- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 7 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allocate funding to support any bid by Inverclyde Council to upgrade its school estate under any of the PPP models which it is supporting in other local authority areas.
Answer
We have advised InverclydeCouncil that the invitation to submit a business case in response to theindicative offer of revenue support we made last year for a public privatepartnership project of the order of £80 million remains open. The Executivecurrently supports only one public private partnership model, but is evaluatinga variation of that model which is being piloted by Argyll and Bute Council.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 5 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release on affordable housing in rural Scotland on 7 October 2003, whether it will identify all areas designated as "pressured areas" under the powers given to local authorities to restrict right to buy sales of housing stock.
Answer
No applications by localauthorities to designate pressured areas under the Housing (Scotland)Act 2001 have so far been received.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 4 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2780 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 30 September 2003, what the current estimate is of the transfer valuation of Western Isles and Argyll and Bute Councils' housing stock; why the proposed stock transfer of Shetland Council's housing stock is no longer under consideration, and whether it, or Communities Scotland, is actively discussing with Shetland Council alternative models to promote new and improved housing in Shetland.
Answer
The independent valuationsof the council housing stock in Western Isles and Argyll and Bute have notbeen finalised and it would not be appropriate to provide an estimate of thevalue at this stage.
Shetland Islands Council andShetland Homes issued a joint statement in September 2002 indicating that theydid not wish to progress the stock transfer that they had been pursuing at thattime. Discussions are continuing between the Executive and Communities Scotlandand the council regarding the future of its housing stock.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 4 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2552 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 25 September 2003, where the housing being proposed for transfer is located and how many houses are involved; whether agreement has been reached on the valuation for transfer of each of these local authorities' stock, and whether agreement has been achieved in each case about initiating a ballot to approve the transfers.
Answer
The information requested isas follows:
| Council | Location | Estimated Number of Houses | Ballot |
| East Dunbartonshire | Hillhead | 1,000 | Successful ballot achieved |
| Edinburgh | Craigmillar | 190 | Successful ballot achieved |
| Fife | Abbeyview, Dysart, Lochgelly, Buckhaven and Methil, Lower Methil, | 5,530 | Ballot date to be agreed |
The final transfer price hasyet to be agreed in all these transfers.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs to NHS Argyll and Clyde were of ministerial intervention in the board in 2002 and, given the deficit facing NHS Argyll and Clyde, whether it will take responsibility for any costs arising from its intervention.
Answer
NHS Argyll and Clyde hasassessed the full costs of intervention as being £300,000. The costs were metby NHS Argyll and Clyde with a contribution of £147,000 from the HealthDepartment.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 3 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have submitted local housing system analysis returns to Scottish Homes or Communities Scotland in each of the last three years; which returns identified (a) housing needs figures due to household formation, (b) unmet need among existing households and (c) particular housing needs and, in each case, what shortfalls were identified by local authorities.
Answer
There is no statutory requirementfor local authorities to either undertake a local housing system analysis or tosubmit a return to Communities Scotland. As such the information requested isnot collected by Communities Scotland.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to submit local housingstrategies to the Scottish Executive when required to do so by Scottish ministers.The Minister for Communities has asked for these to be submitted by April 2004.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 3 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into (a) changing patterns of licences granted under legislation subsequent to the Clayson report and (b) any correlation between changes in the licensing regime and increasing levels of alcohol abuse and alcohol-related disease during the 1990s.
Answer
There has been no researchcommissioned on those topics.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 3 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will identify (a) new registered social landlords (RSLs), (b) new RSLs formed from merged RSLs and (c) social landlords who have been de-registered for any reason other than merger since the enactment of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.
Answer
I have asked Ms Angiolina Foster, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
The following RegisteredSocial Landlords (RSLs) have been registered since the enactment of the Housing(Scotland) Act 2001: Balmore Housing Association; Capital City Homes;Castlemilk Tenants Housing Association; Dumfries and Galloway HousingPartnership; Glasgow Housing Association; Great Western Tenant Partnership;Homes for Life Housing Partnership; Hillhead Housing Association 2000; NewShaws Housing Organisation; Port Glasgow Housing Association; Scottish Borders HousingAssociation; Tenant Controlled Housing; Tenant Managed Homes (Drumchapel); TheMoray Housing Partnership; Waverley Housing; West Lothian Housing Partnership.
The following new RSLs havebeen formed from merged RSLs since the enactment of the Housing (Scotland)Act 2001: Oak Tree Housing Association; Fyne Homes; Spire View HousingAssociation, Ayrshire Housing.
The following RSLs have beenderegistered for reasons other than merger since the enactment of the Housing (Scotland)Act 2001: Abbeyfield Strathgryffe Society; Grampian (Southern) Housing Society.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 3 November 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the evidence given by Mr Andy Kerr to the Finance Committee on 30 September 2003, why the #53 million end year flexibility (EYF) from the Communities portfolio was not returned to Communities Scotland for the development of affordable housing.
Answer
The Communities portfolioreceived an allocation of £25 million end year flexibility in 2003-04, whichmet requirements across the portfolio. The EYF allocation was less than theunderspend because the Treasury agreement to meet debt breakage costs followinghousing transfers freed up resources in the Communities budget which were nottherefore required.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for West of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 21 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release on affordable housing in rural Scotland on 7 October 2003, whether the additional funding for Communities Scotland's development programme for housing in rural areas has been allocated only for housing in the Highlands and Islands local authority areas; whether it will identify other local authority areas where approved developers will be permitted to bid for these additional resources, and whether these resources will be ring-fenced for allocation solely to areas within local authorities defined as rural.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Herresponse is as follows:
The new funding will beavailable to support affordable housing projects in all rural areas in Scotlandsuffering acute shortages of affordable housing. The funding will be ringfenced within the Communities Scotland development programme specifically forinvestment in those areas.
