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-01695

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factors have been registered, as required by the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, in each year since 2011, broken down by (a) those remaining on the register, (b) those who have been newly admitted to the register, and (c) those who have been removed from the register.

The information requested is contained in the following table:

Year (See Note 1)	Number registered	Number remaining on register	Number newly admitted to register	Number removed from register (See Note 2)
2011	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2012	242	N/A	242	0
2013	326	242	84	0
2014	365	326	39	0
2015	381	365	36	20
2016	384	381	41	38
2017	403	384	38	19
2018	404	403	25	24
2019	387	404	27	44
2020	393	387	22	16

Note 1:

The register of property factors opened in October 2012 so no registration data is available for 2011.

Note 2:

The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, allows that a property factor can be removed from the register for the following reasons:

under section 4(7) (a) - where registrations are removed as no further application is received before expiry of the previous registration.
under section 8(1) - for no longer being a fit and proper person or failing to demonstrate compliance with:

o the property factor code of conduct, or

o any property factor enforcement order.

under section 8(1) - for no longer being a fit and proper person as they are no longer a legal entity (technical removal).

Property Factors are required to apply for renewal of their registration every 3 years and a register entry must be removed if the factor does not submit an application to renew.

Question reference: S6W-01644

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the delayed document, Housing Options (PREVENT1) Statistics in Scotland: 2020/21, will be published.

The Homelessness Statistics team are in the process of collecting, processing and quality assuring data returns from local authorities for the Housing Options (PREVENT1) Statistics in Scotland: 2020-21 publication. As such, we are not yet in a position to confirm a publication date. The statistics will be released as soon as they are considered ready, under the guidance of the Chief Statistician. At this stage we anticipate this will be between October and November.

Once there is more certainty around a publication date this will be pre-announced no later than 4 weeks in advance, in line with the Statistics Code of Practice, on the Scottish Government website: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-01633

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00982 by Graeme Dey on 8 July 2021, what the estimated additional ongoing operational costs are for (a) additional rolling stock, (b) train crew and (c) any other requirements that have been incurred as a result of the platform extension at Milngavie, and how these costs are being met.

Question reference: S6W-01628

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many members of its staff are working specifically on COP26.

Question reference: S6W-01487

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the First Minister on 13 July 2021 that, “We are determined to make sure that volunteers who have participated in the Novavax trials are not disadvantaged in any way. Work is on-going to ensure that their vaccine status is correctly shown on NHS systems, so that that can be relied on… I gave the assurance that we will continue to do everything that we can to make sure that those who have participated in the Novavax trials are not disadvantaged”, whether it will provide further detail of what work is being carried out, and what progress has been made with this.

Work is ongoing to ensure the vaccine status of those who volunteered for clinical trials in Scotland is correctly presented on the vaccine database. A letter confirming their involvement in the trials is being issued to those who participated. Any participant who has not yet received a letter should contact their respective research team. The letter can be used for domestic purposes as proof of trial status. However, it’s important to note that we have no plans at present to make vaccine certification a requirement of access to services in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-01399

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much carbon will be released by the setting up and operation of its forestry expansion programme and how this compares with the amount of carbon it expects the programme to capture.

The most recent data published by the Scottish Government show that the forestry estate in Scotland currently removes over 6MtCO ₂ annually. These removals are net of any CO ₂ emissions from forestry operations and forest soils.

Scottish Forestry has commissioned further research to provide the latest quantitative evidence on these impacts for different types of woodland. This research will be released later in 2021. Preliminary results show that emissions from forest operations are very low compared to removals as trees grow.

Question reference: S6W-01967

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that the ScotWind Leasing process leads to the establishment of more jobs, including in the manufacturing supply chain.

The current ScotWind Leasing Round (the first to be administered by Crown Estate Scotland) is targeting 10GW of further offshore wind capacity, and offers significant inward investment opportunities in Scotland’s domestic supply chain, alongside the creation of new high value, high skilled jobs. Applicants to the Leasing Round are required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) that sets out the anticipated level and location of supply chain impact, and the provision of jobs throughout the lifetime of the project. Crucially, those who do not comply with the commitments laid out in their SCDS can expect to face consequences ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease. The introduction of Supply Chain Development Statements demonstrates that the Scottish Government is serious about holding developers accountable if they do not honour their supply chain commitments and we fully expect developers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to be engaging with the domestic supply chain from the outset to ensure that those commitments come to fruition. We have also been calling for, and welcome, the additional conditionality required by the UK Government for supply chain commitments in future Contracts for Difference (CfD) rounds.

Question reference: S6W-01991

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been distributed from its Grassroots Music Venue Stabilisation Fund, broken down by (a) venue and (b) amount received.

The Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund (GMVSF) provided grassroots live music venues with emergency funds to help address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent closure. In total, £6.2 million of support was awarded to 85 venues throughout Scotland through two rounds of the GMVSF.

The recipients of the first round of GMVSF funding, awarded in September 2020, can be found here, broken down by (a) venue and (b) amount received: https://www.creativescotland.com/what-we-do/latest-news/archive/2020/09/funds-reach-grassroots-music-venues

The recipients of the second round of GMVSF funding, awarded in February 2021, can be found here, broken down by (a) venue and (b) amount received:

https://www.creativescotland.com/what-we-do/latest-news/archive/2021/02/funds-reach-grassroots-music-venues

Question reference: S6W-01952

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what help it has made available to potential first-time home buyers since the First Home Fund closed to new applicants, and what support it provides to them when (a) the average price of a home in their area is above the maximum threshold price for the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme, (b) there are no suitable properties available under the New Shared Equity Scheme and (c) they do not have sufficient time or income to set up a lifetime individual savings account.

First-time buyers can access a variety of support to become a home owner, including the Help to Buy Smaller Developers Scheme and the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT). In addition, the first-time buyer relief for Land and Building Transaction Tax means that an estimated 8 out of 10 first-time buyers pay no tax at all.

Despite being closed to new applications, the main Help to Buy scheme and First Home Fund continue to benefit first-time buyers across Scotland with settlements occurring throughout this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-01914

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to consider the impact of Circularity Scotland’s policies on small businesses.

In line with the principle of producer responsibility, it is for Circularity Scotland Ltd as scheme administrator of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to put in place policies that will allow it to discharge its obligations under the DRS Regulations.

We are confident that, as set out on page 32 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) for DRS, our ‘scheme has been designed with features that mitigate the potential impact on smaller producers and retailers’. The BRIA is available here: A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland - Full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (www.gov.scot)