Chamber and committees

The Cycle Innovation Plan is updated annually. The document is currently with the members who attend the ScotRail Cycle Forum for comment before being published in June.

No additional shower facilities have been installed since Abellio won the ScotRail franchise in 2015. However, the major stations Aberdeen, Edinburgh Waverley, Fort William, Glasgow Central (High Level) and Inverness all have shower facilities.

Transport Scotland meet ScotRail every four weeks to review, monitor and challenge the franchise obligations related to cycling, and this includes the proposals contained in the Cycle Innovation Plan.

ScotRail’s Cycle Forum meets three times a year with the frequency approved by the members.

Information on the number of tenement buildings that have been demolished as a result of falling in to disrepair is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Estimates of the total number of demolitions in Scotland are published each year by the Scottish Government in Housing Statistics for Scotland web tables, available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/ConDem.

Responsibility for maintaining tenements is principally the responsibility of the owners. The management and maintenance of tenements is usually governed by rules and conditions set out in the title deeds for the flats within the block. The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a structure, known as the Tenement Management Scheme (“the TMS”), for the maintenance and management of tenements. The TMS only applies if the title deeds do not make other arrangements or if they are defective. The TMS contains provision for majority decision making on a range of issues, including repairs.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 gave local authorities discretionary powers to require owners to carry out work on substandard houses and to provide assistance with repairs and improvements to private property. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 amended these powers to make them more effective in response to consultation with local authorities and other stakeholders, including new provisions to allow local authorities to pay missing shares for work agreed by a majority of owners in a tenement. In January 2017, the Scottish Government launched an area-based pilot of an equity loan scheme to assist owners to carry out essential repairs and energy efficiency improvements, which could facilitate common repairs in tenements.

Homelessness legislation sets out the requirements on local authorities to ensure a homeless person can access accommodation in a timely matter.

The local authority has a legal duty to provide a minimum of temporary accommodation and advice and assistance to all those it finds to be homeless or threatened with homelessness. If the household is unintentionally homeless, it is entitled to settled accommodation. Additionally, the statutory Code of Guidance on Homelessness supports local authorities in their implementation of these legislative requirements.

Homelessness legislation sets out the steps local authorities must take on receiving a homelessness application. This includes the applicant’s right to a review of any decision by the local authority.

The statutory Code of Guidance on Homelessness, to which local authorities must have regard, also makes clear the individual’s right to make a homelessness application. This is further outlined in the non statutory Housing Options Guidance, published last year and which is currently being reviewed.

The Scottish Housing Regulator also plays a role in reviewing and providing feedback on local authorities’ practice regarding homelessness applications.

Statistical information on the operation of housing options approaches is collected by local authorities (Prevent 1) and published by the Scottish Government. This and the HL1 statistics on homelessness applications provide ways that the operation of the approach can be measured.

However, we also ensure that statistical information is underpinned by regular engagement and sharing of best practice on homelessness prevention between the Scottish Government, Housing Option Hubs, other partners and homeless people themselves to help measure progress.

Data on average time spent in temporary accommodation is not currently available.

From 1 April 2016, Local Authorities began submitting household level data on temporary accommodation via the HL3 return to the Scottish Government.

This data gives placement level information on temporary accommodation and will enable analysis of the time spent in temporary accommodation. Once the data quality has been assured this data will be used to monitor and publish information on the use of temporary accommodation.