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: S6T-01678

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect local authorities from the risk of bankruptcy.

Question reference: S6W-23032

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it financially supports small and medium-sized developers and housebuilders to design and progress planning applications for rural affordable housing plans at an early stage.

Direct funding is not provided to private developers to finance their engagement in the planning application process. The Minister for Housing and I jointly hosted a roundtable on planning for housing on 16 November 2023. Support for small and medium-sized developers and housebuilders to progress through the planning processes in all areas was highlighted, as were matters relating to rural and affordable housing. We are now collating and prioritising suggested actions that can be taken collaboratively to accelerate delivery of more quality homes to create quality places.

Question reference: S6W-23087

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing with the UK Government to ensure that the proposed amendments to the UK Renters (Reform) Bill that would make it illegal for landlords and letting agents to apply a blanket ban on renting to people who receive benefits or to families with children can be extended to apply in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with the UK Government to implement the proposed amendments to the Renters (Reform) Bill that would make it illegal for landlords and letting agents to apply a blanket ban on renting to people who receive benefits or to families with children.

It is intended that a further amendment for Scotland will be tabled at the Bill’s Report Stage. This will ensure that an important legislative proposal to benefit renters can commence in Scotland at the same time as England and Wales.

I have notified the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, at the earliest possible opportunity, of my intention for a Legislative Consent Memorandum to be lodged in relation to that amendment, after it has been tabled at Report Stage.

Question reference: S6W-23033

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) progress it has made and (b) discussions it has had with the housing sector regarding setting an all-tenure housebuilding target.

Local authorities have statutory responsibility for assessing and evidencing housing need and demand, and setting out through local housing strategies and local development plans the housing requirements for their area. We have committed to delivering 110,000 high quality, energy efficient affordable homes by 2032 and work closely with a wide range of housing partners including local authorities, to ensure the delivery of homes to meet the housing needs of communities across Scotland. The Minister for Housing engages regularly with Homes for Scotland to discuss a wide range of issues and most recently met on 7 November.

Question reference: S6W-23089

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister has responded to the Scottish Occupational Health Action Group's reported proposal for a Scottish Occupational Health Service provision.

As Minister with lead responsibility for Occupational Health, as part of the Health & Social Care portfolio, I responded on 20th November 2023 to the proposal submitted by the Scottish Occupational Health Action Group (SOHAG).

Many of the drivers of ill-health, and particularly ill-health in the workplace, are wider societal factors and I am clear that a cross-government response is required to address both the social determinants of health, as well as improving people’s experiences at work. Occupational health has a key role to play as part of the range of interventions that support fair and healthier work places.

Question reference: S6W-22778

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what review it has undertaken of the impact of Regulation 6 of the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2022, which provides planning authorities with the power to levy a surcharge of up to 25% on retrospective applications as a means of recovering the costs of undertaking enforcement investigations.

Question reference: S6W-22957

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what investigations Consumer Scotland (a) has conducted since it was established and (b) plans to conduct.

Question reference: S6W-22632

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 15 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20967 by Paul McLennan on 14 September 2023, whether it will provide the data that has been returned in response to the question that was added to the HL3 data collection in 2019, asking “if a child is in the temporary accommodation placement", including the data that has been provided by all local authorities from April 2022.

The Scottish Government published data on children in temporary accommodation as returned via the HL3 collection alongside the annual Homelessness in Scotland 2022-23 publication. This can be found in the supporting documents webpage here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/homelessness-in-scotland-2022-23/documents/

This was the first time this data has been published as all local authorities have only been able to provide this data from April 2022. The data prior to 2022 has not been published as it is incomplete and not of sufficient quality.

The data published shows snapshot figures as at 31 March 2023 for a) all households in temporary accommodation, b) the number of households with children or a pregnant woman in temporary accommodation, and c) the number of children in temporary accommodation, by accommodation type and local authority. This replicates the headline figures that are published from the snapshot aggregate (HL2) data collection. To protect the confidentially of individuals and households, Scottish Government only releases aggregated statistics and not individual application level data. Additionally, figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 for disclosure control purposes.

Comparisons between HL2 and HL3 snapshot figures were published in the supporting document above. This showed differences between the two sets of data and confirmed that further quality assurance with Local Authorities is required. Further information on the quality assurance can be found on the “Additional information” worksheet in the children in temporary accommodation excel workbook in the link above.

The Scottish Government is currently undergoing Official Statistics quality assurance with local authorities to assess and improve the quality of the data that has been received since April 2023. The current plan is to publish snapshot HL3 data, with necessary caveats annually, with the next publication of this data due in Summer 2024.

Question reference: S6O-02687

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what continued engagement it has had with the Scottish Land Commission about its proposal for compulsory sales orders since it first proposed them in August 2018.

Question reference: S6O-02659

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the financial cost will be of its recently announced council tax freeze policy.