Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5F-01626

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2017

To be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5O-01347

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on people in Scotland of the UK Government's extended benefit cap.

Question reference: S5W-11851

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the next revision of the National Planning Framework.

As stated in our ‘Places, People and Planning – Position Statement’ (June 2017) Scottish Ministers expect to commence preparation of the next National Planning Framework (NPF4) in 2018, with a view to its adoption in 2020. We will prepare a more detailed programme for the preparation of NPF4 in due course, following further discussion with stakeholders. You can download the Position Statement from the Scottish Government’s website: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/.

Question reference: S5F-01566

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2017

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-11149

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has (a) internal and (b) commissioned legal advice on whether Scottish housing legislation and standards apply to asylum accommodation managed by Serco as part of its Compass contract with the Home Office and, if so, whether it will publish this advice.

Question reference: S5W-11151

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is lawful for evictions of asylum seekers from asylum accommodation managed by Serco as part of its Compass contract with the Home Office to proceed without any recourse to, or oversight by, a Scottish court, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-11148

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether and (b) for what reason the (i) repairing standard, (ii) tolerable standard, (iii) Scottish housing quality standard and (iv) Scottish social housing charter applies to asylum accommodation in Scotland managed by Serco as part of its Compass contract with the Home Office.

Provision of accommodation for asylum seekers is reserved by the Scotland Act 1998 to the UK Parliament. The tolerable standard applies to all housing in Scotland, other than mobile homes and temporary structures. The Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) applies to self-contained housing let under a secure tenancy. The repairing standard applies to housing let by a private landlord under an assured tenancy, under the new private residential tenancy introduced by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, and under some other types of tenancy.

The standard that would be provided for asylum accommodation in any particular case therefore depends on the whether the accommodation is owned by a private or registered social landlord. The Scottish Social Housing Charter sets the standards and outcomes that all social landlords should achieve for their tenants and other service users, and would apply if an asylum seeker received housing or services from a local authority or registered social landlord. The Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities has written to the UK Government to say that the Scottish Government believes that accommodation provided to asylum seekers in Scotland should meet SHQS.

Question reference: S5W-11150

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has shared with (a) Serco and (b) the Home Office any (i) internal and (ii) commissioned legal advice on whether Scottish housing legislation and standards apply to asylum accommodation managed by Serco as part of its Compass contract with the Home Office.

Provision of support for asylum seekers (including accommodation) is reserved by the Scotland Act 1998 to the UK Parliament.

Please also see response to S5W-11149 on 21 September 2017. It would be for Serco and the Home Office to take their own legal advice on these matters.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S5W-11147

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on any action, intervention or inquiries by the Scottish Housing Regulator since 2013-14 regarding registered social landlords who have provided asylum accommodation to Serco as part of its Compass contract with the Home Office.

Question reference: S5F-01537

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2017

Question to be taken in Chamber.