- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the warranty offered on new-build residential developments, beyond two years.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government to explore how the proposed New Homes Ombudsman scheme, within the UK Building Safety Bill, could operate in Scotland. The aims of the scheme are to provide better protection to consumers purchasing new build homes and to make access to remediation simpler and easier. The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work with the UK Government as the Bill moves through its amendments process, to try to achieve a UK-wide scheme that works for the people of Scotland and respects the devolution settlement.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 4 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the cases considered by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber were found in favour of the (a) complainant and (b) property factor since 2011.
Answer
“This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days” .
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 4 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have been challenged in the Sheriff Court, and, of those challenges, how many were successfully challenged by property factors.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days”.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 4 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on which property factors have been issued property factor enforcement orders in each year since 2011, also broken down by how many orders each factor was issued with.
Answer
"This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days” .
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have been made against property factors by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber in each year since 2011.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 28 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints against property factors have been brought to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber in each year since 2011, and, of these, how many were brought as a result of the property factor failing to (a) carry out their duties and (b) comply with the standards in the Code of Conduct (section 17(1) of the 2011 Act).
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 28 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen the regulation of building standards for new-build residential developments.
Answer
The Building Standards Futures Board was established in 2019 to provide guidance and direction on the development and implementation of recommendations made by the Compliance and Enforcement and Fire Safety Review Panels.
The Futures Board covers a number of work streams, one of which (Compliance Plan Approach) aims to reduce the risk of non-compliance with the building regulations for all building types including new-build residential developments.
Scottish Government has recently strengthened guidance on the roles and responsibilities of any person undertaking new building work. The Building Standards Procedural Handbook, published on 1 October 2019, emphasises the importance of regular and effective communication and partnership working to improve compliance with building regulations. It also recommends the use of more formal customer agreements and pre-warrant discussions between the applicant and verifier to discuss all the key aspects of design, and the importance of carrying out safety checks on critical design elements during construction.
We intend to consult on further proposals to strengthen the building standards system and reduce the risk of non-compliance in late summer/autumn 2021.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the implications of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 on the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
The UK Internal Market Act was imposed on the rest of the UK by the UK Government, despite the refusal of consent from the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, and poses a direct threat to Scotland’s ability to exercise devolved decision-making across a wide range of devolved policy areas including environmental policy.
We are currently analysing the text of the Act to understand how it could interact with Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it will (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the performance of Circularity Scotland as the administrator of the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
It will be for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as regulator of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to assess Circularity Scotland’s performance of its obligations under the DRS Regulations.
We are currently considering our approach to wider monitoring and evaluation of the operation of DRS.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 July 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has plans to require dog walking businesses to be licensed.
Answer
Professional dog walkers, like dog owners, are subject to a number of laws relating to dog welfare and control. The majority of dog walkers are likely to operate sensibly and responsibly; however, the profession itself is currently unregulated and the Scottish Government recognises that issues may arise. We will consider whether there may be a need to bring dog walkers under tighter regulation in any future plans for companion welfare legislation.