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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: S6W-10638

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to incorporate use of existing housing stock in order to meet its social homes target, and how many purchases of existing stock are forecast to be made in each year to 2032.

Use of existing stock, whether purchased on the open market or rehabilitated, has and will continue to have a role in delivering affordable homes towards the target in line with strategic local priorities. We do not hold forecasts to 2032. Local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans set out the funding priorities for affordable housing in their area for the next five years. These may include local authorities’ rationale for supporting use of existing stock and some estimates but will rely on properties becoming available to purchase.

Question reference: S6W-10633

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward compulsory sale orders for (a) vacant and (b) empty properties, and, if this is the case, what its timescale is for doing so.

Question reference: S6W-10681

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the details of each (a) question raised and (b) answer given, at each of the Building Scotland (Amendment) Regulations 2022 - Online Q&A Sessions, which ran from 27 June to 3 August 2022.

The questions asked and the answers provided, during each of the Building Scotland (Amendment) Regulations 2022 - Online Q&A Sessions, were recorded and have now been collated and organised according to topic within a summary document.

This document is currently being finalised and will be published at: www.gov.scot/publications/building-standards-technical-handbooks-2022/ before the end of September.

Question reference: S6W-10920

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many representatives of the mortgage lending industry it has met in 2022 to discuss the implications of the cost of living crisis for homeowners with mortgages on their property.

Scottish Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of the financial services sector, including lenders, to discuss a range of matters including measures to support households and businesses.

The Deputy First Minister met with the financial services sector (the quarterly Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD)) on 30 August 2022. Details of the membership of the Board can be found at https://www.gov.scot/groups/financial-services-growth-and-development-board/

Officials also regularly engage with UK Finance (representative body for the banking and Finance Industry). Details of UK Finance membership can be found at https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/

Attendees at such meetings vary according to representatives' availability.

Question reference: S6W-10919

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of options that it discussed with representatives of the mortgage lending industry regarding the implications of the cost of living crisis for homeowners with mortgages on their property, and what the policy outcomes were of those discussions.

Oversight and regulation of mortgage lenders is a reserved matter, as a result the Scottish Government has no powers or authority to intervene in the operation of the mortgage market, nor control mortgage or general borrowing rates.

However, the Scottish Government is committed to using levers it has available to support households through the Cost Crisis. Scottish Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of the financial services sector, including lenders, to discuss a range of matters including measures to support households and businesses in Scotland and have committed to continued collaboration throughout the cost crisis to tackle the immediate challenges and address key underlying structural issues.

Question reference: S6W-10921

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which mortgage lenders it has met in 2022 to discuss the implications of the cost of living crisis for homeowners with mortgages on their property.

Question reference: S6W-10922

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on which dates it has met representatives of the mortgage lending industry to discuss the implications of the cost of living crisis for homeowners with mortgages on their property.

The Deputy First Minister met with the financial services sector at the quarterly Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD) on 30 August 2022 and discussed measures industry and government can partner on to support households and businesses in Scotland.

Officials also regularly engage with UK Finance (representative body for the banking and Finance Industry) to discuss a range of issues affecting the mortgage sector including at their quarterly Board meetings in Scotland, last held on 10 June 2022, and on 1 September 2022 where discussions included the cost crisis, and the support lenders can offer customers in difficulty.

The Scottish Government remain in contact with the financial services sector on a regular basis in the current period and expect to engage regularly in the future.

Question reference: S6W-10686

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) unique households, (b) advice interactions, including advice provided to customers during telephone or email advice discussions and (c) low-income, potentially fuel-poor clients who were offered support Home Energy Scotland (i) has had capacity to support and (ii) has actually supported, in each year of its operation.

Please find data below for Home Energy Scotland advice interactions. Prior to 2013, fuel poverty was not a separate focus for advice services. Specific fuel poverty advice services figures are only available from 2013.

	2013-14	2013-14	2014-15	2014-15	2015-16	2015-16	2016-17	2016-17	2017-18	2017-18
	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual
Unique households	125,000	90,887	120,000	98,998	110,000	94,411	95,000	92,618	85000	93,962
Advice interactions	200,000	182,158	180,000	326,600	165,000	333,609	260,000	305,672	260,000	313,170
Low-income, potentially fuel poor clients offered support	55,000	49,404	55,000	45,932	55,000	43,148	55,000	33,322	35,000	31,598

	2018-19	2018-19	2019-20	2019-20	2020-21	2020-21	2021-22	2021-22	2022-23
	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target	actual	target
Unique households	87,500	89,018	87,500	92,681	77,000	90,468	120,000	114,392	132,000
Advice interactions	260,000	315,912	260,000	314,989	260,000	345,344	400,000	424,083	440,000
Low-income, potentially fuel poor clients offered support	35,000	30,920	35,000	38,737	35,000	46,369	36,000	42,092	44,000

Question reference: S6W-10769

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward Compulsory Rental Orders for long-term vacant properties.

Question reference: S6W-10685

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what Home Energy Scotland’s (a) budget and (b) actual spend has been to support (i) unique households, (ii) advice interactions, including advice provided to customers during telephone or email advice discussions, and (iii) low-income, potentially fuel-poor clients who were offered support in each year of its operation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07387 on 30 March 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

This includes the funding provided to the Home Energy Scotland Advice Service in each year of operation. In each of the years listed Home Energy Scotland has fully used the allocated budget. Please note spend covers the main Home Energy Scotland funding relating to advice delivery cost.

A Home Energy Scotland advisor supporting an inbound enquiry from a new “unique” household will result in multiple separate advice interactions with that enquirer. Advisors also field calls from multiple different types of clients, including potentially fuel-poor clients. It is not feasible therefore to split the cost of delivering advice into the separate parameters requested.