Chamber and committees

The safety of residents and homeowners in Scotland is our priority as we work to tackle cladding safety issues. We are undertaking a programme of work to identify, assess and remediate building with potentially unsafe cladding. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are members of the Cladding Remediation Stakeholders Group which meets regularly, the last meeting being on 29 March 2023. Work has been undertaken between the UK Government and UK Finance to develop a solution which reflects the situation in England and we are in urgent discussion with UK Finance about adapting that solution for Scotland as quickly as possible.

We note the recent publication by the British Property Federation, assessing the impact of the emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.

We recognise the importance of the private rented sector in the provision of rented housing, including homes provided through the Build-to-Rent sector, and we believe that a well-regulated private rental sector is good for both tenants and landlords.

The temporary, emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 is providing additional protections for tenants during these challenging and uncertain economic times. It is important to note that there are no restrictions on a landlord setting rents at the start of a tenancy and the legislation could only ever be in place for a total of 18 months, if the circumstances demand it and with Parliamentary approval, and therefore the temporary protections should not be a deterrent to new housing development.

Scottish Ministers have a statutory duty to ensure that the emergency powers taken are proportionate in order to respond to the costs crisis and will only last as long as required. In addition, the Scottish Parliament has continued oversight of the necessity of those powers through our regular reporting on the necessity and proportionality of the measures.

In the longer term, we have committed to introducing a national system of rent control, informed by views from tenants, landlords and investors through an advisory group. We intend to introduce a rent control system which is compatible with encouraging investment and we will continue to engage with stakeholders from across the sector on our long-term commitment to develop an effective system of rent controls for Scotland.

The best way to deliver a strong rented sector is to build more affordable homes and Scotland leads the way in this area, having delivered more than 118,000 affordable homes since 2007, with 83,291 of these for social rent. We’re now working towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which 70% will be for social rent.

The Scottish Government does not hold records for all mobile phones purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas and agencies to meet their requirements. However, through our mobile voice & data contracts we have purchased various models of mobile phone including those from Apple, Motorola and Samsung.

For the past 5 years the Scottish Government has had a mobile voice and data contracts with Vodafone UK.

A contract was in place from 20 January 2016 to 20 September 2020. This was replaced with a new contract via https://www.gov.scot/publications/mobile-voice-and-data-services-framework-2020/ from 21 September 2020 to 20 September 2023.

A small number of connections have also been with EE over the last 5 years.

The Cladding Remediation Programme Board met and considered a draft Outline Business Case (OBC) on 1 November 2022. The OBC was based on key aspects of the MACE Ltd strategic advisors draft delivery options report.

While this is essentially a question for Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to answer, I can advise that building ownership conditions are not universal across the four nations. It is important that guidance for valuers in Scotland reflects the system in Scotland including the tenure system.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17543 on 12 May 2023. 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 .

Scottish Government officials are in the process of providing advice to the new Ministerial team on community eyecare services work, including these short life working groups, and will update stakeholders immediately following the completion of this process.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17602 on 12 May 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at the questions and answers page on the Scottish Parliament website .

As set out in the answer to S6W-17550 on 12 May 2023, officials are in the process of providing advice to Scottish Ministers on community eyecare services work, including the unique challenges of providing these services in remote and rural areas and domiciliary settings.

In addition, as part of the continuous review of service provision, the Scottish Government recently worked with stakeholders to undertake a separate report into supporting the sustainability of community eyecare services in remote and rural areas.

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

The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) met with the Accountable Officer (AO) to discuss the gateway review recommendation suggesting a "Portfolio approach". After due consideration it was deemed that at this moment in the programmes development it was not the appropriate course of action to take and would be reviewed on an ongoing basis.