Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-22045

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people it expects to benefit under the Energy Assistance Package who qualify due to having a child under 16 who has been awarded a disability living allowance within the meaning of section 71 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992.

All households are encouraged to contact the Energy Assistance Package freephone number - 0800 512012 - to see if they can benefit from energy efficiency advice, an income maximisation check, a tariffs check, standard CERT insulation measures or more enhanced energy efficiency measures under Stage 4. From the Scottish House Condition Survey, it is estimated that there are around 2,000 households living in energy inefficient homes and with a disabled child under 16 that will qualify for Stage 4 measures, though it should be noted that this estimate is based on a relatively small survey sample for these household types.

Question reference: S3W-22046

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated how many pensioners will no longer qualify for free central heating after 1 April 2009 due to their not being eligible for the guarantee credit as mentioned in section 1 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002.

As the eligibility for the new Energy Assistance Package focuses on energy inefficient homes, whereas eligibility for the old Central Heating Programme focussed on inefficient or broken heating systems only, it is not possible to readily compare. All households are encouraged to contact the Energy Assistance Package freephone number - 0800 512012 - to see if they can benefit from energy efficiency advice, an income maximisation check, a tariffs check, standard CERT insulation measures or more enhanced energy efficiency measures under Stage 4.

From the Scottish House Condition Survey, it is estimated that there are around 71,000 pensioner households that will qualify for Stage 4 measures. Of these, 15,000 are estimated to have never had central heating, 29,000 are expected to be aged over 75 and in energy inefficient homes, and 27,000 are aged between 60 and 74, in energy inefficient homes and are on one of a range of eligible benefits including the guarantee element of pension credit, attendance allowance or disability living allowance.

Question reference: S3W-22044

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people it expects to benefit under the Energy Assistance Package who qualify due to having a child under five and being in receipt of child tax credits or working tax credit under the Tax Credits Act 2002 where the relevant income is less than £17,474.

All households are encouraged to contact the Energy Assistance Package freephone number - 0800 512012 - to see if they can benefit from energy efficiency advice, an income maximisation check, a tariffs check, standard CERT insulation measures or more enhanced energy efficiency measures under Stage 4.

From the Scottish House Condition Survey, it is estimated that there are around 6,000 households in an energy inefficient home, with a child aged under five and on one of a range of eligible benefits, including child tax credits, working tax credits, attendance allowance or disability living allowance, though it should be noted that this estimate is based on a relatively small survey sample for these household types.

Question reference: S3O-06405

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent meetings ministers have had with representatives of NFU Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-21814

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 20 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of houses completed by housing associations in the first three quarters of 2008 was 29% less than in the equivalent period in 2007.

Only provisional data is currently available for the second and third quarters of 2008 (Q2 and Q3 2008). On the basis of these provisional estimates, the number of new build completions by housing associations in Q1-Q3 2008 (January to September 2008) was 2,041. This provisional estimate is 29% lower than the figure for new build completions in Q1-Q3 2007 (January to September 2007). This reduction should be interpreted with care.

Recent experience suggests that the provisional estimates for the second and third quarter of 2008 are likely to be revised significantly upwards as more complete data become available. For example, data for Q2, Q3 and Q4 2007 were revised upwards by 21%, 16% and 51% respectively between the time they were first published and their final revision at the end of the financial year.

Question reference: S3O-06220

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2009
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 12 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what its priorities are for improving cultural opportunities for people across Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-20925

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made towards its target of building 21,500 affordable homes by 2011.

Question reference: S3W-20916

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the housing allocations for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10, broken down by local authority.

The Affordable Housing Investment Programme allocations for 2009-10 were announced at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference on 10 March in Aberdeen and are available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip/ahip-2009-10/.

They are shown here for ease of reference and include comparisons with 2007-08 and 2008-09 allocations.

Affordable Housing Investment Programme 2009-10

Planned Expenditure by Local Authority 2009-10

Local Authority Area/ Programme	2007-08 Original Approved Programme			2008-09 Original Approved Programme			2009-10 Planned Programme
	Core Programme	Top-Sliced	Total	Core Programme	Top-Sliced	Total	Core Programme	Top-Sliced	Total
	£m	£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
North
Highland	29.225	7.100	36.325	26.620	0.500	27.120	32.125	0	32.125
Orkney	5.904	0.096	6.000	5.033	0	5.033	7.904	0	7.904
Shetland	3.800	0	3.800	2.640	0	2.640	3.800	0	3.800
Western Isles	5.175	1.325	6.500	2.855	1.275	4.130	3.089	3.586	6.675
Aberdeenshire	14.708	1.800	16.508	19.637	0	19.637	14.708	0	14.708
City of Aberdeen	6.767	0	6.767	3.922	0	3.922	6.767	0	6.767
Moray	9.525	0	9.525	6.372	0	6.372	12.525	0	12.525
Total “ North	75.104	10.321	85.425	67.079	1.775	68.854	80.918	3.586	84.504
East
Angus	4.798	0.916	5.714	3.890	0	3.890	4.798	0	4.798
City of Dundee	10.000	2.250	12.250	7.766	0	7.766	10.000	0	10.000
Perth and Kinross	14.000	1.270	15.270	10.886	0	10.886	15.500	0	15.500
Clackmannanshire	2.800	0.700	3.500	2.150	0	2.150	4.800	0	4.800
Falkirk	5.000	2.366	7.366	3.866	0	3.866	8.000	0	8.000
Stirling	4.500	6.224	10.724	3.476	0	3.476	7.300	0	7.300
East Lothian	4.900	0.700	5.600	4.400	0	4.400	7.900	0	7.900
Fife	16.945	4.600	21.545	13.133	0	13.133	16.945	0	16.945
Midlothian	3.700	0.880	4.580	3.400	0	3.400	5.200	0	5.200
The Scottish Borders	7.200	0	7.200	5.600	0	5.600	7.200	0	7.200
West Lothian	8.500	1.720	10.220	6.600	0	6.600	10.000	0	10.000
City of Edinburgh	31.100	5.000	36.100	36.100	0	36.100	41.500	0	41.500
Total - East	113.443	26.626	140.069	101.267	0	101.267	139.143	0	139.143

Local Authority Area/ Programme	2007-08 Original Approved Programme			2008-09 Original Approved Programme			2009-10 Planned Programme
	Core Programme	Top-Sliced	Total	Core Programme	Top-Sliced	Total	Core Programme	Top-Sliced	Total
	£m	£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
West
Dumfries and Galloway	12.767	0	12.767	9.700	0	9.700	14.267	0	14.267
East Ayrshire	8.933	2.600	11.533	7.000	0	7.000	8.933	0	8.933
North Ayrshire	7.681	2.600	10.281	6.640	0	6.640	7.681	0	7.681
North Lanarkshire	17.661	6.300	23.961	14.600	0	14.600	17.661	0	17.661
South Ayrshire	5.183	1.491	6.674	6.300	0	6.300	6.683	0	6.683
South Lanarkshire	16.334	2.950	19.284	15.300	0	15.300	17.934	0	17.934
Argyll and Bute	11.175	6.500	17.675	8.757	6.000	14.757	12.675	12.000	24.675
West Dunbartonshire	10.350	0	10.350	7.835	0	7.835	10.350	0	10.350
East Dunbartonshire	4.950	0.850	5.800	4.386	1.000	5.386	7.950	0	7.950
Inverclyde	11.000	12.565	23.565	7.057	12.223	19.280	11.000	23.500	34.500
Renfrewshire	14.600	2.496	17.096	11.910	0.600	12.510	14.600	0	14.600
East Renfrewshire	3.925	0.850	4.775	3.271	0	3.271	5.425	0	5.425
Glasgow	78.500	4.500	83.000	78.000	5.000	83.000	78.000	5.000	83.000
Glasgow Housing Association	0	68.400	68.400	0	79.300	79.300	0	77.700	77.700
Total West	203.059	112.102	315.161	180.756	104.123	284.879	213.159	118.200	331.359
Strategic Land Acquisition (Edinburgh)							0	8.000	8.000
Open Market Shared Equity Pilot	0	30.000	30.000	0	24.000	24.000	0	60.000	60.000
Mortgage to Rent	0	10.000	10.000	0	10.000	10.000	0	20.000	20.000
AHIP Support Costs	0	3.836	3.836	0	4.000	4.000	0	1.000	1.000
Total	391.606	192.885	584.491	349.102	143.898	493.000*	433.220	210.786	644.006

Note: *2008-09 planned programme excludes the accelerated £40 million, 2009-10 planned programme includes £80 million accelerated funding.

Question reference: S3W-21003

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 10 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive which section of the Scottish Government will oversee the allocation of the Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

Question reference: S3W-20922

Asked by: Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 10 March 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that local authorities have support systems in place for householders facing repossession.

From 1 April 2009, under section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003, lenders will be required to inform the relevant local authority when they call in a mortgage or take court action for repossession. This will give authorities early notice of households who might be at risk of homelessness and allow them to provide appropriate advice and assistance. We are also developing new guidance for local authorities on prevention of homelessness which will be published by the end of March. The 1 April implementation date for the introduction of section 11, and the guidance on prevention, have both been agreed with COSLA to ensure that local authorities are appropriately prepared.

In addition, mortgage rescue schemes (Mortgage to Rent and Mortgage to Shared Equity) are operated nationally by the Scottish Government under the £35 million Home Owners Support Fund. Scottish local authorities with social landlord functions may participate in Mortgage to Rent, purchasing homes from people eligible for the scheme and providing a tenancy in return.

Chamber and committees