Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no plans to regulate the sale or installation of interlinked fire alarms. The best way to avoid scams is to use trusted sources of information, to not deal with cold callers, and to be wary of any company that says their products or services have been endorsed by the Scottish Government. We have included messages on the importance of using reputable tradespeople including signposting to local government Trading Standards in our awareness campaign for the new fire alarms standard.

Rents for social rented homes should not be set without regard to the importance of affordability for tenants. The Scottish Government therefore considers the proposed rents for Registered Social Landlord social rented homes at the point of first let as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme grant assessment process.

Applications from Registered Social Landlords for grant funding to deliver projects through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme at tender stage contain information on any projected rent levels at the date of completion which are more than 5% above the relevant social rent benchmark published by the Scottish Government.

Information on the number of units which were approved at tender stage which contained Registered Social Landlord projected rent levels at the point of completion which exceeded the relevant social rent benchmark by more than 5% began to be collected in 2018-19.

The following table shows the number of units approved at tender stage – by Registered Social Landlord – where the projected rent levels at the date of completion were more than 5% and up to 10% above, and more than 10% above, the relevant social rent benchmark. The table also shows – by Registered Social Landlord – the average forecast yield above benchmark (calculated as the weighted average of the rent as a percentage above benchmark) where the projected rent levels at the date of completion were more than 5% and up to 10% above, and more than 10% above, the relevant social rent benchmark.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) continue to work with health boards to support their planning and the safe delivery of immunisation services during the pandemic.

The latest HPV immunisation statistics published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) for academic year 2019/20 show that uptake for the HPV vaccine remains high. Further information is available online on the PHS website: HPV Immunisation Statistics Scotland 22 December 2020 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org).

Public Health Scotland collate data on the HPV vaccination programme for the previous school year every autumn. Data for school year 2020-21 will be collated in autumn 2021 and published in December 2021. Therefore, we cannot provide information on the most recent school year.

The Scottish Government does not have information of the rate of manufacture of interlinked fire alarms. We are aware that, following our successful public awareness campaign, there is significant public interest in carrying out work to comply with the new standard for fire alarms in all Scottish homes. It is, therefore, possible, that some retailers will have short term supply issues. We are also aware that some manufacturers are dependent on import of components, and that has been affected by Brexit, and this may also have affected their production. However, we have been assured by manufacturers that there is a sufficient supply of alarms available to meet the expected demand by 1 February 2022, when the new standard comes into force.

It is for individual housing associations to determine the amount of grant that they require to apply for in order for a project to be financially viable. We are therefore unable to say how much the Scottish Government will contribute to housing associations – on average – in the current financial year for each new house that they build, and what the range of funding support will be per house based on their size and type.

However, Annual Out-turn Reports relating to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published around the end of each calendar year and, as well as providing background information on the planning, delivery and scope of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, these include various out-turn tables in respect of spend, along with the number of approvals, site starts and completions, broken down by local authority, in the preceding financial year. The Out-turn Reports also include a table showing the average total cost per home and the average grant per home. These are the actual costs relating to the delivery of the projects within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, calculated at tender approval stage.

The information to be included within the AHSP Out-turn Report for 2020-21 is currently being collated, but the Out-turn Report in respect of 2019-20 is available on the Scottish Government website.

In relation to the funding provided to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service from Scottish Government, all of the funding was spent in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial year.

It is not possible to determine exactly how many properties have alarms of the prescribed type installed as this information is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey.

It is not possible to estimate how many people in South Ayrshire would find it difficult to meet the cost of purchasing or fitting fire alarms, because information about the number of homes that do not have alarms that meet the new standard is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey.

Home owners are responsible for the costs of on-going work needed to protect and preserve their own property, which includes the costs for the fire alarms to meet the new standard. However, we have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled homeowners on low incomes. We have also provided £1 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to provide alarms for owners who are considered most vulnerable to the risk of fire.

Local authorities are responsible for a range of public services, including housing, and the vast majority of funding for these services is provided to local authorities by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available on the basis of local needs and priorities.

In addition to the block grant, outlined below is the additional financial support the Scottish Government has provided to local authorities in the last five years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

Rapid rehousing transition plans – Ending Homelessness Together fund

Since 2018, the Scottish Government has provided funding from the Ending Homelessness Together fund to local authorities to develop and implement rapid rehousing transition plans (RRTPs). RRTPs are the planning framework for local authorities’ housing-led approach to prevent and address all forms of homelessness, including rough sleeping. Funding for the development of the RRTPs was granted in 2018/19 and subsequent funding was granted for the implementation of the plans. The breakdown of funding by year and local authority can be found in the following table:

The Help to Buy (Scotland) Smaller Developers scheme continues to be available to help people purchase a new build home throughout 2021/22. The scheme will close on 31 March 2022.

The Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers, which includes the Open Market Shared Equity and New Supply Shared Equity schemes will continue to be available. These schemes are aimed at first time buyers and priority access groups and count towards the Affordable Housing Supply Programme commitment to deliver a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.