Chamber and committees

The rights of redress of tenants depend on tenure.

If occupants are private tenants, the landlord is expected to meet its duty to repair and maintain its properties as set out in the repairing standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. Private tenants can apply to the Private Rented Housing Panel for assistance if landlords fail to carry out repairs that are needed to meet the repairing standard.

If occupants are social tenants, the landlord is expected to meet its duty to repair and maintain property under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 and to ensure that property meets the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by April 2015. Social tenants have a right of complaint against their landlord to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

These rights apply to occupants of homes owned by the Scottish Government as they would for other landlords.

The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (‘the 2005 Act’) makes ‘public benefit’, which is a well-established concept in charity law, unlike ‘public interest’, a criterion of the charity test. Parliament has set out in section 8 of the 2005 Act, the matters that the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) must take into account in assessing whether a charity (or a body wishing to get charitable status) provides public benefit.

OSCR already has the power to review whether existing charities continue to meet the Charity test. Section 28 and section 30 of Chapter 4 of the 2005 Act provide OSCR with the power to make inquiries into a charity at any time and to remove any charity that no longer meets the charity test. An organisation that does not provide ‘public benefit’ will not meet the requirements of the charity test and will be removed from the register.

There are over 23,500 charities in Scotland. OSCR undertakes in depth reviews of a small number of charities in groups where there is a perceived likelihood of failing the charity test, and then disseminates the results effectively to other relevant charities. This is a proportionate and targeted approach, in line with regulatory principles.

We commissioned a report into the state of the properties which has informed us about the repairs which need to be done, and we are undertaking to start work in the very near future. On completion of the works the houses shall meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.

There is a central team in place that maintains a strategic overview of the Scottish Government’s estate.

To assist organisations with property data entry a pre-populated pro forma has been developed along with guidance in order to make the exercise as straightforward as possible, however it remains the responsibility of the public body organisation to populate the database as requested. This includes any dwellings they may have in their portfolio.

The accuracy and completeness of the property records is the responsibility of the public bodies in the wider Scottish Government estate, who contribute to the e-PIMS database.

Further to the answer to S4W-21656 there are different options available to Transport Scotland in the event that the Caledonian Sleeper Franchisee becomes unable to fulfil the terms of its contract.

The circumstances would be assessed at the time and one of the following options would be followed:

Step in as Operator of Last Resort through Transport Scotland and take on the franchise management

Negotiate with a suitably competent train operator to take over the franchise management

Transport Scotland has considered appropriate contingency plans and has established suitable shelf companies for use should the need arise for either franchise. These shelf companies are wholly owned by Scottish Ministers, and should they be needed, Boards to run these companies would be populated with suitably experienced and qualified directors. These companies would still be subject to the relevant franchise agreement of the franchisee they are replacing. They have been created and have been inactive but are ready to be used to perform the delivery functions of an operator of last resort.

We take very seriously the issue of the UK national minimum wage for staff paid both directly and indirectly by the Scottish Government.

As soon as we were alerted to this issue we wrote to Stephen Hammond MP, the UK Government Minister with responsibility for the maritime sector, asking him to close any legal loopholes that allow this situation to arise.

Employment law is a reserved matter for the UK Government, but we will continue to press for a means to improve this situation. Responsibility for payment and levels of the wages of the crew on the vessels concerned lies with Seatruck as the employer. However, Scottish Ministers will continue to press the matter as noted and our key aim is to ensure the affected workers on the vessels in question receive at least the minimum wage and that this is backdated to the start of the current charter arrangements.

The future of the ScotRail maintenance depot in Inverness is secure. The Scottish Government has specified that the new ScotRail franchisee must maintain the depot at Inverness. This is appropriate because the majority of work conducted at the depot is for ScotRail day train services. The depot will continue to conduct daily servicing of the Inverness portion of the Sleeper, and also work for the East Coast franchisee.

Further to the answer to question S4W-21657 the costs of the procurement, mobilisation and transition will be finalised after 31 March 2015 when the new Caledonian Sleeper Franchise begins. This information will be made available once it is finalised.

Further to the answer to S4W-21657 officials at Transport Scotland actively monitor these matters on a regular basis. Were there to be any actual conflicts identified, and if considered appropriate, the Scottish Government would inform Parliament.

Further to the answer to S4W-21652, Transport Scotland is responsible for checking ‘any profits above 7% of revenue’.