Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-05871

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 12 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what public sector contracts (a) it and (b) its agencies have awarded to (i) the Pennon Group and (ii) its subsidiary company, Viridor.

The Scottish Government and its agencies have spent sums with the Pennon Group through its subsidiary Viridor as detailed in the following table.

Authority Name	Financial Year	No. of Transactions	Value	Type of Service
Scottish Government	2013-14	1	£55.00
Historic Environment Scotland	2014-15	1	£1,530	Waste disposal
Scottish Government	2015-16	2	£400
Historic Environment Scotland	2015-16	1	£480

Question reference: S5W-05814

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) local authorities and (b) other organisations it has met to discuss the issue of rough sleeping.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with local authorities through meetings with the Housing Options Hubs. The Housing Options Hubs look at ways of preventing homelessness and enabling access to people’s widest housing options. Meetings concentrate on a range of areas, including the issue of rough sleeping. All 32 local authorities are a member of one of the Hubs.

The Scottish Government engages with other through the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG), COSLA, ALACHO, NHS Health Scotland, SOLACE, Shelter and Homeless Action Scotland are members of this group. Rough sleeping is discussed at these meetings as part of the HPSG workplan for 2016-17.

The Scottish Government is also working with its partners in areas such as Health and Social Services and with third sector organisations, including Glasgow Homelessness Network, to improve outcomes for homeless people who may need more support to access and stay in housing and to stop them becoming homeless again.

Question reference: S5W-05872

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) contractor, Interserve, and (b) operator, Viridor, regarding the locking-out of staff at the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Plant, and whether it will refer the matter to the Fair Work Convention.

Viridor has provided regular updates to the Scottish Government on the circumstances at the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) Project in Polmadie, Glasgow.

On, 15 November, Viridor advised Scottish Government that it was terminating its contract with Interserve due to repeated failures on the part of the contractor to meet project milestones. Viridor advises that Interserve was notified of this decision on
15 November, although the Scottish Government was not advised on whether Interserve subsequently notified its subcontractors. The First Minister spoke with senior management at Viridor on 15 November and was advised that the project will recommence as soon as possible, and that Viridor will look to retain employment opportunities in the local area.

Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) support has been offered to those affected. Viridor has stated that it expects most of the affected employees will be subject to a TUPE transfer to a new contractor early in 2017.

The Fair Work Convention is an independent advisory group and does not have a formal investigatory role or remit.

Question reference: S5W-05817

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a national strategy for the eradication of rough sleeping.

Scotland’s strong housing rights for homeless households mean that nobody should have to sleep rough. Local Authorities have the statutory duty for the delivery of housing and homelessness in their area. This includes addressing rough sleeping, taking account of local circumstances and priorities.

Homelessness statistics indicate that the number and proportion of homeless applicants in Scotland reporting that they had slept rough before applying has decreased year on year over the past five years. However, we recognise that some rough sleeping will result from more complex needs and we are working with partners in Health and the Third Sector to ensure we have better information on rough sleepers and their needs to help address this issue.

Addressing homelessness amongst those with multiple and complex needs is a key priority for the national Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group, which oversees homelessness in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-05819

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that there is a minimum number of places available for emergency accommodation for rough sleepers in each local authority.

Scotland’s strong housing rights for homeless households mean that nobody should have to sleep rough. Local Authorities have the statutory duty for the delivery of housing and homelessness services in their area. This includes the provision of emergency accommodation for those sleeping rough, taking account of local circumstances and priorities.

Homelessness statistics indicate that the number and proportion of homeless applicants in Scotland reporting that they had slept rough before applying has decreased year on year over the past five years. However, we recognise that some rough sleeping will result from more complex needs and we are working with partners in Health and the Third Sector to ensure we have better information on rough sleepers and their needs to help address this issue.

Question reference: S5W-05813

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a budget allocation to assist rough sleepers.

There is no specific budget allocated to assist rough sleepers. Local Authorities have the statutory responsibility for the delivery of housing and homelessness services in their area, including allocating budgets.

The local government finance settlement for 2016-17 amounts to over £10.3 billion. The vast majority of the revenue funding is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S5W-05816

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations it has met to discuss the issue of rough sleeping in Glasgow.

Question reference: S5W-05818

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of people who have been sleeping rough in each of the last three years.

The Scottish Government collect information on homeless households from Local Authorities. Local authorities ask homelessness applicants whether they have slept rough in the previous 3 months and if they slept rough the night before approaching the Council and this is recorded and published.

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
All applications for homelessness	36,824	35,949	34,662
where slept rough: at least once during the last 3 months	2,728	2,558	2,378
% of all applications	7%	7%	7%

where slept rough the night before	1,515	1,436	1,352
% of all applications	4%	4%	4%

Source: HL1 dataset as at 25/05/16

(http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables/Homelessness201516)

Question reference: S5F-00693

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2016

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the number of destitute people sleeping on Scotland’s streets this Christmas.

Question reference: S5W-05141

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure that the highest level of consumer protection is available to buyers of new-build homes.

The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK government. However, under the Scotland Act 2016 the Scottish Government has taken on responsibility for consumer advice and advocacy and in terms of Building Standards, local authorities are responsible for their own geographic area and undertake independent checks of building at design stage and construction stage. Following construction of new build homes the independent National House Building Council provide warranties and insurance for new homes and currently provide warranties for over seven million homes.

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