- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 12 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, since the introduction of annual health checks for adults with a learning disability in May 2022, how many adults have received such a health check.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25185 on 12 February 2024. 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-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 12 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, since the introduction of annual health checks for adults with a learning disability in May 2022, how many adults had received such a health check by 31 March 2023.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25185 on12 February 2024. 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-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of decisions taken in the Budget for 2024-25 on aims to increase the supply of accessible and adapted housing.
Answer
Our budget decisions are based on fiscal sustainability, legal requirements, contractual obligations and previous commitments, as well as a range of social, economic, political and environmental issues. Work is also ongoing with the financial community in Scotland, and beyond, to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes including accessible homes. The Draft budget for 2023-24 includes £556 million for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and £8.245 million for adaptations.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties have either been built or had modifications made to them, to increase the supply of accessible and adapted housing, in the last year.
Answer
Management information on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme for 2022-23 shows that 6,868 new build social homes were built. Returned information confirmed that 99% met Housing for Varying Needs standards. As part of the total 10,462 affordable homes delivered that year, 1,319 homes were delivered with enhanced accessibility standards - including wheelchair, older amenity, supported and sheltered housing.
From the £16.616 million spent on adaptations across Scotland in 2022-23, around 5000 properties benefitted from 6,112 adaptations.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of (a) the current supply of accessible and adapted housing and (b) whether current capacity meets demand.
Answer
It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities through their Local Housing Strategy (LHS) and Development Plan to determine the appropriate housing required in their area, informed by a Housing Need and Demand Assessment. This includes consideration of existing housing provision and current and future requirements.
Where local authorities identify a strategic requirement for a particular type of home, including wheelchair accessible housing, projects to support delivery of these homes are expected to be included in Local Authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans for delivery through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
Since the integration of health and social care, Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) are responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations using delegated budgets. IJBs are also responsible for reviewing and developing services to improve outcomes for people who require adaptations.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what funding it has made available to increase the supply of accessible and adapted housing.
Answer
Through the 2023-24 Affordable Housing Supply Programme we are investing £752 million to support local authority strategic housing priorities, including accessible housing. All new build properties which are delivered directly by councils and social landlords should, as a minimum, meet the ‘basic’ requirement within the Housing for Varying Needs Design guide. This guide incorporates the ‘barrier free’ concept of accessibility and is a key reference document for the affordable housing sector in Scotland.
We support registered social landlords to undertake adaptations to their properties, and in 2023-24 we are making available £11 million for this purpose. Adaptations in Glasgow and Edinburgh are funded separately within those local authorities’ Affordable Housing Supply Programme allocations as part of the Transfer of the Management of Development Funding arrangements.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to a supplementary to question S6O-03013 by Emma Roddick on 25 January 2024, whether it will detail the ways in which it is “increasing the supply of accessible and adapted housing”.
Answer
We continue to take forward our commitments to improving the accessibility and adaptability of new homes in Scotland. Work to review and update the Housing for Varying Needs design guide, applicable to homes delivered with support through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, remains in progress. This will inform the development of a new Scottish Accessible Homes Standard which we expect to be implemented through changes to building standards from 2025-26 and would apply to the delivery of all new homes, regardless of tenure.
As we set out in our commitment in Housing to 2040 we are taking forward a review of the current housing adaptations system and will make recommendations on how best to improve and streamline the system and maximise the impact of investment.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a list of voluntary sector organisations in receipt of Scottish Government funding that have received a reduction in their award, including the amount of any such reductions, in each of the last three financial years.
Answer
Information about third sector grants is not currently collated centrally.
The Scottish Government provides support to voluntary sector organisations from a range of budget lines across Ministerial portfolio. This includes direct grants as well as funding distributed as part of partner-led funding programmes and through public bodies.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23223 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 December 2023, in light of its commitment to issue notifications of funding arrangements to third sector organisations no later than the end of March for funding beginning on 1 April, what processes it plans to put in place in relation to third sector funding in 2024 to ensure that this commitment is met.
Answer
As I said to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on 25 January, we are absolutely committed to pursuing our commitments to Fairer Funding for the third sector through the 2024-25 budget process. This includes providing early notification of grants to organisations as soon as is practically possible and before the end March 2024 for funding beginning on 1 April.
The budget process is still ongoing. I will provide a further update to parliament on the implementation of this commitment after the end March 2024.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what additional (a) advice and (b) support is available to anyone concerned that they have been the victim of a spray foam insulation scam, in light of reports from Trading Standards Scotland that it has seen a 42% rise in consumer complaints about insulation scams in the last year.
Answer
The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK Government therefore the Scottish Government cannot take all the action it would like to do in this area. However, we recognise the importance of consumers being confident that any work carried out is done to a high standard.
On the matter of advice, we encourage anyone considering energy efficiency upgrades to seek expert advice from trusted sources, such as the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland service. We also fund support for consumers who have such concerns in the form of a Scotland-specific consumer advice service that provides clear, practical advice on all consumer issues, including scams prevention. Anyone seeking this kind of help should contact Advice Direct Scotland at https://consumeradvice.scot/ and also on 0808 164 6000.
Using installers such as TrustMark registered businesses is a requirement of accessing Scottish Government funding for energy efficiency work. By adopting these standards for our own schemes we hope to encourage a greater level of skills and competence in the industry more generally and foster a more secure sector that householders can be confident in regardless of how their work is funded.
The UK Government’s role extends to the ability to legislate in ways that can provide increasing protection for consumers against scams of all kinds, and which it would be expected to review in the face or emergence of specific instances or patterns which require a distinct or additional approach.