- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how long it estimates the assessment of the 780 identified high-rise buildings in Scotland will take, and how this compares with the information released under Freedom of Information request 202200321870.
Answer
Not all 780 buildings on the high rise inventory will require assessment. Single building assessments are demand led and available on request for homeowners or their representatives should they meet the qualifying criteria.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 04 November 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with all identified privately owned high-rise buildings in regard to the Single Building Assessment programme ahead of their forthcoming invitation onto the survey programme in 2023, and how many buildings it has been in contact with.
Answer
We have been in contact with the representatives of over 50 buildings about the Single Building Assessment programme, with plans to expand this throughout 2023.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the value was of its homebuyer support investments at the point of transaction for those investments that it still holds an equity stake, and what the current estimated value is of those equity stakes, broken down by scheme.
Answer
The value of the shared equity investment stakes is revalued annually using the Nationwide House Price index for Scotland. The following table shows the original capital invested together with the current valuation.
| Open Market Shared Equity/New Supply Shared Equity £m | Help to Buy £m | First Home Fund £m | Total £m |
Capital invested at 31 March 2022 | 523.5 | 431.1 | 260.1 | 1,215.0 |
Revaluation at 31 March 2022 | 96.7 | 90.5 | 20.1 | 207.4 |
Current Estimated Value of Equity Investments | 620.2 | 521.6 | 280.2 | 1422.4 |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many homebuyers have tranched up their equity stakes to date for properties in which it still holds an equity stake, broken down by scheme.
Answer
Providing the information requested prior to April 2017 could only be answered at disproportionate cost. Following a change to the way we record shared equity sales from 2017-18 we are able to provide the information requested.
Since 2017-18 there have been 7 partial tranche-ups where the Scottish Government still hold an investment. This includes 3 properties purchased through the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme, 2 through the Help to Buy scheme and 2 through the New Supply Shared Equity Scheme.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07307 by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022, and in light of its tender, OCT462463, for the audit anticipating that the research will extend over six months, what the (a) scope and (b) timeline is of the empty homes audit.
Answer
The full scope is available to interested suppliers via the Public Contracts Scotland website and includes: 1) an overview of Scotland’s empty homes; 2) the key barriers and opportunities for bringing homes back into use; 3) an assessment of the effectiveness of current approaches and interventions; 4) suggestions on how these could be improved. We anticipate the exercise will be complete by summer 2023.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 16 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will have responsibility for the duty of care in relation to single building assessments.
Answer
For the purposes of Cladding Remediation, an SBA is an assessment carried out by homeowners to determine the fire safety risk in buildings due to cladding. Duty of care for properties lies with the owners.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 16 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many high rise buildings with aluminium composite material cladding that are owned by registered social landlords (a) have been remediated, (b) are currently being remediated and (c) remain un-remediated.
Answer
This data is not held by the Scottish Government. It is the responsibility of Registered Social Landlords to ensure that their housing stock is safe. However, we are funding RSLs who are participating in the Single Building Assessment Programme and will continue to do so.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 15 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord has been agreed.
Answer
The Scottish Safer Buildings Accord is an ambitious attempt to secure the cooperation of Scotland’s leading developers to address the cladding problem. It is a complex and commercially sensitive negotiation. The Scottish Government has held productive discussions with Homes for Scotland and developers in recent months and subject to satisfactorily concluding negotiations the Accord will be agreed and signed in the coming weeks.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 11 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many communication (a) staff and (b) full time equivalent staff (i) began and (ii) ended their employment in the Cladding Remediation Unit in each month since May 2021.
Answer
The Cladding Remediation Unit did not employ a full time communication staff member from May 2021 to April 2022. Since May 2022 a communication staff member has been employed, but their role crosses a number of responsibilities.
Month | Began | Ended |
May 2021 | 0 | 0 |
June 2021 | 0 | 0 |
July 2021 | 0 | 0 |
August 2021 | 0 | 0 |
September 2021 | 0 | 0 |
October 2021 | 0 | 0 |
November 2021 | 0 | 0 |
December 2021 | 0 | 0 |
January 2022 | 0 | 0 |
February 2022 | 0 | 0 |
March 2022 | 0 | 0 |
April 2022 | 0 | 0 |
May 2022 | 1 | |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 11 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07055 by Shona Robison on 15 March 2022, which states that, under the Cladding Stakeholder Group's terms of reference, material generated by the Group "should remain confidential", whether it will consider publishing any material generated from the group as a matter of course.
Answer
The working group does not, in general, create new material separate from that created to organise the meetings such as agendas and meeting notes, which are now subject to publication. The Chair will take a view on proactive publication of any new material in line with FOI principles and the need to respect the confidentiality of blocks engaged in the Pilot.