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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: S3W-22295

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence it has exchanged with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the operation of houses in multiple occupation legislation with regard to holiday lets.

The City of Edinburgh Council has confirmed that it does not consider antisocial behaviour amongst tenants of holiday lets to be a widespread problem in the city and that it considers existing powers to tackle noise nuisance sufficient for dealing with disturbances caused by occupants of holiday lets.

However, the Scottish Government is aware of the council''s concerns that the definition of an HMO (house in multiple occupation) may not be sufficiently closely drawn and that in some cases landlords may be evading HMO licensing requirements by claiming that properties are being let on a short-term basis, and that residents have principal residences elsewhere.

We will be considering the options for implementing the HMO provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 later this year. The issue of short-term lets and what types of accommodation require to be licensed under those provisions will be part of our discussions with stakeholders. However, the Scottish Government has no plans to extend HMO licensing to genuine holiday lets.

Question reference: S3W-22297

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how standards for rented accommodation should be enforced.

The Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) was introduced in 2004 to give Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and Local Authorities a minimum standard to aim for in improving housing stock. All social landlords are expected to produce Standard Delivery Plans indicating how they will bring their properties up to the standard by 2015. From April 2008 the Scottish Housing Regulator is responsible, on behalf of the Scottish ministers, for monitoring landlords'' progress towards achieving the SHQS.

Responsibility for enforcing standards in private rented accommodation lies with local authorities. Mandatory landlord registration and licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) set minimum standards for private rented housing and give local authorities a range of enforcement powers to tackle bad landlord practice. We would encourage all councils to use the full range of their powers to tackle the minority of landlords who can give the sector a poor reputation.

From September 2007, the Housing Act (Scotland) 2006 gave tenants in most types of private rented accommodation the right to apply to the Private Rented Housing Panel (PRHP) where they feel that the landlord has not complied with the duty to ensure that the house meets the repairing standard. The PRHP has the power to make Repairing Standard Enforcement Orders, and ultimately rent relief orders, if mediation is not appropriate or fails. Under the 2006 Act councils also have powers to act earlier when a house is falling into poor condition.

Question reference: S3W-22310

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 15 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what it regards as the maximum desirable occupation standards for rented accommodation.

The statutory definition of overcrowding is contained in Part VII of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987. Local authorities have various powers and duties in relation to overcrowded houses and their occupants, including carrying out inspections to identify overcrowded houses and taking levels of overcrowding into account in the preparation of local housing strategies.

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000 was introduced to protect tenants whose principal or only residence is a multiply-occupied house. Local authorities are responsible for identifying unlicensed HMOs and ensuring that conditions of licences are complied with, including the number of occupants allowed.

The Scottish Government is aware of concerns that some landlords may be evading HMO licensing requirements by claiming that properties are being let on a short term basis, and that tenants have principal residences elsewhere. In doing so, some landlords may be putting tenants at risk of overcrowding.

We will be considering the options for implementing new HMO provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 later this year. The issue of short term lets, and what types of accommodation require to be licensed under those provisions, will be part of our discussions with stakeholders.

Question reference: S3W-22298

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered amending houses in multiple occupation legislation to include short-term holiday lets.

Question reference: S3W-22296

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 April 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether holiday lets are liable for council tax and business rates.

Question reference: S3W-22062

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much glass for recycling is being stockpiled, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S3W-22061

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much paper for recycling is being stockpiled, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S3W-22063

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much packaging for recycling is being stockpiled, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S3W-22011

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 27 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those areas of peat land where it (a) supports the restoration and conservation of peat bogs and (b) expects that further action to restore peat resources damaged by past drainage and inappropriate afforestation will be targeted.

The Scottish Government has been working with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a co-ordinated approach to the protection of soils (including peatland), and will publish the Scottish Soil Framework in spring 2009. The framework will recognise Scottish peatlands as a large and important store of carbon within the UK, Europe and globally, as well as supporting important Scottish biodiversity and landscapes.

As part of the Scottish Soil Framework, Scottish Government will continue to work with a broad range of stakeholders to co-ordinate and enhance measures to protect soils, including peatlands. In particular, the Forestry Commission Scotland have issued guidance on woodland planting and removal and associated restoration of peat bogs, and Scottish Natural Heritage already fund and support a number of projects and schemes to support peatland conservation and restoration for biodiversity objectives.

Question reference: S3W-22010

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 27 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to identify peat bogs where peat depth is 50cm or greater and whether specific advice to land managers on the steps that they can take to prevent the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from such carbon stores is provided free of charge as part of the public goods advice programme operated by the Scottish Agricultural College and other government agencies.

The Scottish Government has commissioned a study to advise on the costs and benefits of a targeted national peat survey, and on the state of our current knowledge on carbon stocks tied into peatlands. The report is due to be published by the Scottish Government in April 2009 and will provide clear advice on the distribution of peat with a depth of 50cm or greater.

A new advisory activity covering climate change has been added to the Scottish Agricultural College''s Public Good Advisory service for 2009-10. This new activity will involve a range of initiatives to inform farmers and provide practical advice on steps they can take to mitigate climate change and its impacts, including measures to protect peatland and moorland from damage.

The Scottish Government also recently published a report on calculating carbon losses from wind farms on peatlands “ most of the advice contained within the report advises land managers how to minimise carbon losses from peat. This advice replaces earlier guidance developed by Scottish Natural Heritage and can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/25114657/0.

In principle, restoration and re-instatement of peatlands may be ultimately beneficial in terms of carbon sequestration. However, uncertainty exists on the time taken for such sites to change from initial sources of methane, to become sinks of carbon dioxide. Given this uncertainty we will be seeking further evidence to allow us and our stakeholders to develop the best approach to this issue.