Chamber and committees

Due to Adult Disability Payment being in the early stages of delivery, we have not commenced publication of statistics relating to clients’ specific disabilities or conditions. This information will be included in future statistical publications.

As of July 2022, the number of people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment in Scotland for which COVID-19 or Long COVID is recorded as the client’s primary disability or condition was 307.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the reason(s) for the addition of a property to, or removal from, the Valuation Roll. The valuation of all non-domestic properties is a matter for the Scottish Assessors, who are independent of central and local government.

To note in addition, as there are more than 70 days left until the end of the financial year, properties which have not yet met the criteria set out in the Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 may still do so before the end of the financial year.

(a) A breakdown of buildings in the high rise inventory by decade of construction:

The budget allocated to the Cladding Remediation programme is £400 million in total, this includes the £6 million identified in the Emergency Budget Review. The focus of funding in this financial year has been on expanding our pilot towards 100 surveys, surveys cost less than remediation but are a key commitment and an essential step before remediation work can start. There has been no impact on projects or on the overall budget.

The Scottish Government £50m Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund was launched on 22 September 2022, and to date has received 21 enquiries from a mix of Council's and Registered Social Landlords. In terms of full applications submitted, four proposals have now come forward to the Fund, with others expected to follow in due course.

There is no formal closing date for the Fund, we are prioritising applications which deliver completed homes by 31 March 2023. Projects with homes completed in 2023/24 will be considered by exception.

In terms of the local authority areas where Scottish Government has received full proposals from, these are as follows:

Aberdeen City Council has been awarded up to £6.150m for up to 500 void properties on 28 October 2022.

North Ayrshire Council has been awarded up to £0.486m for up to 30 void properties on 6 October 2022.

Glasgow City Council - two applications from housing associations based within the Glasgow City Council area have also been received (with due diligence work currently progressing).

This does not include a pilot project, where we awarded £5m to North Lanarkshire Council for the refurbishment of up to 200 homes on 6 July 2022.

Scottish Government officials have fortnightly meetings with counterparts in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. We have committed all the consequentials so far, £400 million, to the programme of work.

Not all 780 buildings on the high rise inventory will require assessment. Single building assessments are demand led and available on request for homeowners or their representatives should they meet the qualifying criteria.

Of the 15 recommendations laid out in Cladding Remediation Gateway Reviews 0 (Strategic Assessment) October 2021 and July 2022, the October recommendations largely overwrite those from the July review. Of the eight recommendations from the July 2022 Gateway Review, all are on track and four out of the eight have been completed.

We have been in contact with the representatives of over 50 buildings about the Single Building Assessment programme, with plans to expand this throughout 2023.

Providing the information requested prior to April 2017 could only be answered at disproportionate cost. Following a change to the way we record shared equity sales from 2017-18 we are able to provide the information requested.

Since 2017-18 there have been 7 partial tranche-ups where the Scottish Government still hold an investment. This includes 3 properties purchased through the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme, 2 through the Help to Buy scheme and 2 through the New Supply Shared Equity Scheme.