The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 971 contributions
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
Thank you. Professor Gibb, you spoke to us before about the report that I mentioned. Given what you have just heard, do you wish to add anything? I still remember our evidence session with you on the subject, which I quote quite a bit. What are your thoughts about striking the balance?
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
Thanks for that.
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
That is great—thank you.
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
Mike Callaghan or Gary Fairley—I am not sure which of you would be best—might want to speak to the issue from a local authority perspective. How are local authorities balancing the need to decarbonise with the need to build new housing stock?
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
Have your members done the detailed scoping work to determine how much decarbonisation will cost over a certain period? The housing stock will be of a different quality as well. How detailed is the work that the SFHA has carried out?
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
I do not know if Gary Fairley wishes to come in on that, but I will ask him the same question, about the scoping work that has been carried out by local authorities of the detailed—or at this stage, estimated—costs. Where are local authorities in that regard? A scoping exercise would be the first step—it was mentioned by the SFHA, and by COSLA in terms of looking at detailed plans. How far has that work progressed among local authorities?
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
Yes—it is a question for Aaron Hill, who has touched on this issue in relation to new affordable homes. Why is the Scottish social housing tender price index used to measure the increase in prices when it comes to building new affordable homes? Is there a more appropriate measure to use?
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
The witnesses have referred to the need for social landlords to balance investment in decarbonising their own stock and investment in new homes. Professor Gibb, I remember that you took part in a previous session in which you talked about the cost, which—I think that I am right in saying—was about £32 billion. The share of that for my local authority, East Lothian Council, would be roughly £600 million or £700 million.
How can both aims be achieved, and how can the Scottish Government use its budget to facilitate that? Is the answer to increase resources or prioritise one aim over the other, or can anything be done differently? At what level is the scoping work being carried out? Is it being done by each local authority or each organisation?
That question goes first to Aaron Hill and then to Mike Callaghan and Gary Fairley from COSLA. I have had previous discussions about that with the SFHA, which has been looking at the issue.
Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Meeting date: 6 September 2022
Paul McLennan
I am conscious of time. Most people have kind of answered my next question, which is about the extent to which the development of new affordable homes by councils and RSLs is impacting on tenants’ rents and affordability. We have heard expansively about the impacts of retrofitting. Does anybody want to add anything? I think that most of the witnesses have mentioned the subject.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 23 June 2022
Paul McLennan
Thanks, cabinet secretary. I also asked about spillover. In the medium-term strategic framework, there is mention that there are still issues about the restrictions relating to spillover. Will you touch on that?
I think that you have answered my next question, which is about how the discussions with the UK Government are going. Is there an indicative timescale for when we expect to get an answer back from the discussions on the fiscal framework?