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-33975

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to further protect tenants over the festive period who may be facing eviction.

We are doing all we can to support tenants to remain in their homes whilst the pandemic continues to risk people’s health and have already taken a range of action to support this.

Given the relaxation of rules with regards to the mixing of households over the festive period - and the potential that this could lead to people needing to self-isolate safely, at home – the First Minister updated Parliament last week that the Scottish Government will take forward regulations to introduce a ban on the enforcement of eviction orders in both the private and social rented sectors from 11 December to 22 January. The only exceptions to this are the most serious circumstances such as antisocial or criminal behaviour, including domestic abuse.

This temporary action is in direct response to the continued need to protect public health during the challenging times that we continue to face.

We are also taking this step to support people’s mental health, in particular those families with children, to provide some stability and certainty for the festive period in what has been an unprecedented year for everyone. It is only right that - at a time when we are so close to taking the first major steps in combatting this virus - that we put in place additional measures to ensure tenants and our front line services, including health and housing services, are protected.

We do not take this unprecedented action lightly, we know the rights of tenants and landlords need to be balanced. Landlords too face uncertainty and financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic, which is why this action is time limited but we are in unprecedented times when unprecedented action is needed to protect people from the health, social and economic harms of the virus.

A copy of the SSI can be found here: The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 (legislation.gov.uk)

Question reference: S5O-04799

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it collects data on the settings where COVID-19 is being transmitted within each local authority and, if so, whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S5W-32766

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what specific steps it has taken to inform homeowners of the changes introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (Tolerable Standard) (Extension of Criteria) Order 2019 since January 2019, and when it took these steps.

Following the changes to the tolerable standards, announced in March 2018, there was significant media coverage. The changes were further reported as they passed through Parliament, and the regularly updated online Q and A has been available since March 2018.

We have worked closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) who have continued to publicise the changes via themed social media campaigns, all linking to what the requirements mean for home owners.

Further information, literature and advice are also provided during SFRS’ Home Fire Safety Visits.

Question reference: S5W-31815

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 29 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on 8 January 2020 that “we will review the tax treatment of short-term lets to ensure that they make an appropriate contribution to the communities that they operate in” (Official Report, c.37), what progress has been made with this review, and when the results will be published.

Question reference: S5W-31653

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to communicate the availability of the rent adjudication service offered by Rent Service Scotland, in light of 0.0001% of households in the private rented sector reportedly having used the service over the last two years.

All relevant Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) related documentation produced by the Scottish Government provides information to tenants on the rent adjudication process.

We also recently introduced a new ‘Know Your Rights’ page at the beginning of every PRT tenancy agreement. This specifically sets out that a tenant can apply to Rent Service Scotland for adjudication, if they have been notified of a rent increase by their landlord, which they believe to be unreasonable. The PRT and the Easy Read Notes that must accompany every PRT each also contain sections titled ‘Rent Increases’ which provide comprehensive information about rent adjudication.

On the Rent Increase Notice, that a landlord must give their tenant three months’ in advance of a proposed rent increase, it makes very clear what a tenant needs to do if they wish to make a referral to Rent Service Scotland so that their rent can be adjudicated by a Rent Officer.

More generally, in April 2020 we undertook a social media campaign signposting tenants’ to further information on their tenancy rights. In August 2020 tenants’ also rights featured in the Scottish Government TV, radio and social media financial awareness campaign in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland. This included information about how tenants could access advice about managing rent from Citizens Advice Scotland both online or from a bureau.

You will be aware that I also recently wrote to every private rented home in Scotland, where I again highlighted key rights and signposted tenants to the Scottish Government’s private rental rights page ( https://www.mygov.scot/private-rental-rights/ ), which provides information on rent adjudication and Rent Service Scotland. This page is frequently updated to provide the latest information for private renters.

Question reference: S5W-31657

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has granted permission for any mid-market rents for units funded through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme to exceed the mid-point of market rent levels for the relevant Broad Rental Market Area.

Question reference: S5W-31652

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the data in the High Rise Inventory on the construction and fire safety of high-rise domestic buildings was collected by (a) Capita and (b) ScotXed.

It is not possible to distinguish the data collected by Capita from that returned via the ScotXed system. The data collected by Capita was used to pre populate the database when it went live. Local Authority Building Standards departments then completed returns for all relevant buildings, either providing new information or verifying that the data collected by Capita was still accurate. In this way, the pre-population was intended to reduce burden on Local Authorities.

Question reference: S5W-31651

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of the initial data collection exercise by Capita for the High Rise Inventory on the construction and fire safety of high-rise domestic buildings.

Question reference: S5W-31654

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) applications, (b) offers and (c) loans have been made through the Private Rent Sector Landlord COVID-19 Loan Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-31655

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in loans to date through the Private Rent Sector Landlord COVID-19 Loan Scheme, also broken down by local authority.

A total of £133,235.96 has been paid out as of w/e 28 August. A breakdown of pay-outs to individual local authorities is not currently held although figures breaking down applications by local authority area are available and are as follows:

Applications per Local Authority
Row Labels	Count of LA
Aberdeen City	10
Edinburgh, City of	20
Fife	4
Glasgow City	21
South Ayrshire	3
Stirling	3
Highland	1
South Lanarkshire	2
Renfrewshire	3
North Lanarkshire	2
East Ayrshire	3
Dumfries & Galloway	3
Dundee City	4
East Lothian	1
North Ayrshire	1
West Lothian	1
Aberdeenshire	2
Clackmannanshire	1
Inverclyde	1
Perth & Kinross	1
Grand Total	87