Mark Griffin

18 Aug 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what stakeholders it has engaged with during its current review of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39952 on 9 September 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committ…

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been approved by local authorities in each year since the period considered by the Competition and Markets Authority, which considered the number of approvals to be on average 29,000 per year to the end of 2022.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government Planning Application Statistics (PAS) asks planning authorities to indicate the number of planning applications they have decided for major housing developments (50 or more dwellings or a site area that is or exceeds two hectares) and …

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Planning and the Housing Emergency - Delivery Plan does not mandate new methods to monitor planning approvals and build-out in relation to planning consents for new homes. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: The ‘Planning and the Housing Emergency – Delivery Plan’ (November 2024) committed to new guidance on housing land audits (HLAs) and this was published in January 2025. HLAs provide information on past housing completions and future programm…

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its methodology is for tracking local planning authority approvals for new homes; how this methodology distinguishes by the type of approval, including (a) detailed planning consent (b) planning permission in principle (c) approval of matters specified in condition (d) single homes …

Answer · Ivan McKee: In January 2025, the Scottish Government provided updated guidance to support preparation of Housing Land Audits (HLAs). HLAs, prepared by planning authorities, monitor information on past housing completions and future programming of new homes.The HLA guidan…

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what management information systems and dashboards it uses to track the number of homes granted planning permission, including from external data providers. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government uses existing, publicly available information collated by planning authorities in Housing Land Audits (HLA) that monitor past housing completions and future programming of new homes.In January 2025, the Scottish Government updated guid…

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the methodology is for collecting the data included in its planning application statistics publications, and whether this process is (a) manual or (b) automated.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The methodology used to collect Scottish Government Planning Application Statistics (PAS) is an Excel-based survey which is completed biannually by planning authorities. The production of PAS uses a combination of manual and automated methods including Excel …

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the data collected for its planning application statistics is sufficient to detail the (a) number and (b) percentage of (i) housing developments and (ii) new homes approved in each reporting period.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government Planning Application Statistics (PAS) asks planning authorities to indicate the number of planning applications they have decided for major housing developments (50 or more dwellings or a site area that is or exceeds two hectares) and …

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the possibility of developing or licensing the UK Government’s planning data platform for use in Scotland to monitor planning (a) approvals and (b) completions. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: An assessment to license, or develop upon the UK Government’s planning data platform has not been undertaken to date.The digital development consents programme being taken forward by the Scottish Government will deliver a replacement for the current eDe…

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds licences for use of (a) Glenigan and (b) BoCreate data collection systems to monitor planning applications and approvals. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government does hold a licence for the use of Glenigan’s data platform, which is used as supplementary information alongside authority Housing Land Audits and the Scottish Government PAS (Planning Application Statistics).To the best of our …

29 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects on the number of homes granted planning permission outside of any statistics that are published. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government does not collect any data on the number of homes granted planning permission outside of any statistics that are published, reflecting an open and transparent approach.Planning authorities monitor information on past housing completions…

23 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38896 by Mairi McAllan on 15 July 2025, whether it will adapt and unlock the Housing Infrastructure Fund for small to medium-sized enterprise (SME)  home builders to access, in light of the recommendation made by Homes for Scotland in its repor…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Housing Infrastructure Fund forms part of the overall Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget which prioritises the delivery of affordable homes. The Scottish Government is implementing the recommendations of the Housing Investment Taskforce which note…

23 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average waiting time is for women referred for (a) all gynaecological procedures and (b) gynaecological biopsies, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for inpatient or day case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 March 2025 and can be found using the following link: https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/32913/ipdc_may25.xlsx.The latest s…

3 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the case that some local authorities have indicated in their six-monthly Local Development Plan progress updates that they are facing delays in preparing their new-style plans; if so, which local authorities have done so, and, for each such local authority, whether it …

Answer · Ivan McKee: In April, the Chief Planner and I required planning authorities to report every six months on their local development plan timelines and actions they are taking to avoid delays and accelerate the process.We have not yet received the initial formal six-monthly…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of occasions when the First-tier Tribunal has made a report to Police Scotland for prosecution in relation to section 24 of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 since the Act came into force.

Answer · Angela Constance: 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 reply in writing within 20 days.

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what powers are available to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) or any other relevant body when a property factor does not comply with a property factor enforcement order under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, and in how many cases since 2011 hav…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: No powers are available to the Tribunal or any relevant body to secure compliance with a property factor enforcement order that a property factor has already failed to comply with.However, Section 23 of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 (“the 201…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the registered property factors that have failed to comply with a property factor enforcement order since the implementation of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011; what further action was taken by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and P…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 provides the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland to issue property factor enforcement orders and to determine whether or not that Enforcement Order has been met.A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply wit…

1 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms it has in place to monitor any potential impact of the Scottish National Investment Bank’s investments on housing supply, including the number of homes delivered as a result of those investments. 

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Bank publishes an annual Impact Report which illustrates the Bank's progress against its impact objectives. The most recent can be accessed at: Impact Report 2025 | Scottish National Investment BankAs per the Bank's 2025 Impact Report statistics, since la…

1 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many housing developers have received direct investment, in the form of debt or equity finance, from the Scottish National Investment Bank since its inception; what the total value of any such investment is, and how many homes have been built in each year as a result of any such inve…

Answer · Kate Forbes: Two housing developers have received debt finance from the Scottish National Investment Bank since inception as follows:DITT construction: £730,000 investment to support the construction of six high-quality, one-bedroom homes in Lerwick. These homes are…

24 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of what ear, nose and throat (ENT) and hospital audiology waiting times would currently be had a community audiology service been treating the majority of age-related hearing loss patients since 2021.

Answer · Neil Gray: The waiting time information available to the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) does not provide details on the reason an individual has been referred into a NHS service, including if the patient is experiencing age-related hearing loss. It…

19 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the total current round of funding for the Housing Infrastructure Fund has been distributed to date.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The current round of the Housing Infrastructure Fund launched in October 2021 and forms part of the overall Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget. £40.71m of funding has been approved by the Scottish Government in this round and, of that, £9.…

19 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money was allocated to the Housing Infrastructure Fund in total for the current 2025-26 round of funding.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: A total of £10.066 million was set aside for the Housing Infrastructure Fund within the 2025-26 Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget reflecting spend profiles provided by grant recipients.

16 Jun 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what health policies it has in place to support the neurodevelopment of children born prematurely through their early years and adolescence.

3 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an update on the progress of the actions undertaken by Planning Aid Scotland and Heads of Planning Scotland to work towards ending the housing emergency.

Answer · Ivan McKee: We are working with Planning Aid Scotland (PAS) to strengthen local elected member training, addressing the housing emergency by building capacity and improve decision-making within the planning system. The Scottish Government supported PAS in producing a hig…

3 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent capital budget commitments it has made to tackle the housing emergency.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: To tackle the ongoing Housing Emergency, the Scottish Government is investing £768 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) for 2025-2026, a 38% increase compared to 2024-2025. Of this, £688 million is capital, which is a 44% incr…

3 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress on the actions in the planning and housing emergency delivery plan.

Answer · Ivan McKee: We are making good progress delivering across the 23 actions outlined in our Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan. Our National Planning Hub is now operational and on 22 May a Chief Planner letter was issued inviting authorities to identify areas …

3 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any potential long-term impact on new housing supply of the proposed increase to planning appeal fees, including for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in light of reports that they could be disproportionately impacted.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution of the SME sector to the delivery of the right homes in the right places and their role in tackling the Housing Emergency.The planning appeal and local review fee structure is designed to correspon…

28 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff it has employed in its More Homes division in each of the last five financial years.

Answer · Paul McLennan:  FTE number of Directly employed staff in More Homes Division     fte31-Mar-2031-Mar-2131-Mar-2231-Mar-2331-Mar-2431-Dec-24All928171706565

28 Apr 2025 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports of local authorities suspending council housing allocations.

24 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factors have been removed from the property factor register as a result of contraventions of the Code of Conduct for Property Factors in each year since 2011.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Ministers have removed 3 property factors from the Property Factor Register for failing to comply with the Code of Conduct for Property Factors, and failing to comply with a Property Factor Enforcement Order, with one being removed in each of the…

24 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factors in total are currently on the Scottish Property Factor Register.

Answer · Paul McLennan: As of 6 May 2025, there are 368 property factors on the Scottish Property Factor Register.