- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 3 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what private sector employers it has met to discuss the implementation of a living wage policy and when.
Answer
The Scottish Government is supportive of living wage commitments in the private and voluntary sectors. Beyond the levels set by the National Minimum Wage, which is reserved to the UK Government, private sector pay is a matter for companies, their employees and Trade Unions.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 3 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish a unit to monitor the implementation of the living wage in the public sector.
Answer
The Scottish Government will monitor the implementation of the living wage in relation to those bodies covered by the Scottish Government Public Sector Pay Policy 2011-12 through its pay remit process. Pay across the rest of the public sector in Scotland is determined through separate processes outwith the Public Sector Pay Policy.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to increase the living wage for its employees on an annual basis.
Answer
The pay of staff below Senior Civil Service level in the Scottish Government is determined within the parameters set by Public Sector Pay Policy. The Scottish Government''s Public Sector Pay Policy for 2011-12 requires employers covered by its provisions to introduce a Scottish living wage, currently set at £7.15 per hour. All full-time staff in the Scottish Government are currently paid above that rate. Any revision to the Scottish living wage set out in future Public Sector Pay Policy will be taken into account by the Scottish Government in determining minimum rates of pay.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Universal Home Insulation Scheme will operate in 2011-12 and, if so, how much funding it will provide.
Answer
The future of the Supporting Sustainability budget is dependent on the passage of the 2011-12 budget.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 31 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out how it is “maximising income within existing powers”, as referred to Scotland’s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12.
Answer
The Scottish Government described its plans for maximising income in Scotland''s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12 and the supporting documentation.
This includes the proposal to use our powers to help increase resources in 2011-12 by increasing business rates paid by the largest retail properties, including supermarkets and out-of-town retail parks. We will seek parliamentary support for our proposal shortly.
In addition, we are maximising receipts from the sale of surplus land and buildings.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be made available for the Low-cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers scheme in 2011-12.
Answer
As I announced on 19 January 2011, we plan to spend £5 million in 2011-12 on the New Supply Shared Equity with Developers scheme. We also plan to spend up to £2 million on the Open Market Shared Equity scheme, which is demand-led. The open market scheme will be targeted at priority groups such as social renters to help free up social rented housing for those who need it most. In addition, further new funding will be made available for the New Supply Shared Equity scheme, the level of which will depend on the bids received under the planned £50 million competitive funding arrangement.
There will also be expenditure in 2011-12 on projects being funded through the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) schemes, which have been approved before or during 2010-11. The Scottish Government will be able to confirm the funding associated with these committed projects at the end of April 2011.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 31 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many new affordable homes planned to be built through the National Housing Trust initiative will be made available for (a) social rent and (b) owner-occupiers.
Answer
All homes provided under the National Housing Trust initiative (NHT) will be classed as private sector lets and will be available for rent at intermediate (mid-market) levels which makes them affordable to households on lower incomes, including those on housing benefit. That means that none of the NHT homes will be (a) offered for social rent through a Scottish secure tenancy or (b) made available for owner-occupiers. However, when the sale of homes is triggered between years five and 10 of the initiative, existing tenants will be given the option to buy their home before it is sold on the open market. Following exit from the initiative, homes could therefore be owner-occupied or available for continued letting.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 27 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27365 by Alex Neil on 24 September 2009, how many households the Home Insulation Scheme took out of fuel poverty in 2009-10 and what proportion of households in fuel poverty in each selected area this represented.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
The Scottish House Condition Survey measures the impact of all energy efficiency measures installed in the housing stock each year.
In order to tackle fuel poverty, the Home Insulation Scheme provides intensive promotion of a range of energy efficiency programmes and related support to householders on the door-step in specific areas. In addition to insulation measures, HIS ensures that households that are likely to be fuel poor in targeted areas are systematically offered support from the Scottish Government''s fuel poverty programme, the Energy Assistance Package. In respect of HIS areas supported by 2009-10 budgets, this has provided:
- 4,503 referrals to benefits checks to increase incomes
- 10,419 referrals for tariff checks to reduce fuel costs
- 4,226 referrals for heating systems and other measures.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 27 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27374 by Alex Neil on 24 September 2009, whether it has a date by which it expects the Home Insulation Scheme to be rolled out to all areas of Scotland.
Answer
Further roll-out of the Home Insulation Scheme will depend on the financial support for the scheme from future administrations.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 27 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an estimate of how many households in Scotland will be affected by the changes made by the UK Government to the housing benefit system and what proportion of households will be worse off.
Answer
The Scottish Government has carried out an assessment in our paper Housing Benefit changes: Scottish Impact Assessment which estimates that, as a result of the initial tranche of reforms to be introduced this April, 55,000 households claiming Local Housing Allowance in the private rental sector could be directly adversely affected losing an average of £10 per week. This represents around 2.4% of all households in Scotland and 97% of households claiming Local Housing Allowance.
The impact of all the Department for Work and Pensions measures, including changes to be introduced later that impact on other tenures and which may adversely affect many more households, is assessed in the paper, which is available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/chma/marketcontextmaterials/hbchangesscottishimpact/.