Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Jul 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many community-run retrofit organisations does it fund.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Scottish Government funding schemes, in the main, do not fund community-run retrofit organisations directly. However, a number of our schemes do support retrofitting. For example, our flagship Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), delivered by Local…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data and information it collects on (a) remediation and (b) removal of combustible cladding from affected householders and property factors outside of the Single Building Assessment programme.
Answer · Shona Robison: We have logged correspondence from numerous homeowners and factors across Scotland and invite all to follow the progress of the pilot. Additionally we regularly work with local authorities to understand any developer led remediation in their area.
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to enable digital surveys to take place on buildings suspected of having combustible cladding.
Answer · Shona Robison: Officials have engaged in conversations with a number of suppliers to look into the utilisation of digital twin surveys to enable assessment and assurance.
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has met with Homes for Scotland regarding the development of the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord; what progress has been made with the Accord, and whether it will publish minutes and papers relating to the development of the Accord.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has met 8 times with Homes for Scotland directly related to the development of the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord workshops. We are making significant progress, to date focused around collaborative service design of the high level pr…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many times and (b) on what dates it has met with stakeholders that are concerned with cladding remediation, including (i) insurers, (ii) mortgage lenders, (iii) the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and (iv) homeowners, regarding the cladding remediation programme, since the Singl…
Answer · Shona Robison: Since the start of the pilot in June 2021 Scottish Government has met individually with: Association of British Insurers 5 timeson 13 August 2021, 19 August 2021, 6 October 2021, 11 November 2021, ? 3 March 2022, UK Finance 6 timeson 13 July 2021, 18 August…
30 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what the value is of tenders for the Single Building Assessment service that have been placed through Public Contract Scotland (i) to date and (ii) are expected in the next year of the programme.
Answer · Shona Robison: Since announcing the move to direct procurement for Single Building Assessments, we have tendered for and completed commissioning of an initial test and are using the learning from this to plan the scaling up of the additional surveys announced on 12 May 2022…
29 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve public perception of the affordable housing supply programme, in light of Shelter Scotland's recent survey findings, conducted by YouGov, which reportedly found that 60% of adults in Scotland think that it is unlikely that the Scottish Government will …
Answer · Shona Robison: Scotland has led the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the UK with 111,750 affordable homes now delivered since 2007, over 78,000 of which were for social rent, including 19,339 council homes. Despite the well documented global issues, not on…
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its Scotland Self-Build Loan Fund compares with the UK Government's Help to Build scheme.
Answer · Shona Robison: Recognising that standard bank lending is often not available to support self-build projects, the Scottish Government acts as lender of last resort through the Self Build Loan Fund, supporting successful applicants to build their own home through short-term f…
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation of the Scotland Self-Build Loan Fund it plans to conduct.
Answer · Shona Robison: Starting from Autumn 2023, the Fund will be subject to annual reviews which will consider to what extent the Fund is meeting its aims, in particular, in assisting households who are unable to access self-build finance. The reviews will also consider if adjust…
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the successful applicants to the Scotland Self-Build Loan Fund.
Answer · Shona Robison: At the end of June 2022, the Self Build Loan Fund administrators, Communities Housing Trust (CHT) had approved 40 loans to successful applicants committing £6.02 million over 13 local authority areas. The average loan offered to borrowers was £150,000. Of th…
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what value of Scotland Self-Build Loan Fund loans it has issued in each year of operation, and how many homes have been completed, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Shona Robison: The number of Self Build Loan Fund loans and value of these loans issued by year of operation is shown in table 1. Table 1: Number and Value of Self Build Loan Fund loans by year of operation Year Value of loans offered Number of Loan 1 £ 819,500 (to 31…
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many cases the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has (a) received and (b) closed in each year since 2016.
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 .
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) outturn has been for the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) in each year since 2016.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government budget and outturn for the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) in each year since 2016 is in the following table: SG Budget First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) Budget Outturn …
28 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what total value of (i) open market and (ii) new supply shared equity property purchases it has supported in each (A) local authority and (B) year since 2016.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09064 on 21 June 2022 which includes a link to the Affordable Housing Supply Housing Programme annual out-turn reports. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website,…
27 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08560 by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022, for what reason it did not list Rent Service Scotland as a data source for monitoring exit.
Answer · Shona Robison: Rent Service Scotland does not hold official data on Landlords leaving the Private Rented sector.
27 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08560 by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022, how many landlords (a) have informed Rent Service Scotland that they have exited the market when the service has requested data from the sector and (b) it has requested data from, in each year since 2016.
Answer · Shona Robison: Rent Service Scotland does not request official data from the Private Rented sector on Landlords leaving the sector.
27 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08560 by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022, whether Rent Service Scotland (a) requests and (b) records information from landlords detailing whether they have exited the market, as part of its data collection processes.
Answer · Shona Robison: Rent Service Scotland does not request nor hold official data on Landlords exiting the market.
27 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Welsh Government regarding its buy-out scheme for homeowners in high-rise blocks with combustible cladding who are in severe financial hardship.
Answer · Shona Robison: We have regular ongoing discussion with the Welsh Government on matters relating to cladding remediation, including the recently launched buy-out scheme.
27 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to assess the viability of a buy-out scheme for homeowners in high-rise blocks with combustible cladding who are in severe financial hardship.
Answer · Shona Robison: There is preliminary work underway to create a feasible Scottish scheme that works for Scottish homeowners and the Scottish tenure system.
27 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06962 by Tom Arthur on 8 March 2022, what the reasons are for any delays in ministers meeting the responsibilities under paragraphs 2.28, 2.29 and 2.30 of Planning Circular 01/2021; whether it can confirm whether or not it has approved the control a…
Answer · Tom Arthur: Scottish Ministers are currently considering the City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed designation of the Edinburgh Short-Term Let Control Area, in accordance with the relevant legislation and Planning Circular 1/2021. There is no statutory timescale for consi…
23 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) open market and (b) new supply shared equity applicants have been (i) first-time buyers, (ii) people aged 60 and over, (iii) social renters, (iv) disabled people, (v) members of the armed forces, (vi) veterans who have left the armed forces within the last two years and (vii…
Answer · Shona Robison: The following table shows the number of properties purchased in the last 5 years in each category under the Open Market Shared Equity scheme. This information is voluntarily provided by the purchaser and in some cases, purchasers may fall into more than one c…
23 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) open market and (b) new supply shared equity properties it has supported the purchase of, broken down by equity in increments of 5%.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09064 on 21 June 2022 which includes a link to the Affordable Housing Supply Housing Programme annual out-turn reports. Incremental equity changes are not recorded and Scottish Government systems show properti…
14 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the NESTA report, Estimating the willingness to pay for a heat pump, in determining the level of financial support that it will provide to householders, and the contribution of heat pumps, to meet its target for the rate of zero carbon heating system in…
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Over the course of this parliament, we have committed to investing £1.8 billion into zero emissions heating and energy efficiency across Scotland. This includes the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme which currently provides h…
14 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the updated affordable housing resource planning assumptions for local authorities are, in light of the Capital Spending Review.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has no plans to update the published Resource Planning Assumptions at this time. The spending review sets out the financial framework to support delivery of our commitments. It sets out high-level multi-year spending plans for the Sco…
14 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many non-zero-emissions heating systems have been installed under the second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing; how many such installations it has supported with funding, and how much funding it has provided for these non-zero-emissions heating system installations.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) does not prescribe what measures a landlord should install. The Scottish Housing Regulator does not currently publish data on the value of investment on complying with EESSH2 nor on the indivi…
13 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average day rate is of the contractors in its Cladding Remediation Unit.
Answer · Shona Robison: For the year 2022 to date the average day rate is £505.03 (inclusive of VAT).
13 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many contractors have worked and (b) what the expenditure has been on contractors, in its Cladding Remediation Unit in each of the last 12 months.
Answer · Shona Robison: (a) there have been a total of 4 contract workers in the past 12 months. (b) see the following table Month Date Costs (inc VAT) Number of Contractors 1 Jul-21 £ 6,659.39 1 2 Aug-21 £ 4,324.85 1 3 Sep-21 £ 8,710.49 1 4 Oct-21 £ 1,028.20 1 …
13 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many surveyors and fire engineers it has procured to carry out single building assessments.
Answer · Shona Robison: We have contacted 29 buildings so far to offer the direct provision of fire engineers. Once we ascertain consent and details, we will move to the contracting process.
13 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many single building assessments it has offered directly to date.
Answer · Shona Robison: We have begun the SBA delivery process for 15 buildings using our grant based approach, with an additional 29 contacted to offer directly commissioned assessments.
13 Jun 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 80 unique blocks that submitted an expression of interest in the single building assessment it has written to.
Answer · Shona Robison: 25 of the 29 buildings we have contacted are from the 80 block 2021 Expressions of Interest group. Once we ascertain consent and key details, we will move to the contracting process.