Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-27362

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government where the new location of critical policing facilities will be, particularly the Criminal Investigation Department and fingerprinting facilities of the Edinburgh Division, in light of the recently reported closure of Fettes station.

Question reference: S6W-27363

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland has requested further assistance in the past six months from the Metropolitan Police in relation to its policing and constitutional duties, particularly in relation to serious and organised crime.

Question reference: S6W-27359

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide police officer relocation figures, in light of the reported closure of five current and 14 potential locations in Edinburgh and the Lothians, and of safety issues identified in buildings that they have been working in from at least the 1970s onwards, including reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Question reference: S6W-27364

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints to public bodies related to non-crime hate incidents have been received since the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 was passed, broken down by parliamentary region.

Question reference: S6W-27369

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of alleged hate crimes reported since the commencement of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 have been successfully prosecuted.

Question reference: S6W-27361

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) police officers of all ranks and (b) civilian staff (i) were offered and (ii) accepted the option of compulsory redundancy following the reported announcement of police station closures in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Question reference: S6W-27360

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers (a) were offered and (b) accepted voluntary redundancy following the reported announcement of station closures in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Question reference: S6O-03439

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact of the reported reduction in primary school music teacher numbers will be on children and young people.

Question reference: S6W-26820

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2024

To ask to the Scottish Government what incentives there will be for landlords to comply with the new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regulations, in light of the reported current lack of enforcement by local authorities.

The Scottish Government is not proposing any change in requirements that landlords will have to comply with as part of proposed amendments to EPC regulations, and therefore is not aware of the need for any incentives to do so. It will remain a legal requirement for landlords advertising a property for rental to ensure that there is a valid EPC.

We have proposed reducing the validity period from 10 years to 5 years and so in these circumstances a landlord may have to update their EPC more frequently. As set out in our consultation on EPC reform in 2023, this will ensure the EPC provides a more up-to-date assessment for current and prospective tenants of a property.

As part of the wider reform of EPCs in Scotland, we are currently reviewing the EPC operational framework in Scotland. This includes a review of the current enforcement mechanisms in place.

The Scottish Government is currently considering responses to the consultation and as set out in our response to S6W-26036 we intend to publish our response to the EPC reform and Heat in Buildings Bill consultations at the same point later this year.

Question reference: S6W-26821

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2024

To ask to the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards reviewing the operational arrangements of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), as committed to in its consultation on reforms to EPCs.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s consultation on the reform of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), we are now undertaking a full review of the operational arrangements for how the production of EPCs is overseen, and how the legislation is enforced in the property market. We are engaging with a wide-range of impacted stakeholders as part of this review process, and the findings of this review will inform our final decision on our approach to EPC reform.

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