- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) outturn has been for the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) in each year since 2016.
Answer
The Scottish Government budget and outturn for the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) in each year since 2016 is in the following table:
| | SG Budget First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) | Budget Outturn |
2016-17 | Information not held | 995,376 |
2017-18 | 1,796,000 | 1762411 |
2018-19 | 4,333,000 | 3,147,000 |
2019-20 | 3,494,000 | 4,219,000 |
2020-21 | 3,494,000 | 3,694,000 |
2021-22 | 3,494,000 | 3,848,000 |
These figures are for the Scottish Government budget which part funds the costs of the First Tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber.
The First Tier Tribunal is an independent judicial body. As such, information on operational costs are held by the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the average day rate is of the contractors in its Cladding Remediation Unit.
Answer
For the year 2022 to date the average day rate is £505.03 (inclusive of VAT).
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 80 unique blocks that submitted an expression of interest in the single building assessment it has written to.
Answer
25 of the 29 buildings we have contacted are from the 80 block 2021 Expressions of Interest group. Once we ascertain consent and key details, we will move to the contracting process.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many surveyors and fire engineers it has procured to carry out single building assessments.
Answer
We have contacted 29 buildings so far to offer the direct provision of fire engineers. Once we ascertain consent and details, we will move to the contracting process.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many single building assessments it has offered directly to date.
Answer
We have begun the SBA delivery process for 15 buildings using our grant based approach, with an additional 29 contacted to offer directly commissioned assessments.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to assess the viability of a buy-out scheme for homeowners in high-rise blocks with combustible cladding who are in severe financial hardship.
Answer
There is preliminary work underway to create a feasible Scottish scheme that works for Scottish homeowners and the Scottish tenure system.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Welsh Government regarding its buy-out scheme for homeowners in high-rise blocks with combustible cladding who are in severe financial hardship.
Answer
We have regular ongoing discussion with the Welsh Government on matters relating to cladding remediation, including the recently launched buy-out scheme.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what the value is of tenders for the Single Building Assessment service that have been placed through Public Contract Scotland (i) to date and (ii) are expected in the next year of the programme.
Answer
Since announcing the move to direct procurement for Single Building Assessments, we have tendered for and completed commissioning of an initial test and are using the learning from this to plan the scaling up of the additional surveys announced on 12 May 2022. The initial test procurement now has a fire engineer on site delivering the SBA. We expect costs to range between £20,000 and £100,000 in the first wave of buildings using our direct procurement approach.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation of the Scotland Self-Build Loan Fund it plans to conduct.
Answer
Starting from Autumn 2023, the Fund will be subject to annual reviews which will consider to what extent the Fund is meeting its aims, in particular, in assisting households who are unable to access self-build finance. The reviews will also consider if adjustments should be made to the Fund to ensure it continues to meet these aims.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how its Scotland Self-Build Loan Fund compares with the UK Government's Help to Build scheme.
Answer
Recognising that standard bank lending is often not available to support self-build projects, the Scottish Government acts as lender of last resort through the Self Build Loan Fund, supporting successful applicants to build their own home through short-term funding, normally around one year to 18 months. Up to £175,000 is available to eligible borrowers to assist with construction and professional fees costs resulting from their self-build project. The loan is intended to bridge the gap in construction funding and must be repaid in full once building is complete either from mainstream mortgage finance or from equity from the sale of the home.
The Scottish Government has not prepared a comparison between the Self Build Loan Fund and the UK Government’s Help to Build Scheme, which operates on different terms and administrative arrangements and is a matter for the UK Government.