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The Scottish Government Central Enquiry line which provides the first point of contact to the public is operated internally. Other information requested for private companies operating any helplines supported by the Scottish Government is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government remains committed to publishing an options paper in the lifetime of this current parliament. No decisions have been taken yet on the timetable however, once they are taken, the Scottish Government will fully engage with stakeholders on the matter.

£10 million has been allocated to the Home Owners’ Support Fund for each of the years 2013-14 and 2014-15.

No records are kept of the number of individual hits on the Landlord Registration Scotland website.

However, a total of 211,339 applications for registration have been made on the website between inception of the system on 30 April 2006 and 31 January 2013.

The Scottish Government’s policy on the implementation of local affordable housing policies is set out in Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) which makes it clear that authorities may seek a percentage contribution from developers for affordable housing where this is justified. SPP encourages authorities to be realistic, flexible and to consider viability in applying such policies. The Chief Planner wrote to all local authorities in March 2011 reminding them of this requirement in view of the current economic climate. SPP is currently under review, and a consultation draft will be published in Spring this year.

Prior to considering establishment of minimum standards, the Scottish Government is assembling a clearer evidence base on standards in temporary accommodation, working closely with our local authority partners and organisations like Shelter Scotland.

We have invited Shelter and the other stakeholders to highlight concerns or evidence of poor quality standards of temporary accommodation in Scotland. I have also asked the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Homelessness Prevention Group to examine this issue, and discuss any action required.

The Private Rented Housing Panel was launched on 3 September 2007 and deals with 2 types of cases, rent assessment and repairing standard cases. The figures for each are as follows.

325 households were helped by the Home Owners’ Support Fund in 2011-12.

The total scheme cost estimate for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) element of AWPR/Balmedie-Tipperty project is £653 million at 2012 prices (excluding VAT) which includes costs associated with design preparation, land purchase, advance works, utility diversions, site supervision, detrunking costs, main works construction costs and risk. The total scheme cost estimate for the AWPR also includes previous expenditure on the project.

Funding under Rounds 1 and 2 of the Scottish Green Bus Fund will see 71 low carbon vehicles (LCVs) operating in the Scottish bus fleet. These LCVs represent around 1.3% of the total Scottish fleet. Additional funding under Round 3 of the Fund could see around 45 more LCVs entering service increasing the percentage of these vehicles to approximately 1.8% of the fleet.

The Scottish Green Bus Fund is helping bridge the current price gap between conventional and low carbon buses and providing support and confidence to both manufacturers and the bus companies. We expect the market for LCV buses to continue maturing until it reaches the point where LCV buses become commercially viable in their own right. In the meantime, we will continue to provide grant funding.