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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-13035

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11854 by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2017, how many accredited professionals there are in Scotland, and whether this is sufficient to meet demand.

The range of different accredited professionals to be employed on energy efficiency retrofit for traditional buildings will depend on the specific circumstances of the building. The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on this issue.

We will publish a routemap for Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme in 2018. As part of the development of the Programme we are working with relevant professional accreditation bodies, industry representatives, consumer protection agencies and the skills and enterprise agencies to assess overall current and future capacity requirements over the 15-20 year timescale for the programme.

Question reference: S5W-13030

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to providing additional funding for training new workers in the construction sector.

Question reference: S5W-13031

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it will give to the recommendations in the UK Government’s interim report on the review of the gap between planning permission being granted and house building completion, and whether it will consider these when tackling similar issues for housing developments in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-13032

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the introduction of new towns as a means to tackle housing shortages, as recommended by RICS and similar to those announced for England by the UK Government.

New towns are not a new solution – or the only solution. Housing development is needed at all scales – from new communities to redevelopment of vacant sites in settlements. We expect local authorities to take a lead in saying where development should take place based upon local requirements and capacity for growth.

It is the role of local authorities, in consultation with their stakeholders and communities to determine how housing growth will be delivered in its area. It is not for Government to impose new towns on communities but to provide the strategic framework to allow these decisions to be taken and implemented locally.

Question reference: S5O-01561

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made to end rough sleeping this winter.

Question reference: S5W-12720

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it is undertaking in response to reports that more than 2,700 more people died in the winter months of 2016 and 2017 compared to summer months.

A seasonal increase in deaths is seen each winter in Scotland, across the UK, and across Europe. Previous research has shown Scotland to be about average for Europe in terms of its seasonal increase¹.

The long-term trend in the seasonal increase in mortality in the winter has generally been downward. Although there have been unusually large figures in some years (including 4,060 in winter 2014-15), the size of these periodic peaks has also generally appeared to be falling.

As part of their Winter Mortality in Scotland 2016-17 publication, the National Records of Scotland has undertaken and published a range of analysis investigating the seasonal increase in deaths observed in winter.

This includes analysis describing the age of those that died and the causes of death, as well as providing figures for individual NHS Boards and Local Authorities. Also included is analysis presenting winter death rates alongside average winter temperatures and measures of influenza activity. The publication of results for previous winters allows comparisons over time.

Winter Mortality in Scotland 2016-17:https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/deaths/winter-mortality/winter-mortality-in-scotland-201617

1. Healy JD, 2003 - Excess winter mortality in Europe: a cross-country analysis identifying key risk factors. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57: 784 - 789.

Question reference: S5W-12726

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-build homes have been completed in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of self-build homes completed.

Information is collected from local authorities on the number of private-led housing completions relating to single-plot sites, and this is provided in the following table.

Approximate estimated number of private-led single plot housing completions in Scotland, financial years 2012-13 to 2016-17.

2012-13	1,257
2013-14	1,241
2014-15	1,194
2015-16	1,246
2016-17	1,361

Note that these figures include an estimate for Highland Council based on historical data.

Source: Scottish Government NB2 private-led new build housing returns collected from local authorities.

Question reference: S5W-12725

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of housing approvals in each of the last five years have been for self-build homes.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on housing approvals for self-build homes.

The answer to S5W-12726 on 27 November 2017 provides the estimated numbers of self build completions over the last five years.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-12724

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many new home approvals in each of the last five years have been for self-build homes.

Question reference: S5O-01382

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it is helping small businesses to access superfast broadband.

As a result of our intervention through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme, over 800,000 homes and businesses across the whole of Scotland, that would not otherwise have been connected, are now capable of accessing fibre broadband.

However, more needs to be done, and, despite telecoms being reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government has chosen to act now. That is why; we have made a commitment to deliver 100% superfast broadband access across Scotland by the end of 2021. This is a unique commitment across the UK and stands in stark contrast to the UK Government’s lack of ambition.