Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-25611

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it will engage with the public regarding the Energy Efficient Scotland programme to help meet its net-zero carbon targets.

There are a number of ways in which the Government is engaging with the public around Energy Efficient Scotland (EES).

Consultations will play a significant role in gathering public input on the programme. In the past year, consultations have been launched examining public responses to accelerating the timescale of EES and to regulations for the Private Rented Sector.

Before the end of this year we will launch a consultation to invite the public to respond to our proposals on how owner occupier homes can reach EPC C by 2040.

Our wider communications strategy is currently being developed to both interact with the public more effectively and collect valuable input on our proposals. There remains scope throughout Energy Efficient Scotland to engage with further stakeholders, and we hope to be able to create additional visibility for the programme in the future.

Currently, information is available online to the public regarding the schemes and programmes the Government offers –such as Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS) and Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS).

Question reference: S5W-25464

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what scrutiny there has been of its proposed first time buyer’s loan pilot scheme.

Question reference: S5W-25463

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on what date its proposed first time buyer’s loan pilot scheme will start.

Question reference: S5W-25465

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how its proposed first time buyer’s loan pilot scheme differs from previous equity share schemes.

Question reference: S5O-03598

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 26 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of BS 8414 test methodology for combustible materials on buildings.

Public comments on the review of the BS 8414 test methodology for assessing the fire performance of external wall cladding systems were sought earlier this year.

These comments are now being considered by the relevant British Standards Institution committee, which is both expert and independent of government.

In retaining this option to test cladding systems, we have followed the recommendations of our review panel of fire experts.

Question reference: S5F-03573

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 September 2019

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is helping councils to prepare for Brexit.

Question reference: S5W-24928

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24279 by Kevin Stewart on 5 August 2019, how the £24 million to support rapid rehousing implementation is being allocated, and whether the allocations will be made public.

I announced on the 17 July that the £24 million to support Rapid Rehousing implementation will be distributed as £8 million in 2019-2020, £8 million in 2020-2021 and £8 million in 2021-2022. This was posted on the official Scottish Government website.

Also on the 17 July, in a joint letter with Councillor Witham, COSLA, I confirmed the funding distribution to local authorities of the initial £8 million for 2019-2020. Please see the following table. As agreed with Council Leaders, this was calculated on the basis of a three year average of homelessness assessments for the period 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Scottish Government is in discussions with COSLA to develop and agree an approach to distribute the remaining £8 million for 2020-2021 and £8 million for 2021-2022. This will be announced in due course.

Local authority	Funding Allocation Rounded
Aberdeen City	£311,000
Aberdeenshire	£261,000
Angus	£172,000
Argyll & Bute	£95,000
Clackmannanshire	£103,000
Dumfries & Galloway	£143,000
Dundee City	£300,000
East Ayrshire	£119,000
East Dunbartonshire	£120,000
East Lothian	£160,000
East Renfrewshire	£76,000
Edinburgh, City of	£1,005,000
Eilean Siar	£34,000
Falkirk	£211,000
Fife	£524,000
Glasgow City	£1,322,000
Highland	£280,000
Inverclyde	£53,000
Midlothian	£141,000
Moray	£97,000
North Ayrshire	£187,000
North Lanarkshire	£389,000
Orkney Islands	£22,000
Perth & Kinross	£203,000
Renfrewshire	£186,000
Scottish Borders	£153,000
Shetland Islands	£31,000
South Ayrshire	£173,000
South Lanarkshire	£461,000
Stirling	£101,000
West Dunbartonshire	£265,000
West Lothian	£302,000

Question reference: S5W-24927

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24275 by Kevin Stewart on 5 August 2019, whether the meeting with Glasgow City Council took place as scheduled on 2 August 2019 and, if so, whether it will provide the information that was requested.

The first voluntary review meeting between officials from Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council took place as scheduled on 2 August 2019. The next meeting took place on Friday 30 August.

As outlined in my reply to question S5W-24275 the review is not a Scottish Government intervention and findings will be reported to the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership.

The remit of the review is to identify areas for improvement and it will be for the review team, taking account of its initial findings and subsequent actions, to determine the process to be followed including what information is required for the purposes of the review.

Question reference: S5W-24929

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24281 by Kevin Stewart on 5 August 2019, in light of the meeting with Glasgow City Council that took place, how a voluntary review will seek to address any problems that the council has in fulfilling its homelessness duty.

The voluntary review will allow Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership to work with Scottish Government to better understand what lies behind the statistics showing an increase in the number of people presenting as homeless that are failing to be offered temporary accommodation in Glasgow. Through its findings the review team will look to identify issues and propose actions for improvement to Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership.

Question reference: S5W-24930

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24281 by Kevin Stewart on 5 August 2019, in light of the meeting with Glasgow City Council that took place, whether the findings of the voluntary review by the council will be made public, and what duty there will be on the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership to act on the findings.

Two meetings have now taken place between Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership and Scottish Government officials to progress on addressing the failure to accommodate. These meetings took place on 2 and 30 August 2019.

The purpose of the review, which the Council has agreed to undertake with Scottish Government, is to identify improvements that will assist Glasgow City Council in meeting its legislative duty to homeless households. As this is a voluntary review being undertaken in partnership between the Health and Social Care Partnership and the Scottish Government, there is no duty to act on its findings and the decision, including making the findings public will be that for the Partnership. However, like all local authorities, Glasgow has a duty to provide temporary accommodation to all homeless households.