Parliamentary questions

Mark Griffin

2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

23 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in relation to the Building Safety Register.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has committed to introduce a Register of Buildings by the end of this Parliament. The Register of Buildings will hold information on buildings that have been assessed though the Cladding Remediation Programme. Single Building Assessmen…

23 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-01324 by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022, what evidence it used to substantiate the statement that “we expect the vast majority of buildings that will be assessed to be found to be safe” prior to any form of building assessment for combustible cla…

Answer · Shona Robison: Buildings within the scope of the Cladding Remediation Programme will be subject to a process of increasing assessment scrutiny. A baseline assessment will identify those buildings which require a full assessment based on an evaluation of fire risk. The pr…

17 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) annual and (b) average rate of landlord registration has been since 2010, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Shona Robison: The tables required to present the information requested are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 63980).

17 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) the Scottish Government and (b) local authorities monitor the number of landlords with buy-to-let mortgages in arrears, and what steps it (i) has taken and (ii) will take to prevent tenants being evicted due to lender repossession.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government monitors statistics collected by UK Finance on the number of buy-to-let mortgages in arrears across the UK. The latest trends are reported by the Scottish Government in the Scottish Housing Market Review, which is published each quarte…

17 Jan 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what guidance it gives to landlords in all sectors to help prevent and deal with damp, condensation and mould in their properties, including when this was last revised.

16 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how NHS Scotland tracks the number of people presenting with respiratory conditions due to damp and cold homes.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This information is not held centrally.

16 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people currently have respiratory conditions due to the condition of their home.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This information is not held centrally.

12 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Fuel Insecurity Fund have (a) been received, (b) been rejected and (c) resulted in a grant being given in each year since it was established.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not hold the full level of information requested. We regularly monitor the support provided by our delivery partners, together with scheduled engagements across the year. We always seek to avoid excessive demands for data gatheri…

12 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many payments from the Fuel Insecurity Fund have been made to support households that have damp and mould issues in each month of 2022-23 to date, and what the total value of payments for this purpose has been.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We do not require our Fuel Insecurity Fund delivery partners to collect the requested data from households. Payments are provided on the basis of an holistic assessment of their circumstances, which may include damp and mould issues.

12 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average payment from the Fuel Insecurity Fund has been in each month of 2022-23 to date.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The value of payments made by our Fuel Insecurity Fund delivery partners varies substantially, from the cost of fuel vouchers to energy bill debt write-offs. Each payment is awarded on an individual case by case assessment, as to the most appropriate support …

12 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many households in the (a) local authority, (b) registered social landlord, (c) private rented and (d) owner-occupier sector have received payments from the Fuel Insecurity Fund in each month of 2022-23 to date.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Households of all tenures are eligible to seek assistance from the Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) if they are at risk of self-rationing their energy use or self-disconnecting entirely. Our trusted third sector delivery partners, namely Advice Direct Scotland (ADS…

12 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Home Owners' Support Fund system was reportedly decommissioned in late 2021; what impact this has had on new and outstanding applications since it was decommissioned, and what the new system will cost.

Answer · Shona Robison: The previous HOSF casework management system was built between 2008-2010 using legacy software that could no longer be supported. The impact on existing and new applications to HOSF has been minimal as this was a stand-alone system that was not integrated i…

10 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the reasons for lenders reportedly not offering mortgages on properties in cladded buildings in Scotland that are in accordance with the new RICS Standards and Regulation Board guidance, Valuation approach for properties in multi-storey, multi-occupancy resid…

Answer · Shona Robison: The safety of residents and homeowners in Scotland is our priority as we work to tackle cladding safety issues. We are aware of the difficulties that some people are facing in accessing mortgages for buildings with potentially unsafe cladding. Work has been u…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will lay regulations to amend Council Tax (Variation for Unoccupied Dwellings) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 to give effect to the motion S6M-05106 that was agreed, as amended, by the Parliament on 22 June 2022, in advance of the date prescribed in the Local Government Finance A…

Answer · Shona Robison: Work is underway to consider options for changes to Council Tax, reflecting the current circumstances created by the cost crisis. Central to this, the Programme for Government 2022-23 committed to establishing a working group to oversee deliberative engagemen…

21 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which suppliers (a) registered for and (b) attended the Single Building Assessment(s) for Fire Safety in Scotland remote suppliers event, which was held on 14 December 2022.

Answer · Shona Robison: We are not able to provide this information due to commercial sensitivity however a total of 14 suppliers were in attendance at the meeting.

20 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service has been of non-attendance at court hearings by all parties, in each year since 2016-17.

Answer · Keith Brown: This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

20 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13021 by Tom Arthur on 20 December 2022, what the inflation rate was for new construction work in the public sector on the tone date.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The inflation rate for construction work will vary from project to project. The Office for National Statistics Construction Price Indices dataset provides an estimate of inflation within the UK construction industry. In the 12 months to April 2022 there was …

19 Dec 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service is of non-attendance at court hearings by all parties.

19 Dec 2022 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement by COSLA expressing Council Leaders' extreme disappointment with the proposed budget settlement for local government and its presentation lacking consistency with a partnership approach, and their invitation to the Deputy First Minister to attend a s…

16 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed 24% reduction in spending on More Homes in 2023-24, what its revised resource planning assumptions are for local authorities to plan their housing supply for 2021-22 to 2025-26, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Shona Robison: The 24% reduction is when comparing the total More Homes budget in 2023-24 against the total More Homes budget in 2022-23. The profile of our more than £3.5 billion commitment over this parliament varies from year to year as do its component parts which inclu…

16 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the proposed £31.3 million allocated to Building Standards in 2023-24 does it plan to spend on (a) the cladding remediation programme (b) a programme of research and professional advice on the building standards system in Scotland and (c) other sources.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The £31.3 million Building Standards budget for 2023-24 has been allocated for (a) Cladding remediation programme spend of £29.72 million; (b) research and professional advice on the building standards system spend of £0.38 million; (c) other spend of £1.20 m…

15 Dec 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the changes made by the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (additional amount: transactions relating to second homes etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2022, what the forecast Additional Dwelling Supplement is for (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords, when…

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Fiscal Commission is the independent fiscal institution for Scotland, with a statutory duty to provide the independent and official forecasts of the Scottish economy, devolved taxes and devolved social security spending. Forecasts for the Land a…