Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-13118

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12689 by John Swinney on 8 December 2022, how many repossessed dwellings have received an exemption from council tax in each month of 2022, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-13117

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12689 by John Swinney on 8 December 2022, how many new repossessed dwellings have received an exemption from council tax in each month of 2022, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6T-01061

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement by COSLA expressing Council Leaders' extreme disappointment with the proposed budget settlement for local government and its presentation lacking consistency with a partnership approach, and their invitation to the Deputy First Minister to attend a special meeting.

Question reference: S6W-12763

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10464 by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022, how many proposed (a) homes and (b) projects included in affordable housing supply programme grant applications that it has agreed to have been (i) below and (ii) above benchmark, also broken down by baseline benchmark type, in (A) August, (B) September, (C) October and (D) November 2022.

The following table shows the number of homes and projects that have been approved in August, September, October and November 2022, broken down by baseline benchmark type and whether above, at, or below benchmark:

City and Urban

Project/ Home details	August	September	October	November	Total
Total No. of Projects Approved against Benchmark	11	10	13	11	45
Total No. of Homes Approved against Benchmark	226	226	321	353	1,126
No. of Projects Approved ABOVE Benchmark	7	5	10	7	29
No. of Homes Approved ABOVE Benchmark	156	155	258	94	663
No. of Projects Approved AT Benchmark		1	2	2	5
No. of Homes Approved AT Benchmark		24	53	54	131
No. of Projects Approved BELOW Benchmark	4	4	1	2	11
No. of Homes Approved BELOW Benchmark	70	47	10	205	332

Other Rural

Project/ Home details	August	September	October	November	Total
Total No. of Projects Approved against Benchmark	1	2	1	3	7
Total No. of Homes Approved against Benchmark	28	76	1	63	168
No. of Projects Approved ABOVE Benchmark			1	3	4
No. of Homes Approved ABOVE Benchmark			1	55	56
No. of Projects Approved AT Benchmark	1	1			2
No. of Homes Approved AT Benchmark	28	20			48
No. of Projects Approved BELOW Benchmark		1		1	2
No. of Homes Approved BELOW Benchmark		56		8	64

West Highland, Island Authorities & Remote/ Rural Argyll

Project/ Home details	August	September	October	November	Total
Total No. of Projects Approved against Benchmark	1	1	2	1	5
Total No. of Homes Approved against Benchmark	4	4	12	14	34
No. of Projects Approved ABOVE Benchmark	1	1	2	1	5
No. of Homes Approved ABOVE Benchmark	4	4	12	14	34
No. of Projects Approved AT Benchmark					0
No. of Homes Approved AT Benchmark					0
No. of Projects Approved BELOW Benchmark					0
No. of Homes Approved BELOW Benchmark					0

Question reference: S6W-12764

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10463 by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022, how many proposed (a) homes and (b) projects included in affordable housing supply programme grant applications that it has received have been (i) below and (ii) above benchmark, also broken down by baseline benchmark type, in (A) August, (B) September, (C) October and (D) November 2022.

The following table shows number of homes and projects that have been submitted for approval in August, September, October and November 2022, broken down by baseline benchmark type and whether above, at, or below benchmark. To note that the table includes some projects still under active appraisal:

City and Urban

Project/ Home details	August	September	October	November	Total
Total No. of Projects Submitted against Benchmark	11	10	13	15	49
Total No. of Homes Submitted against Benchmark	226	226	321	502	1,275
No. of Projects Submitted ABOVE Benchmark	7	5	10	11	33
No. of Homes Submitted ABOVE Benchmark	156	155	258	243	812
No. of Projects Submitted AT Benchmark		1	2	2	5
No. of Homes Submitted AT Benchmark		24	53	54	131
No. of Projects Submitted BELOW Benchmark	4	4	1	2	11
No. of Homes Submitted BELOW Benchmark	70	47	10	205	332

Other Rural

Project/ Home details	August	September	October	November	Total
Total No. of Projects Submitted against Benchmark	1	4	1	3	9
Total No. of Homes Submitted against Benchmark	28	99	1	63	191
No. of Projects Submitted ABOVE Benchmark		2	1	3	6
No. of Homes Submitted ABOVE Benchmark		23	1	55	79
No. of Projects Submitted AT Benchmark	1	1			2
No. of Homes Submitted AT Benchmark	28	20			48
No. of Projects Submitted BELOW Benchmark		1		1	2
No. of Homes Submitted BELOW Benchmark		56		8	64

West Highland, Island Authorities & Remote/ Rural Argyll

Project/ Home details	August	September	October	November	Total
Total No. of Projects Submitted against Benchmark	1	1	2	1	5
Total No. of Homes Submitted against Benchmark	4	4	12	14	34
No. of Projects Submitted ABOVE Benchmark	1	1	2	1	5
No. of Homes Submitted ABOVE Benchmark	4	4	12	14	34
No. of Projects Submitted AT Benchmark					0
No. of Homes Submitted AT Benchmark					0
No. of Projects Submitted BELOW Benchmark					0
No. of Homes Submitted BELOW Benchmark					0

Question reference: S6W-11609

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its publication, High rise inventory 2021: summary report, of the (a) 38 buildings in which aluminium composite material (ACM) panels were identified and (b) 23 buildings with Category 3 ACM panels, how many are owned by (i) registered social landlords, (ii) private owners or landlords, (iii) multiple private owners or landlords and (iv) a mix of registered social and private owners and landlords.

The High Rise Inventory provides information on the construction and fire safety of high rise domestic buildings. It was completed by Local Authority Building Standards departments for all relevant buildings, with data provided or verified to the best of the respondents’ knowledge at the time of completing the inventory. It should be viewed as a snapshot in time. The summary report was based on information held in the Inventory in February 2020.

On the basis of the information provided all of the 38 buildings, in which aluminium composite material were identified, and the 23 buildings with Category 3 aluminium composite panels are classified as owned by private landlords.

Question reference: S6W-12768

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons the team producing the housing statistics quarterly update for December 2022 did not have the required capacity and time to process the data on schedule.

As stated in the list of Scottish Government forthcoming official statistics published at Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , the planned publication month for the next Housing Statistics for Scotland quarterly update was moved from the month of December 2022 to January 2023 due to team capacity and to allow further time to process the data.

The housing statistics team that produces the quarterly publication have been involved in a range of other work over recent weeks, including the Housing and Regeneration Outcomes Framework Indicator Updates published on 22 November 2022, the latest Private Sector Rent Statistics Scotland 2010 to 2022 published on 29 November 2022, as well as providing resource to support work on the emergency legislation Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act. This has impacted on the capacity of the team to be able to prepare and publish the housing statistics quarterly update in December, which is planned for release in January 2023.

Question reference: S6W-12690

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the scope is of the Mortgage to Shared Equity scheme review; who is delivering the review; which organisations (a) have been and (b) will be consulted; on what date the review was first commissioned; whether it has commissioned new research or modelling to support the review; what the stages of the review are; how many (i) staff and (ii) full-time equivalents are working on the review, and when it expects to implement its findings.

A review of the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF), of which Mortgage to Shared Equity is part, was commissioned in February 2022.

The review is wide ranging and will consider all aspects of the Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) eligibility criteria including local authority property valuation thresholds and capital and equity limits.The work is being led by two full-time equivalent Scottish Government officials with support from other officials, including analysts, as required.

The main stages of the review include: identification of issues; information gathering and modelling; developing recommendations and implementation. Independent user research has been conducted with a number of key stakeholders, to identify areas of concern and gather information in relation to aspects of the process that are working well. This involved recent applicants to HOSF, registered social landlords and accredited Money Advisers from organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureaux, local authority Debt Advice services and law centres. Further consultation with stakeholders is ongoing and user testing is planned for later stages of the work.

The review will conclude in the spring of next year with implementation of any policy changes to take place thereafter.

Question reference: S6W-12687

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many dwellings have an unoccupied exemption from council tax, broken down by the exemptions provided for by Schedule 1 of the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Scotland Order 1997, as amended.

Question reference: S6W-12630

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-catering units have been registered on the non-domestic rates roll on 30 September in each of the last six years, broken down by (a) assessor and (b) local authority area.

The following tables present the number of self-catering units registered on the Valuation Roll on 1 October 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, broken down in Table 1 by local authority, and in Table 2 by assessor. To note, self-catering premises require to be available to let for 140 days per year in order to be classed as non-domestic. From 1 April 2022, they additionally need to be actually let for 70 days in a financial year.

Figures for 30 September in those years are not available; 1 October is the closest available date. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Data source: Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll.

Table 1: Number of self-catering units on the Valuation Roll by local authority and date

Local authority	01 October 2017	01 October 2018	01 October 2019	01 October 2020	01 October 2021	01 October 2022
Aberdeen City	30	30	30	30	30	30
Aberdeenshire	510	550	610	630	700	700
Angus	170	200	220	250	260	260
Argyll & Bute	1,840	1,950	2,030	2,240	2,340	2,290
Clackmannanshire	20	30	30	40	40	40
Dumfries & Galloway	1,180	1,260	1,310	1,380	1,410	1,400
Dundee City	30	50	70	80	100	110
East Ayrshire	20	30	30	30	40	50
East Dunbartonshire	10	10	10	10	10	10
East Lothian	190	220	230	240	250	250
East Renfrewshire	[low]	10	10	10	10	10
City of Edinburgh	1,330	1,510	1,690	1,630	1,470	1,410
Na h-Eileanan Siar	510	590	680	710	760	750
Falkirk	20	40	60	90	100	100
Fife	520	550	590	660	750	800
Glasgow City	150	220	200	200	200	210
Highland	3,930	4,150	4,500	4,800	5,050	5,050
Inverclyde	10	20	20	20	20	20
Midlothian	40	40	50	50	50	60
Moray	330	400	430	440	510	520
North Ayrshire	420	460	480	490	490	500
North Lanarkshire	10	30	30	40	40	40
Orkney Islands	380	420	440	430	450	440
Perth & Kinross	890	950	1,030	1,090	1,120	1,100
Renfrewshire	20	20	30	30	50	60
Scottish Borders	600	640	710	760	850	840
Shetland Islands	250	270	290	270	270	250
South Ayrshire	200	240	260	280	300	320
South Lanarkshire	70	80	80	90	90	90
Stirling	410	440	480	510	520	480
West Dunbartonshire	50	60	70	70	70	80
West Lothian	40	40	50	60	60	60
Scotland	14,180	15,470	16,740	17,620	18,380	18,290
Scotland – annual change		9%	8%	5%	4%	-1%

Table 2: Number of self-catering units on the Valuation Roll by assessor and date

Assessor	01 October 2017	01 October 2018	01 October 2019	01 October 2020	01 October 2021	01 October 2022
Ayrshire	640	720	760	790	830	870
Central	460	510	580	630	650	620
Dumfries & Galloway	1,180	1,260	1,310	1,380	1,410	1,400
Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute	1,900	2,020	2,100	2,320	2,420	2,370
Fife	520	550	590	660	750	800
Glasgow	150	220	200	200	200	210
Grampian	870	980	1,070	1,090	1,230	1,240
Highland & Western Isles	4,440	4,740	5,180	5,510	5,810	5,800
Lanarkshire	80	110	120	130	130	130
Lothian	1,590	1,800	2,020	1,980	1,830	1,770
Orkney & Shetland	630	690	730	700	710	690
Renfrewshire	40	50	60	60	80	90
Scottish Borders	600	640	710	760	850	840
Tayside	1,090	1,200	1,320	1,420	1,490	1,460
Scotland	14,180	15,470	16,740	17,620	18,380	18,290
Scotland – annual change		9%	8%	5%	4%	-1%

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