Chamber and committees

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: S6F-03736

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address concerns regarding waiting times in A&E departments, following reports of a mother having to wait 50 hours for medical care at University Hospital Wishaw.

Question reference: S6W-33204

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

The figures requested are as follows:

1. In the 2021-22 financial year, there were 12,912 unclaimed deposits, totalling a value of £3,306,695.

2. In the 2022-23 financial year, there were 13,900 unclaimed deposits, totalling a value of £3,660,948.

3. In the 2023-24 financial year, there were 20,197 unclaimed deposits, totalling a value of £5,419,255.

In reference to the increase of number and value of unclaimed tenancy deposits in recent years, Scottish Government received notification from one of the schemes in August 2023 explaining that they had reviewed the criteria used to report on unclaimed deposits. This resulted in a fluctuation in their figures with a corresponding increase in the total unclaimed deposit value pool amongst the three schemes.

Each of the three schemes may calculate unclaimed deposits differently, as an unclaimed deposit is not currently defined in law. Provisions within the Housing (Scotland) Bill will create a legal definition of when a tenancy deposit can be considered unclaimed, ensuring there is consistency in all three schemes figures if the Bill is approved.

Question reference: S6W-33211

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many children under 16 are currently living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or below.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the occupied domestic housing stock in each survey year, including energy efficiency ratings and household composition.

In 2022, using data from the SHCS it is estimated that approximately 120,000 children under 16 were living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower (under the SAP2012 v9.93 methodology).

This ought to be considered as an approximate estimate as the SHCS survey methodology is not aligned with more robust population estimates by age, from sources such as the Population Census, instead the SHCS methodology focuses on alignment by household numbers and different types of dwellings.

Question reference: S6W-33205

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many unclaimed tenancy deposits there were as of 1 January 2025.

Question reference: S6W-33212

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many individuals are currently living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or below.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the occupied domestic housing stock in each survey year, including energy efficiency ratings and household composition..

In 2022 using data from the SHCS it is estimated that approximately 690,000 individuals were living in rented accommodation with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower (under the SAP2012 v9.93 methodology).

This ought to be considered as an approximate estimate as the SHCS survey methodology is not aligned with more robust population estimates from sources such as the Population Census, instead the SHCS methodology focuses on alignment by household numbers and by different types of dwellings.

Question reference: S6W-33206

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many unclaimed tenancy deposits there were as of 6 April 2024.

Question reference: S6W-33192

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of the average cost to upgrade social housing to an energy performance certificate (EPC) C rating from a rating of (a) D, (b) E and (c) F.

Analysis has not been carried out to estimate average cost to upgrade social housing to an EPC C rating from a rating of (a) D, (b) E and (c) F. The findings from the Scottish Household Condition Survey in 2022 estimated that the majority of Social Rented Sector dwellings (66%) are already at EPC C or better.

Modelling undertaken for the Scottish Government indicates that an estimated average cost for social rented sector dwellings to reach the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) target of EPC C or D would be around £2,400 per dwelling in 2020 prices. The modelling methodology is available here: Supporting documents - Tackling fuel poverty in Scotland: a strategic approach - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government is working to develop an improved EPC rating system to give consumers better information including on the actual fabric energy efficiency of their building, and on potential improvements they could make.

We are committed to supporting social landlords with these costs, for example through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund to support the deployment of clean heating and energy efficiency measures for those seeking to retrofit their existing housing stock.

Question reference: S6W-32253

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the buildings that have been identified as having unsafe cladding to date have had work commenced to remove such cladding.

We can currently only provide information on mitigations or remediation works that we have funded for entries to the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Developers or other organisations may have carried out such works on other buildings without informing us.

We have funded work to remediate the external wall cladding system of one pilot entry. We have recently commissioned a Single Building Assessment to confirm that all works have been identified and completed.

Works to mitigate or remediate risks have also started for another five pilot entries. In this context, ‘work’ refers to any action taken to address known cladding related risks. This includes what are described as ‘Urgent Interim Measures’.

We have also commissioned Single Building Assessments for 13 pilot entries. This is made up of 12 recently commissioned following an Invitation To Tender (including the one noted above), and another that has now reached the reporting stage. We are fully funding these assessments at no cost to homeowners or residents.

Question reference: S6O-04213

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what additional measures will be introduced to support rural housing providers to achieve the net zero emissions target by decarbonising social housing.

Question reference: S6W-32254

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) members of the public and (b) organisations have notified it or its relevant public bodies of unsafe cladding on their buildings in each month since January 2019.

The Scottish Government takes the safety of buildings very seriously and works closely with members of the public and organisations to address concerns about cladding. Since January 2019, notifications regarding potentially unsafe cladding have been received on an ongoing basis. These have been managed in collaboration with relevant public bodies to ensure appropriate actions are taken. The Government continues to prioritise public safety and supports affected parties in addressing these issues.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries in the pilot can comprise a single block or building, or a development, or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings.

We are aware that pilot assessments have been undertaken for 30 of the pilot entries. A pilot assessment includes any assessment carried out prior to the publication of the Single Building Assessment specification on the 21 June 2024. These numbers relate to known pilot assessments only as developers, home owners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government and therefore the true numbers may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Pilot works to mitigate or remediate risks have started for five of the pilot entries. Works in this context refers to any action taken to address known cladding-related risks, including Urgent Interim Measures. These numbers relate to known works on a pilot entry only, as developers or other organisations could have carried out works without informing the Scottish Government, and therefore the true numbers may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.