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: S6W-01700

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the cases considered by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber were found in favour of the (a) complainant and (b) property factor since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-01694

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have been challenged in the Sheriff Court, and, of those challenges, how many were successfully challenged by property factors.

Question reference: S6W-01702

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factor enforcement orders have been made against property factors by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber in each year since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-01231

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the performance of Circularity Scotland as the administrator of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-01219

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the implications of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 on the Deposit Return Scheme.

The UK Internal Market Act was imposed on the rest of the UK by the UK Government, despite the refusal of consent from the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, and poses a direct threat to Scotland’s ability to exercise devolved decision-making across a wide range of devolved policy areas including environmental policy.

We are currently analysing the text of the Act to understand how it could interact with Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-01599

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen the regulation of building standards for new-build residential developments.

The Building Standards Futures Board was established in 2019 to provide guidance and direction on the development and implementation of recommendations made by the Compliance and Enforcement and Fire Safety Review Panels.

The Futures Board covers a number of work streams, one of which (Compliance Plan Approach) aims to reduce the risk of non-compliance with the building regulations for all building types including new-build residential developments.

Scottish Government has recently strengthened guidance on the roles and responsibilities of any person undertaking new building work. The Building Standards Procedural Handbook, published on 1 October 2019, emphasises the importance of regular and effective communication and partnership working to improve compliance with building regulations. It also recommends the use of more formal customer agreements and pre-warrant discussions between the applicant and verifier to discuss all the key aspects of design, and the importance of carrying out safety checks on critical design elements during construction.

We intend to consult on further proposals to strengthen the building standards system and reduce the risk of non-compliance in late summer/autumn 2021.

Question reference: S6W-01698

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints against property factors have been brought to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber in each year since 2011, and, of these, how many were brought as a result of the property factor failing to (a) carry out their duties and (b) comply with the standards in the Code of Conduct (section 17(1) of the 2011 Act).

Question reference: S6W-01297

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has plans to require dog walking businesses to be licensed.

Professional dog walkers, like dog owners, are subject to a number of laws relating to dog welfare and control. The majority of dog walkers are likely to operate sensibly and responsibly; however, the profession itself is currently unregulated and the Scottish Government recognises that issues may arise. We will consider whether there may be a need to bring dog walkers under tighter regulation in any future plans for companion welfare legislation.

Question reference: S6W-01294

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 21 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have a Saltire+1 national entitlement card; how much the scheme costs to operate each year, and who is responsible for funding it.

As of June 2021, there are 114,738 registered companion (+1) cardholders eligible to access the Scotland-Wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People (the Scheme).

The Scheme is administered by Transport Scotland on behalf on the Scottish Government. In 2019-20 the cost of the Scheme was around £215 million. We have used figures for 2019-20 as this is the most recent pre-covid financial year where typical journey numbers have been undertaken.

Question reference: S6W-01296

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 21 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that holders of Saltire+1 entitlement cards can book discounted travel for their companions online.

Under the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People, a holder of a +1 National Entitlement Card is entitled to free bus travel for themselves and a companion travelling together with them for the same journey on local registered and long distance scheduled bus journeys throughout Scotland. Booking arrangements generally only apply to longer distance scheduled bus services and are the responsibility of the bus operator.