Parliamentary questions

Mark Griffin

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

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a summary of any evidence-based assessments it made of the possible outcomes of the reopening its Open Market Shared Equity scheme.

Answer · Paul McLennan: Our evaluation reports are available via this link: Shared equity schemes: evaluation reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The evaluation concluded that OMSE provides significant additionality, and is effective in enabling lower income households to overcome…

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide detailed information on (a) the application process and (b) eligibility for its reopened Open Market Shared Equity scheme.

Answer · Paul McLennan: Details on the application process and eligibility criteria for the Open Market Share Equity Scheme (OMSE) can be found in our administrative procedures: https://www.gov.scot/publications/open-market-shared-equity-omse-administrative-procedures-2020/ .

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider the evidence set out in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, and any potential impact that it may have on the single building assessment process in Scotland, in particular in relation to the utilisation of BS 8414 test data in the assessment of buildings.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government will review and respond to the evidence and recommendations presented within the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report once it is published.

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what way the PAS 9980 code of practice has been “tailored to the Scottish context” it its Single Building Assessment Specification Document, beyond the acknowledgement of the tenure system in Scotland, and how this tailoring has been a “critical enabler in setting the standard”, in li…

Answer · Paul McLennan: The single building assessment technical specification was published on the 21st of June 2024 and provides detailed guidance to competent persons on how they should conduct a single building assessment (SBA) in Scotland. The SBA makes clear that the relevant …

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the approach taken by the PAS 9980 code of practice to considering financial or social factors would allow combustible façade material to remain in place on buildings above 11 metres in height in Scotland.

Answer · Paul McLennan: External wall assessors are expected to weigh all the appropriate evidence and apply their professional judgement in determining the extent to which external cladding requires to be removed from a particular building, with a view to achieving the overriding o…

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what type of combustible façade material, based off the Euroclass rating (B to F), should be allowed to remain in situ following the completion of a single building assessment.

Answer · Paul McLennan: A single building assessment is a holistic whole building assessment that assesses and identifies life critical fire safety risks alongside any mitigation or remediation that is required in respect of any potentially combustible façade material. The assessmen…

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate that BS 8414 test data remains part of the single building assessment in determining whether a building is safe, in light of reported evidence regarding the use of BS 8414, and it being removed as pathway to compliance for new residential…

Answer · Paul McLennan: The single building assessment technical specification sets out the specific and limited criteria in which BS 8414 test data can be used by a competent person as a benchmark for determining whether a wall cladding system is tolerable. This is set out in 3.1.4…

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26685 by Paul McLennan on 23 April 2024, whether it will define the term “large areas of the façade” in relation to the statement “Where large areas of the façade are being remediated, alterations will be required to comply with current (fire) b…

Answer · Paul McLennan: To explain the statement large areas of the façade reference is made to the current standards. The limitation to work which does not need to meet current standards and can be ‘no worse than existing’ sits under Type 25A to schedule 3 of the building regulatio…

9 Jul 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made regarding the level of combustible façade material that will remain in situ on buildings in Scotland following the introduction of the Single Building Assessment Specification Document.

Answer · Paul McLennan: An estimate as to the level of combustible cladding that will remain on buildings will not be able to be calculated until all buildings with such cladding have undergone a Single Building Assessment (SBA) to understand their condition and remediation required…

29 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been (a) received and (b) approved for the National Acquisition Plan for properties that have been earmarked to be used for temporary accommodation.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of applications which have been earmarked to be used for temporary accommodation. It is for grant applicants to allocate the properties acquired. In relation to the number of applications which …

29 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the original funding that was allocated to the National Acquisition Plan has been distributed to each successful application, and whether it will provide an update on how much each successful applicant has spent of its distributed funding to date.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The establishment of the National Acquisition Programme (NAP), was backed by investment of at least £60 million from local authority resource planning assumptions within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in 2023-24 to help to reduce the number of househ…

29 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications from (a) registered social landlords and (b) local authorities have been (i) received and (ii) approved for the National Acquisition Plan in total, also broken down by the types of purchase applied for, including (i) open market purchases with vacant possession, (ii…

Answer · Paul McLennan: The following table provides a breakdown of how many applications from (a) registered social landlords and (b) local authorities have been (i) received and (ii) approved for the National Acquisition Plan in total for 2023-2024. The table also provides a break…

29 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £80 million uplift in funding to help tackle homelessness, announced on 26 April 2024.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The commitment announced on 26 April will provide up to £40 million in 2024-2025, with an equivalent commitment in 2025-2026 to be confirmed subject to the standard budget setting processes.

29 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government from which existing budget line the commitment to uplift the Affordable Housing Supply Programme by £80 million will be funded.

Answer · Paul McLennan: This commitment will be funded through reprioritisation of the existing overall Scottish budget, with a number of areas currently being reviewed. This will be reflected through the normal parliamentary budget review and approval process.

23 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £60 million National Acquisition Programme funding had been spent by the end of the 2023-24 financial year, and how many social homes this funding delivered, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Paul McLennan: In 2023-2024 a total of £83.146 million was spent and a total of 1,498 affordable homes were delivered through the National Acquisition Programme (NAP). The following table provides a breakdown of these figures by local authority area. Due to the nature of t…

16 Apr 2024 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the mental health of frontline police officers, in light of reports that reductions in the number of police officers is putting increasing pressure on the service.

3 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to any conversations that it has had with the wider sector, what its current understanding is of any risks associated with PAS 9980 as a methodology for fire risk appraisal of external wall and cladding construction in the context of the current ban on combustible façade materia…

Answer · Paul McLennan: As part of the preparation of the SBA (Single Building Assessment process) Scottish Government has had conversations with the wider sector, including Fire Engineers and Assessors where we have discussed the need for a FRAEW (Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wa…

3 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any current requirements for anyone involved in the construction of new schools to notify local authorities when BS 8414 has been used as a route to compliance for combustible façade materials.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: If an application for a building warrant is made which proposes the use of an external wall cladding system assessed in accordance with BR 135 when tested to BS 8414 as a means of compliance, then this information would be stated within the application. Local…

3 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm whether (a) all combustible cladding and insulation is banned for use above 11m in height on the buildings captured under the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 and (b) combustible plastic foam insulation and combustible cladding such as high-pressure l…

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 amended regulation 8 of the building regulations so that "highly combustible metal composite material" panels, combustible cladding and combustible insulation can no longer be used for new building work captu…

3 Apr 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of any meetings of the Single Building Assessment Task and Finish Group.

Answer · Paul McLennan: We will publish minutes of meetings to date of the SBA Task and Finish Group by the end of July 2024. For any future meetings of the group minutes will be published within 12 weeks after the meeting has concluded.