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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: S1W-14431

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 10 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the central heating units which will be installed under its central heating programme have yet been ordered; if so, how many, from whom and what has been the total cost of these units to date.

Question reference: S1W-14427

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 10 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are expected to qualify as central heating engineers in each of the next five years.

Question reference: S1W-14429

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 10 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive from which budgets Scottish Homes' #40 million contribution to the central heating programme will be allocated.

Question reference: S1W-14425

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 10 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating system units are currently available for installation as part of its central heating programme.

Question reference: S1W-14423

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 10 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that there will always be a ready supply of central heating units for installation under its central heating programme.

When first planning for the central heating programme, we used the 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey to make an estimate of requirements and estimated that 140,000 dwellings required action. Earlier this year we asked councils and housing associations to let us know how many systems they had installed. Considerably more investment has been made in recent years than was first thought and so the actual number of public sector homes requiring central heating is now much lower than first estimated. This will allow us to accelerate the programme so that it can be completed by 2005 and enable us to extend it to include other deserving cases.

Information on the number of heating systems required for the overall programme is not held centrally. However, the commercial opportunities which the programme provides will boost the supply of central heating systems to meet the extra demand. We are ensuring that only the most efficient and cost-effective heating units are used, to maximise the benefits for householders and the public purse.

The number of engineers required to install the central heating units depends on the type of systems being installed, the geographical spread of households and the productivity of the engineers. We hold no information on the number of engineers currently in the industry or how many are expected to qualify, but the Managing Agent for the private sector will be expected to participate in recognised training and apprenticeship schemes to attract new trainees to the industry. The opportunities which the programme is generating should also encourage entry to the skills market. We are also undertaking both national and local research on the labour demands and skill requirements now being generated not just by the growing level of public spending on housing but also by the community ownership programme and other infrastructure investment.

Resources for the installation of central heating in all sectors of the stock, including housing associations, will be allocated from the central heating programme budget in the fuel poverty line of the Annual Expenditure Report.

Local authorities, housing associations and the Managing Agent for the private sector are responsible for ordering the systems for the their respective dwellings. We do not hold information on the number of ordered systems nor the cost of the units being installed. The cost of the units will vary depending upon the type of systems to be installed.

Question reference: S1W-14424

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 10 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating systems it estimates will have to be ordered in order to meet installation needs under its central heating programme, broken down for each of the next five years.

Question reference: S1W-16342

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 June 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 2 July 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to divert monies allocated to the central heating initiative to other budgets and, if so, to which budgets.

Question reference: S1W-14426

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 27 June 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating engineers will be required to install the central heating units under its central heating programme.

Question reference: S1W-15909

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 5 June 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to develop national standards or good practice guidelines for local authorities to ensure that Houses in Multiple Occupancy licensing is carried out to a consistently high standard across Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-15908

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Baillie on 5 June 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any indications that the level of fee in any local authority area for a Houses in Multiple Occupancy licence is encouraging landlords to sell their properties or to evade licensing.