Chamber and committees

The local authorities that have been successful in applying for additional funding for building houses in the first two rounds of Scottish Government''s Council House New Build programme are published here:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/16342/housebuilding/allocations1209.

The answer to the question S3W-29984 on 11 January 2010 provides information on the housing debts of each of these (and the remaining) authorities.

In their applications for new build funding, local authorities were asked how much borrowing in addition to other sources of funding they expected to undertake if their bid was approved in total. Not all bids were accepted in total and therefore it is not possible to give an exact figure for how much additional borrowing will be required for new build following any changes to financial plans. Changes in rent levels, operating costs, interest rates, capital asset sales as well as whether the cost of construction comes in on budget, will all affect the amount that ultimately needs to be borrowed. Taking into account these qualifications, rounds 1 and 2 of the council new build programme may require additional local authority borrowing in the region of £200 million across the 22 local authorities that were successful in one or both of the rounds.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Audit Scotland audits local authorities on behalf of the Accounts Commission. The audit of best value provides independent assurance on whether local authorities manage their finances and resources efficiently and effectively. I understand that Audit Scotland has no special plans to examine the housing debt of local authorities beyond the scope of its normal audit work.

The Scottish Government''s recent consultation on an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland, which closed on 5 January 2010, welcomed views on any energy saving scheme, including potential incentives to replace inefficient boilers. We will now analyse responses to the consultation and develop the final action plan, which will be published in the spring.

Our £2 million Energy Saving Scotland Home Loans pathfinder initiative is already providing interest-free loans to help Scottish householders upgrade to a more energy efficient boiler. We are also providing free or discounted boilers to thousands of households through the Energy Assistance Package, aimed at tackling the causes of fuel poverty and backed by £60 million this financial year.

The subject of boiler scrappage schemes is to be included on the agenda of the next meeting of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum on 26 January 2010.

Information on the number of eviction actions raised and outcomes reached in each housing association in Scotland is published online annually by the Scottish Housing Regulator, as part of their statistical tables which can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_statisticstables2008-09.hcsp#TopOfPage.

The number of evictions carried out by each housing association in 2008-09 can be found in the spreadsheet A10a: Evictions by peer group on the sheet 2008-09. This lists both those where vacant possession was obtained and technical evictions where the tenant was reinstated at the same property following eviction.

(a) In 2006-07, there were 1,807 evictions carried out by social landlords. One thousand and fifty five of these were against local authority tenants and 752 against housing association tenants. There were an additional 368 technical evictions by housing associations where a new post-decree tenancy was granted.

(b) In 2007-08, there were 2,152 evictions carried out by social landlords. One thousand, two hundred and twenty one of these were against local authority tenants and 931 against housing association tenants. There were an additional 510 technical evictions by housing associations where a new post-decree tenancy was granted.

(c) In 2008-09, there were 1,790 evictions carried out by social landlords. Eight hundred and ninety six of these were against local authority tenants and 894 against housing association tenants. There were an additional 490 technical evictions by housing associations where a new post-decree tenancy was granted.

Information on the number of eviction actions raised and outcomes reached in each local authority is published online annually as part of the statistical publication Housing Statistics for Scotland “ Evictions, which can be accessed using the following link:

 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/Evictions.

The number of evictions carried out by each local authority in 2008-09 can be found in the spreadsheet Evictions of local authority tenants. This is presented in the time series tsEvictionsFinyear and in the table TblLADetail by selecting the year 2008-09.

The Scottish Government is exploring possible options, considering the potential scope and role for a housing investment bank and sounding out stakeholders.

The detail and timescales for the new data collection will be determined following the completion of the work of the joint working group referred to in my replies to question S3W-20924 and the related answers to questions S3W-26591, S3W-26592 and S3W-26593 on 10 September 2009. The group met for the first time in December 2009 and it is envisaged that it will meet between three and four more times before completing its remit. Papers for the working group and minutes of the working group meetings will be published on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/SurveySupportingPeople.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

We do not have separate funding streams for insulation and central heating. The Managing Agent sub-contracts the delivery of the appropriate measures for each household, which often comprises a package of measures such as a heating system, insulation, and draughtproofing. The managing agent bills Scottish Government for the package of measures delivered to each household.