.
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to strengthen tenancy rules for people who commit antisocial behaviour.
Answer · Keith Brown: As set out in Homes Fit for the 21st Century the Scottish Government will consult on a number of possible changes to tenancies within the socially rented sector including widening the circumstances in which a Short Scottish Secure Tenancy can be used where th…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many housing health checks it expects to offer to those living in socially rented housing in each of the next five years.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is working with all local authorities and their partners to develop approaches to identifying housing options. This approach is initially focused on preventing homelessness, but will also be extended to looking at the provision of hous…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when housing health checks will be offered to those living in socially rented housing.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is working with all local authorities and their partners to help develop approaches to identifying housing options. This approach is initially focused on preventing homelessness, but will also be extended to looking at the provision of…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to bring empty homes back into use.
Answer · Keith Brown: Bringing empty properties back into use is primarily a matter for individual local authorities. Where there are significant issues locally the Scottish Government would expect authorities to address these in their Local Housing Strategies. In order to suppor…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ring-fence money raised by the proposed levy on long-term empty homes to fund council house building.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government proposes that councils should continue to ring-fence the revenue raised from reduced discounts and/or levies on the council tax on long term empty homes for affordable housing. This revenue could therefore be used to fund council house…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce the proposed levy on long-term empty homes.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government will be consulting shortly on its proposals to enable local authorities to charge a council tax levy on long term empty properties. This will aim both to encourage empty homeowners to make their homes available for rent or sale and to …
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many empty homes there are.
Answer · Keith Brown: As of 2 September 2010, there were 70,000 empty properties in Scotland of which 24,598 properties recorded as long-term empty, based on council tax records. The overall empty properties include all properties which have registered for a council tax exemption …
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it expects to raise from the proposed levy on long-term empty homes.
Answer · Keith Brown: The amount raised will depend on how many local authorities use the new powers, to what extent and also how many owners decide to let or sell their home. We estimate that local authorities could raise up to an additional £30 million year through the levy, al…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes are supplied by district renewable heating schemes.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not hold a central comprehensive record of the number of homes supplied by district renewable heating schemes. However, from the information available to us, there are at least 1,876 homes connected to a renewable district heating…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding mechanism will be used to enable housing associations to fund renewable heating schemes.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government will assist housing associations finance renewable heating schemes through a number of programmes. The district heating and Communities and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) loan schemes both provide housing associations with the opportu…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to enable housing associations to develop renewable heating schemes.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has established a task group on renewable heat to advise on priority issues in order to increase development of renewable heat. The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is represented on the group. We will also shortly es…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes will be supplied by district renewable heating schemes in each of the next five years.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, our £2.5 million district heating loan scheme will enable connection of 305 households to renewable district heating networks within the next two years. This funding will also enable project net…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs are supported by the construction of (a) council and (b) socially rented homes.
Answer · Keith Brown: It is estimated that for every 10 socially rented houses constructed per annum (whether by a council or a registered social landlord) approximately 18 full-time equivalent jobs are supported, directly and indirectly, across the Scottish economy during that ye…
27 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that it meets the target of building 6,000 new socially rented homes in each of the next five years.
Answer · Keith Brown: Housing is and will remain a priority for the Scottish Government. Despite the budget cuts from Westminster, we have allocated over £600 million in the Spending Review over the next three years for housing supply. This will keep us on track to meet our target…
7 Sep 2011 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is doing all within its power to boost economic activity.
5 Sep 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS boards have implemented clinical standards for neurological health services since the publication of the report, Clinical Standards - Neurological Health Services in 2009.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Healthcare Improvement Scotland launched its Clinical Standards for Neurological Health Services on 21 January 2010, along with a two-year implementation and improvement plan, detailing tools and techniques for improvement. We have provided NHS boards with f…
2 Aug 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what average percentage of the full project costs in each project assessment committee area was or has been made up by Scotland Rural Development Programme grant in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: This information is not held centrally. We are investigating the feasibility of pulling this information together at the end of the programme.
2 Aug 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scotland Rural Development Programme rural priorities funding was or has been awarded per head of population in each project assessment area in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The following table shows the approved funding per head of population in each Regional Proposal Assessment Committee (RPAC) region. It should be noted that certain regions, particularly Clyde and Forth, contain large urban areas; therefore rural development f…
2 Aug 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scotland Rural Development Programme rural priority applications from each project assessment area were or have been approved in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The following table shows the number of approved cases per year. This includes cases where the offer of a contract has been rejected by the applicant, and cases where the applicant has not yet returned a signed contract. RPAC Region 2008 2009 2010 2011 …
2 Aug 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the contribution of community land ownership is to rural economic and social development.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: In June of this year, the Scottish Agricultural College published research on the links between community ownership of land and community resilience. It concluded that community resilience grows during the years following a buyout, both in terms of social dev…