Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-06378

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-00316 by Shona Robison on 3 November 2021, what the (a) name and (b) purpose is of the short life working group; where its minutes are published; how many times it has met, and what the findings of the group are.

The name of the short-life group was the Materials Shortages Working Group.

The purpose of the group was to examine where the immediate shortages were most acute and to identify opportunities to remove barriers and build capacity within Scotland. The minutes for this group were not published.

The group was set up in June 2021 and met a total of 12 times with the final meeting taking place on Tuesday 28 September 2021.

A letter summarising the key findings from the Materials Shortage Working Group’s work was sent to the Economy and Fair Work committee on 25 January 2022 and has been published on the Scottish Parliament website. Details of this letter can be found in the following link.

Construction Materials Shortages Working Group | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-06452

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote awareness of the Tenant Hardship Loan Fund.

Question reference: S6W-06380

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) Equality Impact Assessment and (b) Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment it has conducted in relation to the build-to-rent sector.

Question reference: S6O-00813

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many households are waiting for social housing in Central Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-06060

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 22 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05465 by Patrick Harvie on 24 January 2022, when it will publish its response and any regulations.

Question reference: S6W-05963

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Scottish Law Commission in relation to carrying out a law reform project to provide a draft Bill that would implement the recommendations of the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance.

Question reference: S6W-05962

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the Scottish Parliamentary Working Group on Tenement Maintenance in relation to owners (a) in tenements forming owners' associations, (b) and building reserve funds and (c) and five-yearly building condition reports, which it committed to support through voluntary and incremental change until legislation is in place.

The Scottish Law Commission have accepted a reference from the Scottish Government, commissioning project work to review the law of the tenement in Scotland and to make recommendations regarding the establishment of compulsory owners’ associations, building reserve funds and building inspections.

The Scottish Government has commissioned research on repair costs and the viability of owners’ associations, and engaged with stakeholders including tenement owners regarding compulsory factoring.

Separately, the Scottish Government will be publishing a public consultation on a new housing standard for Scotland in the course of 2022 which will inform plans for future legislation. We will also be circulating draft guidance for private landlords on changes to the repairing standard which come into force in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-06157

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has received for evictions and civil proceedings for each rule in each (a) quarter and (b) year since 1 December 2017, and, of these, how many have received a hearing.

Question reference: S6O-00742

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding how its international development programme can support the sharing of vaccines and help to tackle the reported vaccine apartheid in the global south.

Question reference: S6W-05750

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has completed its consideration of how to complete the review of the tax treatment of short-term lets; whether the review is complete, and whether it will (a) publish the review or (b) outline the timetable for completing the review.

During the COVID-19 pandemic we prioritised work on the Short-term lets Licensing Order and Amendment Regulations for short-term let control areas. This enabled the statutory instruments for these to be considered by the Scottish Parliament in this session and meant the review of the tax treatment of short-term lets was deferred.

We intend to recommence the tax treatment review in the coming months to ensure that short-term lets make an appropriate contribution to the communities they operate in.

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