- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the evidence on which it has based its COVID-19 advice for people who are shielding and immunosuppressed.
Answer
The Scottish Government obtains information which informs how we identify and advise people at highest risk of becoming severely ill or dying from Covid-19 from a variety of reliable UK and international sources. While that evidence is published and readily available, it is not always easy for people at highest risk to understand or to translate into informed choices about individual behaviours. We are therefore planning to publish a summary of the current evidence that underpins our advice in a form that people find accessible this autumn.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has provided to each local authority in each of the last five years to tackle rough sleeping.
Answer
Local authorities are responsible for a range of public services, including housing, and the vast majority of funding for these services is provided to local authorities by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available on the basis of local needs and priorities.
In addition to the block grant, outlined below is the additional financial support the Scottish Government has provided to local authorities in the last five years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Rapid rehousing transition plans – Ending Homelessness Together fund
Since 2018, the Scottish Government has provided funding from the Ending Homelessness Together fund to local authorities to develop and implement rapid rehousing transition plans (RRTPs). RRTPs are the planning framework for local authorities’ housing-led approach to prevent and address all forms of homelessness, including rough sleeping. Funding for the development of the RRTPs was granted in 2018/19 and subsequent funding was granted for the implementation of the plans. The breakdown of funding by year and local authority can be found in the following table:
Local authority | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Aberdeen City | £ 77,072 | £ 301,000 | £ 358,000 | £ 346,000 |
Aberdeenshire | £ 62,272 | £ 261,000 | £ 249,000 | £ 252,000 |
Angus | £ 42,279 | £ 172,000 | £ 161,000 | £ 144,000 |
Argyll & Bute | £ 30,000 | £ 95,000 | £ 105,000 | £ 93,000 |
Clackmannanshire | £ 30,000 | £ 103,000 | £ 116,000 | £ 111,000 |
Dumfries & Galloway | £ 33,797 | £ 143,000 | £ 179,000 | £ 181,000 |
Dundee City | £ 68,049 | £ 300,000 | £ 282,000 | £ 277,000 |
East Ayrshire | £ 30,000 | £ 119,000 | £ 143,000 | £ 158,000 |
East Dunbartonshire | £ 30,000 | £ 120,000 | £ 95,000 | £ 88,000 |
East Lothian | £ 40,224 | £ 160,000 | £ 169,000 | £ 161,000 |
East Renfrewshire | £ 30,000 | £ 76,000 | £ 72,000 | £ 72,000 |
Edinburgh, City of | £229,225 | £1,005,000 | £ 892,000 | £ 871,000 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | £ 30,000 | £ 34,000 | £ 29,000 | £ 50,000 |
Falkirk | £ 56,992 | £ 211,000 | £ 211,000 | £ 215,000 |
Fife | £124,111 | £ 524,000 | £ 534,000 | £ 528,000 |
Glasgow City | £300,736 | £1,332,000 | £1,237,000 | £1,266,000 |
Highland | £ 60,671 | £ 280,000 | £ 297,000 | £ 291,000 |
Inverclyde | £ 30,000 | £ 53,000 | £ 44,000 | £ 50,000 |
Midlothian | £ 32,218 | £ 141,000 | £ 137,000 | £ 127,000 |
Moray | £ 30,000 | £ 97,000 | £ 93,000 | £ 90,000 |
North Ayrshire | £ 44,356 | £ 187,000 | £ 209,000 | £ 224,000 |
North Lanarkshire | £ 96,242 | £ 389,000 | £ 465,000 | £ 464,000 |
Orkney Islands | £ 30,000 | £ 22,000 | £ 27,000 | £ 50,000 |
Perth & Kinross | £ 46,347 | £ 203,000 | £ 214,000 | £ 196,000 |
Renfrewshire | £ 43,080 | £ 186,000 | £ 187,000 | £ 189,000 |
Scottish Borders | £ 34,684 | £ 153,000 | £ 167,000 | £ 166,000 |
Shetland Islands | £ 30,000 | £ 31,000 | £ 27,000 | £ 50,000 |
South Ayrshire | £ 39,856 | £ 173,000 | £ 175,000 | £ 176,000 |
South Lanarkshire | £104,465 | £ 461,000 | £ 453,000 | £ 445,000 |
Stirling | £ 30,000 | £ 101,000 | £ 111,000 | £ 123,000 |
West Dunbartonshire | £ 62,770 | £ 265,000 | £ 251,000 | £ 234,000 |
West Lothian | £ 70,970 | £ 302,000 | £ 311,000 | £ 312,000 |
Total | £2,000,416 | £8,000,000 | £8,000,000 | £8,000,000 |
Rapid rehousing transition plans – Winter Plan for Social Protection
In 2020-21, an additional £5,000,000 for the implementation of RRTPs was granted to local authorities as part of the Winter Plan for Social Protection. The breakdown of this funding by local authority can be found in the following table:
Local Authority | 2020-21 |
Aberdeen City | £ 223,000 |
Aberdeenshire | £ 155,000 |
Angus | £ 100,000 |
Argyll & Bute | £ 65,000 |
Clackmannanshire | £ 72,000 |
Dumfries & Galloway | £ 112,000 |
Dundee City | £ 175,000 |
East Ayrshire | £ 89,000 |
East Dunbartonshire | £ 61,000 |
East Lothian | £ 105,000 |
East Renfrewshire | £ 45,000 |
Edinburgh, City of | £ 563,000 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | £ 18,000 |
Falkirk | £ 132,000 |
Fife | £ 335,000 |
Glasgow City | £ 772,000 |
Highland | £ 187,000 |
Inverclyde | £ 28,000 |
Midlothian | £ 85,000 |
Moray | £ 58,000 |
North Ayrshire | £ 130,000 |
North Lanarkshire | £ 290,000 |
Orkney Islands | £ 17,000 |
Perth & Kinross | £133,000 |
Renfrewshire | £ 116,000 |
Scottish Borders | £ 105,000 |
Shetland Islands | £ 17,000 |
South Ayrshire | £ 110,000 |
South Lanarkshire | £ 282,000 |
Stirling | £ 69,000 |
West Dunbartonshire | £156,000 |
West Lothian | £195,000 |
Total | £5,000,000 |
Other
The following table outlines other funding that the Scottish Government has provided to local authorities to tackle rough sleeping. This includes: £90,000 in 2017-18 and £77,500 in 2018-19 for rapid access accommodation in Edinburgh; £29,000 in
2018-19 and £29,000 in 2019-20 for a homelessness link worker to provide statutory homelessness services in dispersed areas of Edinburgh; and £60,333 contribution to a Rapid Rehousing Welcome Centre in Glasgow in 2020-21.
Local Authority | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Edinburgh,City of | £90,000 | £106,500 | £29,000 | - | - |
Glasgow City | - | - | - | £60,333 | - |
Funding is also provided directly to a range of third sector organisations who work across Scotland’s local authorities to tackle rough sleeping.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) older people, (b) financially vulnerable people, (c) people on low incomes and (d) others in the South Ayrshire Council area it estimates will find it difficult to meet the cost of (i) purchasing and (ii) fitting fire alarms to bring them in line with the minimum standard that is being introduced in February 2022; what support it will offer to help them meet this cost, and what assistance the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will provide.
Answer
It is not possible to estimate how many people in South Ayrshire would find it difficult to meet the cost of purchasing or fitting fire alarms, because information about the number of homes that do not have alarms that meet the new standard is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey.
Home owners are responsible for the costs of on-going work needed to protect and preserve their own property, which includes the costs for the fire alarms to meet the new standard. However, we have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled homeowners on low incomes. We have also provided £1 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to provide alarms for owners who are considered most vulnerable to the risk of fire.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of properties have interlinked fire alarms installed.
Answer
It is not possible to determine exactly how many properties have alarms of the prescribed type installed as this information is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will contribute to housing associations, on average, in the current financial year for the construction of each new house that they build, and what the range of funding support is per house based on their size and type.
Answer
It is for individual housing associations to determine the amount of grant that they require to apply for in order for a project to be financially viable. We are therefore unable to say how much the Scottish Government will contribute to housing associations – on average – in the current financial year for each new house that they build, and what the range of funding support will be per house based on their size and type.
However, Annual Out-turn Reports relating to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published around the end of each calendar year and, as well as providing background information on the planning, delivery and scope of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, these include various out-turn tables in respect of spend, along with the number of approvals, site starts and completions, broken down by local authority, in the preceding financial year. The Out-turn Reports also include a table showing the average total cost per home and the average grant per home. These are the actual costs relating to the delivery of the projects within the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, calculated at tender approval stage.
The information to be included within the AHSP Out-turn Report for 2020-21 is currently being collated, but the Out-turn Report in respect of 2019-20 is available on the Scottish Government website.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken, or plans to take, any steps to regulate the sale and installation of interlinked fire alarms to avoid the fraudulent sale and installation of such alarms.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no plans to regulate the sale or installation of interlinked fire alarms. The best way to avoid scams is to use trusted sources of information, to not deal with cold callers, and to be wary of any company that says their products or services have been endorsed by the Scottish Government. We have included messages on the importance of using reputable tradespeople including signposting to local government Trading Standards in our awareness campaign for the new fire alarms standard.
- 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: Monday, 25 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many home purchases it has supported and (b) what total value of funding it has provided as part of the (i) Open Market Shared Equity, (ii) New Supply Shared Equity, (iii) Help to Buy and (iv) First Home Fund programme in each financial year since the programme's inception, also broken down by Scottish Government 6-fold Urban Rural Classification.
Answer
Published information on home purchases and spend across the First Home Fund, Help to Buy, Open Market Shared Equity and New Supply Shared Equity schemes can be found on the Scottish Government website at the following links:
Help to Buy (Scotland)
https://www.gov.scot/policies/homeowners/help-to-buy/
Open Market Shared Equity and New Supply Shared Equity
https://www.gov.scot/policies/more-homes/affordable-housing-supply/
First Home Fund
https://www.gov.scot/publications/first-home-fund-spend-and-units-monitoring-information-report-december-2019-to-march-2021/
The Evaluation of Scottish Government Shared Equity Schemes, which includes the Help to Buy (Scotland), Open Market Shared Equity and the New Supply Shared Equity schemes, was published in June 2020, and includes some information on the profile of buyers using the Scottish Government’s 6-fold urban/rural classification. The attached link provides further information
Shared equity schemes: evaluation reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
The First Home Fund Evaluation includes information on uptake based on the 4-fold Rural & Environmental Science & Analytical Services classification
First Home Fund evaluation: quantitative analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
The detailed breakdown by 6-fold Urban Rural Classification is not readily available in the format requested. We will investigate whether it is feasible to provide a full breakdown, given issues such as lags in new postcodes relating to new housing being allocated to the 6-fold urban-rural classification. I will write to the member with the outcome of this work as soon as the exercise has been completed. A copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, Bib number 62811.
- 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: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has stopped routinely collecting statistical information on notifications of repossession and eviction action under section 11 of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003, and, if so, (a) when it stopped collecting this information, (b) for what reason it stopped and (c) whether it has considered recommencing regular collection and publication of these notifications.
Answer
The Scottish Government has stopped collecting statistical information on section 11 notifications.
The decision to cease the collection of this information was implemented in 2013, in agreement with the Homelessness Statistics User Group . The last national statistics publication which held data on Section 11 notifications was “Operation of the Homeless Persons legislation in Scotland: 2012-13” which can be found in our archived web page here .
Collection of this information was ceased due to data quality concerns. These included issues such as double reporting and inconsistencies in how information was reported across local authorities and amongst lenders.
The on-going homelessness data review is considering the strength of demand for, and feasibility of collecting, data related to homelessness and homelessness prevention. Data related to section 11 notifications will be considered as part of this review.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will disclose the locations of tower blocks with combustible cladding, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
We are currently undergoing a pilot program of Single Building Assessments across Scotland with 16 buildings in Glasgow, 8 buildings in Edinburgh and 1 building in Aberdeen.
The purpose of the Single Building Assessment is to establish if there are any potential risks with buildings beyond just cladding. It will be a wide ranging review of fire risk for entire buildings and all homeowners will be made aware and covered in one singular assessment.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to FOI request FOI/202100240457, what assessment it made that resulted in its decision to withhold information on the basis that concerns over home safety were outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the privacy of individuals who provided personal information.
Answer
In relation to the EIR request 202100240457, the information was collected via a portal that included a privacy notice where applicants were made aware that the information they provided would not be shared outwith the Scottish Government.
