Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-40354

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology was used to estimate the level of private investment anticipated from the increased funding for the Affordable Homes Supply Programme announced on 2 September 2025, and what assumptions underpin those projections.

Question reference: S6W-40347

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £4.9 billion investment in housing is (a) a reallocation from existing housing or local government budgets and (b) new investment.

Question reference: S6W-40352

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure equitable access to the new Fund to Leave across all local authority areas, and what support will be provided to any dependants.

Question reference: S6W-40343

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been acquired to date using its voids and acquisition fund, and how many additional homes it anticipates will result from the additional funding announced on 2 September 2025.

In 2024–25, the Scottish Government supported the delivery of 966 affordable homes, including 351 acquisitions and 615 voids, through £40 million in targeted acquisition and voids funding.

A further £40 million for acquisitions was announced on 2 September for 2025–26. This is expected to deliver an estimated 400 to 450 additional homes.

In total, our targeted investment in acquisitions and voids since 2024 will reach £120 million, supporting the acquisition of at least 1,200 homes over the 18-month duration of the fund. This will help between 600 and 800 children move out of temporary accommodation and into permanent tenancies more quickly.

Question reference: S6W-40348

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria will be used by local authorities to determine when temporary accommodation can be “flipped” to permanent housing, and how households will be supported.

Key to a successful programme of flipping activity is ensuring that the accommodation is of good quality and meets the needs of the household. In my statement on the housing emergency, I referenced the guidance produced by ALACHO on flipping temporary accommodation to a household’s settled home. This flipping practice note sets out options and considerations for converting a temporary let into a permanent tenancy.

Outcomes from a decision to flip temporary accommodation should be consistent with the council’s overall approach to offering permanent and temporary accommodation. ALACHO has set out various factors to be taken into account in a local authority’s approach to flipping and recommends that any proposal to flip accommodation should:

meet the council’s statutory obligations to the applicant involved;
represent a reasonable offer of accommodation;
be consistent with the needs and wishes of the applicant;
ensure no reduction in the level of choice or control afforded relative to other applicants;
provide a sustainable housing outcome;
not disadvantage either those accepting a flip, those who refuse such an offer and those not in a position to receive such an offer;
support the council’s ability to meet its duty to offer temporary accommodation;
ensure that the transition from temporary to settled accommodation is actively managed, including any change to the availability of support services or eligibility for benefits;
be linked to a clear process for replacing the temporary let if necessary; and
offer value for money to the council in relation to any replacement of furniture and fittings that are included in the offer of a permanent let.

ALACHO’s flipping practice note should be read alongside the Scottish Government’s Code of Guidance on Homelessness and the Scottish Government’s Temporary Accommodation Standards Framework as well as taking local policies into account.

Question reference: S6W-40355

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding will be provided to local authority planning departments to support the emergency-led approach to housing delivery.

We have taken action to improve the financial resources available to planning authorities, introducing an annual inflation linked increase to planning fees with those changes increasing fees in line with inflation in December 2024 and most recently in June 2025. We have extended the range of services for which an authority can introduce charges, to include the preparation of processing agreements and the preparation and delivery of Masterplan Consent Areas. In June 2025 we also introduced fees for appealing planning decisions to Local Review Bodies and Scottish Ministers, ensuring that these services can meet customers’ expectations.

In addition, the National Planning Hub is providing targeted support to planning authorities, including capacity and access to expertise, to help them to determine applications for housing projects and to progress their local development plans.

Question reference: S6W-40356

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support staffing increases in planning departments, and how it will ensure that workforce capacity meets the demands of the Housing Emergency Action Plan.

The overall staffing of planning services is a matter for local authorities and it is up to them to decide how their resources are allocated based on their priorities. The Scottish Government does not dictate to authorities how much money should be allocated to planning services.

We have taken action to improve the financial resources available to planning authorities, introducing an annual inflation linked increase to planning fees with the fees increasing in line with inflation in December 2024 and most recently in June 2025, extended discretionary charging and introduced fees for appealing planning decisions to local review bodies and Scottish Ministers.

The National Planning Hub offers support to planning authorities when requested, including capacity and access to expertise. A priority area for the Hub’s assistance is on housing, to support authorities address the Housing Emergency.

Recognising the pressures in planning authorities, the planning actions in the Housing Emergency Action Plan are limited in their demands on them. They will be undertaken by Scottish Government and the National Planning Improvement Champion to support improvements to the planning system.

To support longer-term growth of the planning profession and reversing the decline in professional planners working in public authorities, we have recently appointed 17 new future planners to support their development and are providing 30 bursaries for post-graduate planning this year.

Question reference: S6W-40357

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional planning applications it anticipates will be approved as a result of any planning reforms, and what metrics will be used to measure the impact or success of any reforms.

Every planning application must be determined on its own merits. When applying planning judgement all relevant policies and material considerations need to be weighed, following the requirements set by section 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1997. As such, it would not be appropriate to set a target number for approval of individual applications. Nevertheless, the planning application approval rate has stayed consistently high for a number of years, with over 92% of applications approved in 2023-24.

A range of planning improvements have and are being progressed to support the housing emergency, including those in the Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan (November 2024), the Programme for Government (May 2025) and Housing Emergency Action Plan (September 2025). These build on the substantial reforms to legislation and national policy in recent years.

For example, and as committed in the Housing Emergency Action Plan, the Scottish Government issued a notification direction on 2 September to enable close monitoring of the implementation of national planning policy on housing, where a planning application is for 10 or more proposed new homes on land not allocated for housing. This activity will enable Ministerial intervention where required and inform whether further policy action is required.

We regularly engage with stakeholders, including planning authorities and industry representatives to monitor feedback on the impact of changes made through planning reforms.

Question reference: S6O-04936

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the culture secretary last met with Creative Scotland to discuss the future of Cumbernauld Theatre, in light of reported concerns about its funding.

Question reference: S6W-39952

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on its review of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, as committed to during consideration of the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, and when the findings of the review will be published.

Work related to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax review is ongoing.

Alma Economics has been appointed to undertake independent research on various aspects of the legislation and will engage with a range of relevant organisations to support this. The Scottish Government has also established a working group involving legal, property sector and other organisations to allow for detailed consideration of other specific issues.

As set out in Scottish Budget 2025-26, the review will support decisions in the next Scottish Parliament on whether any legislative changes should be brought forward.

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