Parliamentary questions

Mark Griffin

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

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many households who have applied to the Home Owners' Support Fund since it started have (a) been protected from and (b) subsequently experienced homelessness.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10243 on 7 September 2022 which shows the number of successful applications to the Home Owners Support Fund in the last 6 years. Where a social landlord acquires a property through the scheme, the homeowner wil…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published average apartment rental charges, used to calculate purchase subsidy grants under the Home Owners' Support Fund, since 2017 and, if this is not the case, what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Shona Robison: The average apartment rental charges have not been routinely published up to this point as we have considered this an operational matter. Figures are updated each year in line with CPI inflation figures and grant calculations are shared with social landlords …

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Owners’ Support Fund, what (a) written or electronic (i) promotional materials (ii) briefings and (iii) training and (b) promotional meetings it has provided or offered to (A) money advisers acting on behalf of applicants (B) social landlords who are part of the Mo…

Answer · Shona Robison: Guidance documents for each participant are available at Support for homeowners at risk of homelessness - Homelessness - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). HOSF officials regularly provide support and information to applicants, Money Advisers, Social Landlords, Trust…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been (a) trained and (b) allocated to deal with applications for the Home Owners' Support Fund, in each of the last six years.

Answer · Shona Robison: The following table shows how many staff have been allocated to the Home Owners Support Fund in recent years. Staff are fully trained and highly experienced and levels have been sufficient to meet demand for the Fund. Financial Year Number of HOSF Staff 20…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) expenditure of the Home Owners' Support Fund has been in each of the past six years, broken down by the (i) Mortgage to Rent and (ii) Mortgage to Shared Equity schemes, and whether any underspend (A) has been carried forward to 2022-23 and (B) can be carried f…

Answer · Shona Robison: The following table shows Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF) budget and expenditure for each of the last six years broken down by Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE). HOSF is a demand led scheme and any difference between budget and actua…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08749 by Shona Robison on 14 June 2022, and in light of the Bank of England increasing the base rate to 1.75%, when the review (a) began and (b) will complete, and how it will announce the findings and outcomes of the review.

Answer · Shona Robison: An internal review of the Home Owners Support Fund began in the Spring and will complete later this year. If Ministers decide to make any changes to the eligibility or operational arrangements for the scheme updated guidance will be published.

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08749 by Shona Robison on 14 June 2022, what modelling it is undertaking to establish (a) the likely number of future applications to the fund and (b) any risk of homelessness among mortgage payers, in light of the Bank of England increasing the …

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government monitors trends in arrears and repossessions data published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and UK Finance which is collated in the quarterly Scottish Housing Market Review Scottish housing market reviews - gov.scot (www.gov.…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) enquiries about and (b) applications for the Home Owners' Support Fund it has received in each of the last six years, broken down by the (i) Mortgage to Rent and (ii) Mortgage to Shared Equity schemes, and, of those applications that were received, how many were (A) successf…

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not collect information on enquiries relating to the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF). The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) schemes are delivered as part of the HOSF programme. Each application is assesse…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions or consultation it had with the sheriffs principal regarding the Management of Summary Cause Proceedings Housing Scotland Act 2001 guidance note prior to its publication on 1 July 2022; whether the sheriffs principal have advised it of the business case for the chang…

Answer · Shona Robison: We have had no discussions with the Sheriffs Principal regarding the Management of Summary Cause Proceedings Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 guidance note prior to its publication on 1 July 2022. The courts and judiciary are independent of Government. As such the…

4 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09548 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, how much the administrators have been paid to date to administer the loan.

Answer · Shona Robison: Since 1 September 2018, the Scottish Government has paid £344,825 to Communities Housing Trust to administer the national Self Build Loan Fund.

3 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09252 by Shona Robison on 21 July 2022, whether these sums of money are included in the Single Building Assessment programme: spending information, which was released on 12 May 2022, and how much has been spent on contractors (a) prior to July 2021 …

Answer · Shona Robison: Contractor spend prior to July 2021 was £0. b) The contractor spend for July 2022 is £16,422 and August 2022 projected spend is £18,829.

3 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09252 by Shona Robison on 21 July 22, what the expenditure has been on the (a) Cladding Remediation Unit and (b) Single Building Assessment in each year since 2017, broken down by type of spending.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Cladding Remediation Unit was set up in June 2021 in the Local Government and Communities Directorate. The expenditure on staff whose primary role is to support the programme is: a) Core Scottish Government: 2021 - £241,280.00 Core Scottish Government:…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08297 by Shona Robison on 12 May 2022, whether it will provide an update on how many properties are at each stage of assessment, how many single building assessments have been supplied to building owners, and what the average amount of time is th…

Answer · Shona Robison: Single Building Assessment applicants are supported through the process to complete the application form and commission professional services ahead of receiving the final survey report. 10 pilot blocks are within the Application Phase and 15 pilot blocks are …

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the single building assessment is designed to take account of any risk of electric vehicle fires, whether any specific assessment protocols are included in the assessment to respond to any such risks and, if this is the case, whether it will provide the details of any such protoco…

Answer · Shona Robison: A Single Building Assessment will deliver a full assessment of fire risks on a building by building basis to highlight any issues related to fire safety including, but not limited to underground car parks and charging points.

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-09248 and S6W-09249 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, how many of the 15 buildings using its grant-based approach (a) have (i) been approached to take up and (ii) requested directly commissioned assessments, (b) successfully procured their own …

Answer · Shona Robison: All the 15 buildings using the grant based approach have been issued grant letters and had initial payments to allow contracts to be placed. All have fire engineers and surveyors working on assessments.

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, whether it will prioritise the assessment of the 29 buildings in the event of a limited supply of surveyors and fire engineer contractors, and if so, what the process will be for carrying out any such prioriti…

Answer · Shona Robison: We are aware there may be constraints in the market place and we are working closely with a number of Scottish firms and with industry bodies and forums to monitor market availability, therefore we are able to prioritise Single Building Assessments.

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, what pre-contracting activity it has undertaken to establish (a) how many contractors will be required to deliver assessments for all 29 buildings, (b) the (i) availability and (ii) capacity of surveyors and f…

Answer · Shona Robison: Every building must gain the consent of homeowners in order to begin the contract process. Every building will require a qualified Fire Assessor to spend typically a number of weeks on and off-site to gather sufficient data and evidence to conduct a competent…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, how many buildings (a) have provided consent and details (i) by and (ii) on or since 20 July 2022 and (b) it requires to provide consent and detail before it will move to the contracting process; what the estimated tim…

Answer · Shona Robison: We have confirmed consent from 26 buildings. We have consent in principle from the homeowners from 29 additional buildings since we invited new buildings into the programme in May 2022. The timescale for the contracting process follows the standard Scottish G…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09619 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, whether it will (a) compile and (b) require local authorities to compile this information to establish (i) the progress being made to remediate buildings, and (b) how much remediation is being conducted (A)…

Answer · Shona Robison: As the programme progresses, we will gather information from our Single Building Assessments to compile a register of buildings that have been assessed through the programme. Local Authorities will be asked to provide relevant information. We are currently w…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many heating installations under the (a) Warmer Homes Scotland (b) area-based schemes and (c) Home Energy Scotland Loans and Cashback schemes have been (a) carbon producing and (b) zero carbon, in each year of operation of the respective schemes.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The answer to your question is outlined in the following tables. Please note, data for 2021-2022 Area Based Schemes are still being collected and will be published on the ABS webpage in due course: Area Based Schemes: annual final measures reports - gov.scot…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many heating and renewable installations under the (a) Warmer Homes Scotland (b) area-based schemes and (c) Home Energy Scotland Loans and Cashback schemes were (i) gas boilers (ii) electric storage heaters (iii) air source heat pumps (iv) oil boilers (v) solar PV (vi) LPG boilers (v…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties (a) built in each of the last five years and (b) under construction in 2022-23, under the affordable housing supply programme, (i) have zero carbon heating systems installed, (ii) received the greener subsidy and (iii) attained (A) bronze (B) bronze active (C) silver …

Answer · Shona Robison: With regard to (a) and (b) (i), we do not currently, but do plan to shortly collect this information. For (a) and (b) (ii), information on RSL and council house social rent approvals which qualified for higher greener subsidy is published within our annual O…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many zero-carbon heating systems have been installed in (a) new and (b) existing homes in each year since 2016.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: Table 1 shows the number of new build completions in Scotland fitted with zero emissions heating systems in the period 2016 to 2021. This includes all homes using electricity, biomass or connected to a community heating system as their main heating fuel type.…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09495 by Tom Arthur on 12 July 2022, (a) on what date and (b) by which minister the City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed designation of the Edinburgh short-term let control area was approved; whether a decision had been passed for approval to the re…

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Ministers approved the City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed designation of the entirety of Edinburgh as a Short Term Control Area on 27 July 2022. A draft decision letter was provided to the Minister for Public Finance, Planning & Community Wealt…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09562 by Shona Robison on 13 July 2022, whether it will address the issue raised in the question regarding what action it is taking to improve public perception of the affordable housing supply programme, in light of Shelter Scotland's recent survey…

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government appreciates the spotlight that Shelter Scotland shines on our shared vision of a safe, secure, affordable home for everyone in Scotland. Having delivered our previous 50,000 affordable homes target, we have now started to deliver agai…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09182 by Shona Robison on 24 June 2022, whether it will set out the part of the (a) Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 and (b) Notice to Local Authorities (Scotland) Regulations 2008 that (i) allows local authorities to amend and (ii) places a du…

Answer · Shona Robison: (a) – The relevant part of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 can be found under Section 11 of the Homelessness etc (S) Act 2003 at Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 (legislation.gov.uk) (b) – Schedule 1 of the Notice to Local Authorities (Scotlan…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09182 by Shona Robison on 24 June 2022, whether it can provide a breakdown of any local authorities that have amended the section 11 notice form of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003.

Answer · Shona Robison: Section 11 of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 requires a landlord to notify the local authority when proceedings for possession are raised providing information prescribed in Schedule 1 of The Notice to Local Authorities (Scotland) Regulations 2008.…

2 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09182 by Shona Robison on 24 June 2022, whether landlords are legally obliged to provide additional information when completing an amended section 11 notice form, where that requested information is not in the form prescribed in Schedule 1 of The No…

1 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, whether it will prepare a medium-rise inventory, in light of the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022, which ban combustible cladding on buildings with any storey at a height of more than 11 metres above the ground.

Answer · Shona Robison: As part of the Cladding Remediation Programme we will create a Building Safety Register. This register will include blocks of flats, of any height, assessed as 'low risk' or remediated as an outcome of the Single Building Assessment process.

1 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the draft Bill regarding tenement maintenance will not be introduced until 2026, and whether it will ask the Scottish Law Commission to review its timetable.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to my response on this matter, which was sent to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee on 25 March 2022, and which is published in the correspondence of that Committee on the Scottish Parliament website at response-from-shona-robis…