- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its current projections are on reaching the target of delivering 110,000 homes from the affordable housing supply budget.
Answer
To the end of March 2024, 21,092 homes have been delivered towards the target. In the absence of future year budget assumptions we do not have current projections towards the 110,000 affordable homes target. There is additional uncertainty due to the upcoming UK budget on 30 October following the Prime Minister’s statement on 27 September which indicated that the autumn budget would be “painful”.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its goal of decarbonising transport, in light of its reported decision to increase fares and reduce services on Scotland’s railways.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2024
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 August 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what the resource planning allocation is for each local authority to plan their housing supply for (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26; how this compares with the assumed figures that were published on 15 July 2021; what the reasons are for any variance in each case, and on what date each local authority was advised of its allocation
Answer
The following table details the resource planning assumptions for each local authority for (a) 2024-2025 compared with the assumed figures that were published on 15 July 2021. These figures do not include the additional £40 million for 2024-2025, the allocations of for which are still being considered. No resource planning assumptions have yet been agreed for (b) 2025-2026.
Local Authority | Published 2024-2025 RPAs 15 July 2021 (£m) | Updated 2024-2025 RPAs May 2024 (£m) | Variance (%) |
Aberdeen City | 16.037 | 12.133 | -24% |
Aberdeenshire | 27.693 | 20.952 | -24% |
Angus | 9.049 | 6.846 | -24% |
Argyll and Bute | 18.328 | 13.867 | -24% |
City of Edinburgh | 45.211 | 34.207 | -24% |
Clackmannanshire | 5.750 | 4.350 | -24% |
Dumfries and Galloway | 20.524 | 15.529 | -24% |
Dundee City | 17.230 | 13.037 | -24% |
East Ayrshire | 12.860 | 9.730 | -24% |
East Dunbartonshire | 8.696 | 6.579 | -24% |
East Lothian | 11.774 | 8.908 | -24% |
East Renfrewshire | 7.250 | 5.486 | -24% |
Falkirk | 12.594 | 9.528 | -24% |
Fife | 34.677 | 26.237 | -24% |
Glasgow City | 104.001 | 78.687 | -24% |
Inverclyde | 9.629 | 7.285 | -24% |
Midlothian | 10.571 | 7.998 | -24% |
Moray | 8.933 | 6.758 | -24% |
na Eilean Siar | 8.372 | 6.334 | -24% |
North Ayrshire | 15.702 | 11.880 | -24% |
North Lanarkshire | 32.988 | 24.958 | -24% |
Orkney Islands | 3.433 | 2.597 | -24% |
Perth and Kinross | 16.645 | 12.594 | -24% |
Renfrewshire | 17.200 | 13.013 | -24% |
Scottish Borders | 16.010 | 12.113 | -24% |
Shetland Islands | 5.164 | 3.907 | -24% |
South Ayrshire | 12.760 | 9.654 | -24% |
South Lanarkshire | 30.180 | 22.834 | -24% |
Stirling | 10.323 | 7.810 | -24% |
The Highland Council | 46.428 | 35.127 | -24% |
West Dunbartonshire | 10.795 | 8.167 | -24% |
West Lothian | 15.430 | 11.674 | -24% |
Total (£m) | 622.237 | 470.782 | -24% |
The overall reduction of 24% reflects the reduction in available capital for 2024-2025 from that assumed back in 2021, and allocates the capital remaining once top-sliced national programme commitments had been accounted for. The reduction was applied equally across all 32 local authority areas in line with the Strategic Housing Investment Framework (SHIF) methodology for 30 local authorities and the particular approach to funding City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City through the Transfer of Management of Development Funding (TMDF) arrangements.
The following table details the date each local authority was formally advised of their updated 2024-2025 resource planning assumption. Local discussions with local authorities prior to these dates had indicated the likely level of reduction.
Local Authority | Date 2024-2025 RPA letter issued |
Aberdeen City | 22 May 2024 |
Aberdeenshire | 22 May 2024 |
Angus | 22 May 2024 |
Argyll and Bute | 28 May 2024 |
City of Edinburgh | 21 May 2024 |
Clackmannanshire | 22 May 2024 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 21 May 2024 |
Dundee City | 22 May 2024 |
East Ayrshire | 21 May 2024 |
East Dunbartonshire | 30 May 2024 |
East Lothian | 21 May 2024 |
East Renfrewshire | 28 May 2024 |
Falkirk | 22 May 2024 |
Fife | 21 May 2024 |
Glasgow City | 28 May 2024 |
Inverclyde | 30 May 2024 |
Midlothian | 21 May 2024 |
Moray | 22 May 2024 |
na Eilean Siar | 22 May 2024 |
North Ayrshire | 21 May 2024 |
North Lanarkshire | 21 May 2024 |
Orkney Islands | 22 May 2024 |
Perth and Kinross | 22 May 2024 |
Renfrewshire | 30 May 2024 |
Scottish Borders | 21 May 2024 |
Shetland Islands | 22 May 2024 |
South Ayrshire | 21 May 2024 |
South Lanarkshire | 21 May 2024 |
Stirling | 22 May 2024 |
The Highland Council | 22 May 2024 |
West Dunbartonshire | 30 May 2024 |
West Lothian | 21 May 2024 |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 August 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any additional costs that have been accrued as a result of the reported delays to completion of roadworks on the M8 Woodside Viaduct.
Answer
The cost of the temporary propping, which is extremely complex, is expected to be between £126m - £152m. The cost is dependent on a number of factors, for example duration and extent of works. Our estimated cost range includes allowances for risk, contingency and inflation, which is standard industry practice for large infrastructure projects.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 August 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reasons for the reported delays in completion of roadworks on the M8 Woodside Viaduct.
Answer
The work to undertake the temporary propping is extremely complex. Each of the 23 supports requires individual propping designs to take account of the varying column heights, span lengths and widths resulting in different loads to be supported by the props.
Additionally, the propping foundations are affected by a number of buried services, ground conditions and the SPT Subway tunnels beneath the viaducts, which has a major impact on the solutions available. There were also a number of public utilities diversions or protection measures required in agreement and partnership with the various utility owners.
The extent of the work on each support is, therefore, exceptionally difficult to quantify until it is underway.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 25 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate that BS 8414 test data remains part of the single building assessment in determining whether a building is safe, in light of reported evidence regarding the use of BS 8414, and it being removed as pathway to compliance for new residential buildings with a topmost habitable storey above 11 metres in height.
Answer
The single building assessment technical specification sets out the specific and limited criteria in which BS 8414 test data can be used by a competent person as a benchmark for determining whether a wall cladding system is tolerable. This is set out in 3.1.4 of the SBA specification. It should be recalled however, that the single building assessment is a holistic assessment of the building that does not simply consider cladding combustibility, but also other relevant fire safety risks and provides an overall assessment of the measures required to bring a building to a tolerable level of risk.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 25 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26685 by
Paul McLennan on 23 April 2024, whether it will define the term “large areas of
the façade” in relation to the statement “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”.
Answer
To explain the statement large areas of the façade reference is made to the current standards. The limitation to work which does not need to meet current standards and can be ‘no worse than existing’ sits under Type 25A to schedule 3 of the building regulations being Replacement of part of an external wall cladding system when the replacement is to make a minor repair. Minor repair is described as isolated repair or replacement of elements of cladding which are physically damaged or have degraded to the point that the element is no longer fit for its intended purpose. So, in that context, Where large areas of the façade are being remediated means any replacement of part of an external wall cladding system other than when the replacement is to make a minor repair. The term large areas of facade is not used within the SBA, with assessors directed to the building regulations in section 2.4 of the document.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 25 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government in what way the PAS 9980 code of practice has been “tailored to the Scottish context” it its Single Building Assessment Specification Document, beyond the acknowledgement of the tenure system in Scotland, and how this tailoring has been a “critical enabler in setting the standard”, in light of the letter to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee from the Minister for Housing on 8 March 2024.
Answer
The single building assessment technical specification was published on the 21st of June 2024 and provides detailed guidance to competent persons on how they should conduct a single building assessment (SBA) in Scotland. The SBA makes clear that the relevant benchmark guidance includes the PAS 9980, PAS 79-2 and the Benchmark criteria from the Scottish Domestic Technical Handbook. The competent person should have due regard to all of this guidance in undertaking the SBA report. The SBA sets out the need to conduct a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) and Fire Risk Appraisal of external walls (FRAEW). It also sets out templates and an approach that is relevant in Scotland. We engaged extensively with stakeholders across Scotland through the Task and Finish Group to develop the SBA technical specification and adopted the PAS 9980 standard as there is evidence that it is known and understood widely across the industry in Scotland. The objective of the assessment it to bring the building to a tolerable level of risk.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 25 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the approach taken by the PAS 9980 code of practice to considering financial or social factors would allow combustible façade material to remain in place on buildings above 11 metres in height in Scotland.
Answer
External wall assessors are expected to weigh all the appropriate evidence and apply their professional judgement in determining the extent to which external cladding requires to be removed from a particular building, with a view to achieving the overriding objective of bringing the building to a tolerable level of risk.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 25 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made regarding the level of
combustible façade material that will remain in situ on buildings in Scotland
following the introduction of the Single Building Assessment Specification
Document.
Answer
An estimate as to the level of combustible cladding that will remain on buildings will not be able to be calculated until all buildings with such cladding have undergone a Single Building Assessment (SBA) to understand their condition and remediation required. These include buildings that are developer led where we do not hold all information. The aim of the remediation works following an SBA will be to ensure a building reaches a tolerable level of risk.
