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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: S6W-26600

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £97.4 million of cladding remediation funding it has spent to date.

Question reference: S6W-26684

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of any meetings of the Single Building Assessment Task and Finish Group.

Question reference: S6W-26685

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to any conversations that it has had with the wider sector, what its current understanding is of any risks associated with PAS 9980 as a methodology for fire risk appraisal of external wall and cladding construction in the context of the current ban on combustible façade materials in Scotland.

As part of the preparation of the SBA (Single Building Assessment process) Scottish Government has had conversations with the wider sector, including Fire Engineers and Assessors where we have discussed the need for a FRAEW (Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall).

When assessing an existing building’s EWS (External wall system), it is noted that existing buildings cannot be expected to meet modern Building Regulation standards for risk to human life as these buildings were built during a time when less onerous Building Regulations were in force. The PAS 9980 will be used by assessors to make an informed expert decision of whether or not the EWS is a low, medium or high risk and dictate from this whether or not the current build up is tolerable, and no further remediation is required, or the risk is intolerable and therefore remediation should be undertaken.

The aim of a SBA is not to bring a building into compliance with current Building Regulations, but to ensure that the risk to building occupants is reduced to a tolerable level. The focus of the remediation is to follow the recommendations in the SBA in how to bring the relevant parts of the building to either a low, or tolerable risk level. Where large areas of the façade are being remediated, alterations will be required to comply with current (fire) building regulations including the use of acceptable materials. To note that the current ban applies to any new building warrant applications only.

Question reference: S6W-26683

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any current requirements for anyone involved in the construction of new schools to notify local authorities when BS 8414 has been used as a route to compliance for combustible façade materials.

If an application for a building warrant is made which proposes the use of an external wall cladding system assessed in accordance with BR 135 when tested to BS 8414 as a means of compliance, then this information would be stated within the application. Local authority verifiers would consider the application on that basis.

In accordance with the Section 34 letter (Building standards - notification of application for building warrant: section 2.0 fire: letter to local authority verifiers - 31 October 2023) , local authority verifiers have to notify the Scottish Government’s Building Standards Division if any application is made that is supported by a BS 8414 test and BR 135 assessment report. To date, we have received no such notifications for any school building.

Question reference: S6W-26601

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it anticipates that the recommendations of the Single Building Assessment Task and Finish Group will be published.

Question reference: S6W-26596

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide clarification of what it means for a building to be "on a pathway to a single building assessment".

Each entry on the pilot programme within scope of the SBA as set out in the legislation will proceed to the pathway to assessment through written confirmation to owners from either a developer or, in the case of orphan buildings, government, that the property will either have a pilot SBA refreshed or topped up to ensure it complies with the new SBA specification or that an SBA will be commissioned using the new specification.

Question reference: S6W-26386

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms it is considering for making a determination in instances where there is disagreement over whether cladding remediation works are within scope following a single building assessment.

The Single Building Assessment (SBA) report will detail any risk to human life that is (directly or indirectly) created or exacerbated by the building’s external wall cladding system, and what work (if any) is needed to eliminate or mitigate any risk of that kind which is identified. We are working with developers now to determine the terms and scope of the Scottish Safer Building Developer Remediation Contract to ensure a shared understanding of responsibilities in the assessment of remediation of buildings. We will consider dispute resolution as part of ongoing work.

Question reference: S6O-03339

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the mental health of frontline police officers, in light of reports that reductions in the number of police officers is putting increasing pressure on the service.

Question reference: S6W-26388

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on any discussions that it is having with developers regarding their ability to pay for cladding remediation works.

Question reference: S6W-26383

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20984 by Paul McLennan on 15 September 2023, whether it will provide details of the evidence that indicates that the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 is working as intended.

The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 (the Act) requires the Scottish Ministers to prepare and maintain a public register of all property factors and to consider whether a property factor is a fit and proper person to be registered as a property factor.

Under the Act, Scottish Ministers must prepare a property factor code of conduct setting out the minimum standards of practice expected of registered property factors. A Code of Conduct was introduced on 1 October 2012. We revised the Code in August 2021 to make it clearer, to drive up standards and to improve consistency, without placing an undue burden on companies that might result in significant additional costs being passed on to homeowners. The changes ensured the Code remained up to date and responded to concerns raised by homeowners as well as supporting important wider policy objectives around tenement maintenance.

A dispute resolution mechanism is provided for the resolution of disputes between homeowners and property factors through the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) (the First-tier Tribunal). This provides free access to justice for homeowners and there is evidence provided in the First-tier Tribunal's published Annual Reports noting the number of applications it has received. The most recent report demonstrates that homeowners are taking action against their Property Factor where they believe their Property Factor has not met the requirements of the Code of Conduct, or carried out their duties under the Act.