Chamber and committees

In 2009-10, the core Energy Assistance Package (EAP) budget was £45.36 million and this included for installations by Scottish Gas and administration of EAP by EST, funding for Energy Action Scotland and the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum. This budget was fully spent.

Whilst some decisions have been taken about the allocation of the £57.2 million budget published in the draft budget 2011-12, further decisions remain to be finalised. Therefore, it is not possible at this stage to confirm which aspects of the draft budget will be affected by the proposed reduction between 2010-11 and 2011-12. Final budget decisions, of course will depend on the Parliament''s consideration of the 2011-12 Budget Bill.

There were 5,797 housing association houses completed in 2008 and 8,654 were completed in 2009. The figure for 2010 will be published on 23 February 2011. These figures include all Housing Association completions carried out through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) including new house building, off the shelf purchases and rehabilitations.

The figures are published on the Housing Statistics for Scotland web pages of the Scottish Government''s website.

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

There were 195 council houses completed in 2008 and 452 in 2009. The figure for 2010 will be published on 23 February 2011.

This information is published on the Housing Statistics for Scotland pages of the Scottish Government''s website at:

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

The reductions arise from the agreed profile of grant payments due to landlords which acquired housing stock transferred from local authorities; and from a reduction in the budget supporting the Energy Assistance Package, reflecting the reduction of almost 25% in the capital funding provided to the Scottish Government by the UK Government. Final budget decisions, of course will depend on Parliament''s consideration of the 2011-12 Budget Bill.

We will use the fund to encourage applications from all providers to increase new affordable housing supply as much as possible. Further details will be made available shortly. m

Houses procured under the National Housing Trust initiative form part of the programme of 6,000 affordable homes to be taken forward in 2011-12.

In short, yes. The Scottish Government''s guarantee to participating local authorities will last for 10 years from the date when each local authority lends funds to part finance the purchases of the National Housing Trust initiative homes. The guarantee will be discharged on the date when the local authority''s loan is repaid in full where that occurs before the end of the 10-year period.

Homes built under the National Housing Trust initiative will not become the property of the developers. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) for each site will own the homes as long as they remain available for rent under the initiative. The members of each SPV will be the relevant local authority, the developer and the Scottish Futures Trust. After five years, and prior to the end of 10 years, the developers will have the right to instigate the sale of the homes.

I wrote on 17 November 2010 to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and other key housing and regeneration stakeholders setting out the implications of the draft 2011-12 budget published that day. This correspondence explained that the provision in the draft budget of almost £400 million included, among other things, around £300 million allocated through current housing and regeneration programmes, as well as additional provision for investment in new affordable housing supply and other housing and regeneration priorities. By using our expenditure next year to lever in additional investment we expect to deliver over £600 million of investment in new affordable housing supply, helping to support around 7,500 jobs.