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: S6W-32132

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its latest estimate is of what the total cost of cladding remediation in Scotland will be, and what methodology it used to arrive at this figure.

The Cladding Remediation Programme is accelerating the pace of delivery now that we have put in place the essential building blocks, including the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which will be commenced on 6 January 2025.

As we finalise these acceleration plans, we are diligently working on cost estimates to ensure financial clarity. However, the Scottish Government’s position remains that we will invest as necessary to effectively minimise risks posed by unsafe cladding.

Our spending on remediation costs can only follow a full end to end process - checking buildings are in scope, commissioning a Single Building Assessment, completing that robust technical assessment, identifying the works that need to be carried out, designing those works and gaining the necessary approvals, and then carrying out the remediation itself.

Investment in the programme continues with £52.2 million allocated in the 2025-2026 Scottish Government budget to support delivery and acceleration.

Question reference: S6W-32133

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding the most recent estimate of the total government spend to date on cladding remediation.

Further to the answer to question S6W-31787 on 9 December 2024 the Scottish Government will continue to fund assessment and remediation where no linked developer can be identified. The level of financial support that will be needed is determined by the comprehensive SBA assessment. We continue to publish spend information for the programme which can be accessed here: Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-32134

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates will be raised for cladding remediation through developer contributions.

The Scottish Government has been clear that it will do what is right and necessary to fix the issue of unsafe cladding fully and from the outset. Developers have a key role to play in the assessment, risk mitigation and remediation of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding. We are working collaboratively with them to ensure a fair and proportionate approach to meeting the costs of cladding remediation.

We shared a draft Developer Remediation Contract on 24 September 2024 with the nine developers who signed the Developer Commitment Letter in 2023. The cost to developers who sign the legally binding contract will depend on how many, if any, buildings with potentially unsafe cladding they have developed, and the scale of remediation or mitigation required for each of those buildings following their assessment. Developers agreeing and signing the legally binding developer remediation contract will be a positive step to ensuring the safety of homeowners and residents in multi residential properties with unsafe cladding.

Additionally, this year’s Programme for Government announced that, subject to the devolution of the necessary powers, the Scottish Government intends to bring forward a Bill to establish a Building Safety Levy in Scotland to support the funding of the cladding remediation programme. As set out in the recent consultation on the Scottish Building Safety Levy, we estimate that this measure would seek to raise £30 million per annum.

Question reference: S6W-32131

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its latest estimate is of what the total cost will be of remediating buildings in Scotland found to contain unsafe reinforced aeriated autoclaved concrete (RAAC).

Question reference: S6O-04216

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding whether unused funds from energy efficiency area-based grant schemes could be reallocated, including to reduce fuel poverty in the coming financial year.

Question reference: S6O-04161

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve access to legal aid.

The Scottish Government remains committed to providing legal aid for a wide scope of actions. The draft Scottish Budget includes a proposed further investment of £14.2 million for the Legal Fund in 2025-26 which is an increase of 10% on this year’s budget (to £155.5 million).

Despite financial constraints, the Scottish Government continues to focus on building a more inclusive Scotland for all, investing in services and support that will help our communities during these difficult times.

Our budget, if passed by Parliament, will ensure that this government can continue to prioritise action to eradicate child poverty, protect our public services including improving access to legal aid and grow Scotland’s economy, while addressing the inequalities that many in our communities still face.

Question reference: S6W-32398

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its financial plans for the funding of NHS boards to implement the reconfiguration of neonatal services.

The Scottish Government recognises that funding will be required to support Boards to make the transition to a reformed maternity and neonatal service. We are continuing to provide transitional funding to Boards, as we have done for NHS GGC and NHS Lothian since 2019, with additional support for NHS Grampian now being included. This funding is focused on supporting Boards through the transition process.

We have been working with the regional implementation leads on development of plans for implementation to include a business case (or equivalent operational financial plan) with costs, with the expectation that a phased transition to the new model will begin in the new year.

To date, we have provided over £30 million of funding to NHS Boards to support implementation of the Best Start recommendations, and we are currently looking at future funding for maternity services in the next financial year.

Question reference: S6W-32070

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people graduated from the BSc Paramedic Science course in Scotland in each of the last five academic years, also broken down by academic institution.

The BSc Paramedic Science course launched in 2020 with the first cohort of paramedic students graduating in 2023, and the most recent cohort graduating in September 2024. Data for the last five academic years is therefore not available as only two cohorts have completed the three-year degree programme. Data for the 2020 intake who graduated in 2023 is the only publicly available data at this time and this is outlined in the following table:

HEI	Named degree	No. of graduates from Annual Year intake 2020
Robert Gordon University	BSc Paramedic Practice	56
Glasgow Caledonian University	BSc Paramedic Science	44
University of Stirling	BSc Paramedic Science	36
University of West of Scotland	BSc Paramedic Science	40
Queen Margaret University	BSc Paramedic Science	46
TOTAL		222

Question reference: S6W-32098

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) placements were available and (b) people (i) applied, (ii) were accepted and (iii) had their initial acceptance withdrawn for a Newly Qualified Paramedic (NQP) induction course place in Scotland in each of the last five calendar years, also broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S6W-32145

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Out-turn report for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme between 2022 and 2024 will be published

The Out-turn report for the 2022-23 Affordable Housing Supply Programme will be published early in the New Year. The 2023-24 out-turn report is still in progress and we do not, at present, have an identified publication date.

Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These figures relate to the number of approvals, site starts, and completions of homes. They can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/

Other Affordable housing programme data is also available on our webpage Affordable Housing Supply Programme - More homes - gov.scot