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-16569

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) large, (b) small and (c) medium developers are party to the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord.

The then Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government wrote to the Convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on 27 March 2023 stating that we had not, as yet, reached an agreement with Homes for Scotland and developers on the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord.

Discussions have been positive, and significantly, developers have accepted the principle of developer responsibility. However, developers want to apply a single approach to Building Standards across the UK even when remediating buildings in Scotland. We remain committed to seeking to secure an agreement and thereafter agreeing the legally binding contract to help safeguard residents and I would urge developers to reconsider their position. Developers must adhere to Scots law when operating in Scotland. This is not an issue on which we can compromise.

Question reference: S6T-01312

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional revenue it anticipates that local authorities would be able to raise, in light of its reported proposals to enable them to double council tax on second homes.

Question reference: S6W-16025

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) property registers held by Registers of Scotland and (b) other publicly available property registers for which it is responsible, use Unique Property Reference Numbers, and what information it has on whether the same of similar Unique Property Reference Numbers are used in the Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register.

Question reference: S6W-15861

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any Unique Property Reference Numbers, that are used in the property registers held by Registers of Scotland or any other publicly available property registers for which it is responsible, match across all of the registers, and what information it has on whether these numbers match with any Unique Property Reference Numbers used in the Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). She advises me that Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) are used in the following land and property registers held by RoS:

Land Register
Scottish Landlord Register
Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land

These registers use the same UPRN identifiers as the Scottish Energy Performance Certificate Register.

Entries held in the different registers can therefore be matched using the UPRN where it is available.

87% of titles in the Land Register have a UPRN.

95% of properties in the Scottish Landlord Register have a UPRN.

46% of land references in the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land have a UPRN.

Question reference: S6W-16062

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Accessible Housing and Independent Living Stakeholder Group was formed, and what its (a) membership and (b) remit is.

Invites to join our Accessible Housing and Independent Living Stakeholder group were sent in October 2022 and the group had a productive first meeting on 3 November 2022, giving constructive feedback to our Housing for Varying Needs review.

a) Membership of the group includes the following:

Age Scotland
Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers
Carers Trust
Care & Repair Scotland
Chartered Institute of Housing
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Disability Equality Scotland
Health and Care Directorate
Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living
Glasgow Disability Alliance
Hanover Housing Association
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Housing Options Scotland
Homes for Scotland
Housing Support Enabling Unit
Motor Neuron Disease Scotland
Our Positive Voice
Regional Networks Tenant Representatives
Royal College of Occupational Therapists
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
Scotland’s Housing Network
Scottish Association of Landlords
Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities
Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
Scottish Older People’s Assembly.

b) The Terms of Reference have yet to be agreed in detail by the group, but its purpose is to advise on the relevant commitments in the Scottish Government’s Housing to 2040 strategy document in relation to Housing for older people and disabled people.

Question reference: S6W-16047

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the date was of the planned March meeting of the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group, and whether it took place.

Question reference: S6W-16018

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-15581 by Humza Yousaf on 16 March 2023, in relation to the £193,000 funding, whether this was funding for (a) 2022-23 or (b) 2023-24; whether it meets all project costs for 2022-23, and whether it includes (i) revenue, (ii) capital and (iii) salary costs.

Question reference: S6W-15989

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11906 by Shona Robison on 18 November 2022, whether it will provide an update on the status of each of the recommendations, broken down by each action from the review in (a) October 2021 and (b) July 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15990

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to end any long shift patterns of its staff, in light of the findings of the article published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, Night shift work and risk of aggressive prostate cancer in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort.

The Scottish Government has reviewed the article Night shift work and risk of aggressive prostate cancer in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers (NOPW) cohort and notes its findings.

As an employer we adopt Fair Work practices and we take the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff very seriously including ensuring appropriate breaks and periods of rest and annual leave, as well as having a right to disconnect policy.

The typical working arrangements for staff in the Scottish Government is flexible working hours (within the hours of 7am to 7pm) with a full time working day equating to 7 hours 24 minutes.

Question reference: S6W-15804

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-14992 and S6W-14994 by Shona Robison on 7 March 2023, whether it will publish (a) the initial recommendations and (b) its response to Freedom of Information request FOI/202300342482, and what its reasons are for not doing so to date.

FOI/202300342482 asked for the interim recommendations of the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group, and the date these were received.

The response to FOI/202300342482, which included a copy of the interim recommendations, was issued to the requester on 7 March 2023 within the 20 working day timeframe. After completing the necessary pre-publication process, the FOI was published on the Scottish Government website on 16 March 2023 and can be accessed here .