Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-34931

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many bodies designated as a rural housing body under section 43 (6) of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 have issued rural housing burdens, broken down by year.

Question reference: S6W-34929

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties have had a rural housing burden applied to their title deeds in each year since 2003, broken down by (a) council tax band and (b) local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, I have contacted the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (the Keeper) and they have been able to provide some of the information. The breakdown by each year the rural housing burden was applied is not available. The property registers maintained by the Keeper do not include council tax band. The following number of titles contain rural housing burdens by local authority:

Argyll and Bute 134

Dumfries and Galloway 109

Highland 388

Inverclyde 1

Moray 4

Na h-Eileanan an Iar 110

Orkney Islands 24

Perth and Kinross 13

Total 783

Question reference: S6W-34536

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure the sustainability of cultural facilities in the Central Scotland region, in light of Creative Scotland's decision not to award multi-year funding to Cumbernauld Theatre, which has been reported as being "heartbreaking".

The Scottish Government has demonstrated its commitment to the culture sector across Scotland with an increase of £34m in 2025-26 to the culture budget. The largest part of this is an additional £20m for Creative Scotland to provide core funding through its Multi Year Funding programme. This is a foundational moment for culture and the arts in Scotland which means that more organisations than ever, in more parts of the country, will benefit from the stability of core funding. 251 organisations have been successful in securing support, up from 119 currently, and a further 13 organisations will join a development stream and have the possibility of joining the portfolio of funded organisations from 2026-27.

I recognise of course that those organisations that have not been successful in the Multi Year Funding process, such as Cumbernauld Theatre, and their communities will be deeply disappointed. While these funding decisions have been for Creative Scotland to take, I am reassured that the small number of unsuccessful applicants will all be offered bespoke support from Creative Scotland.

I would encourage the Cumbernauld Theatre to continue to engage with Creative Scotland to understand the basis of this decision and take up opportunities offered through the transition support that they will be eligible for.

Question reference: S6O-04325

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average waiting times are for a neurodevelopmental assessment and a speech and language therapy assessment for children and young people in NHS Lanarkshire and in Scotland as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-33597

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a summary of the reasons for the continued delay in the transfer of responsibility for delivery of the Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is prioritising longer term reform so that Employment Injury Assistance better meets Scotland’s needs. This is the option which was supported by the largest number of responses to our public consultation held last year.

Our work on Employment Injury Assistance has taken longer than initially intended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated delays to the development and delivery of social security benefits. Furthermore, we have prioritised the delivery of Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment, in line with the expectations of disabled people and stakeholders.

The Industrial Injuries Scheme has undergone minimal reform by successive UK Government’s since it was introduced more than 75 years ago. While reform will therefore take time, a like-for-like replacement would have been complex, not offered value for money and would not meet the needs of people in the modern workforce.

Question reference: S6W-33596

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects to have held the first meeting of the employment injury assistance steering group.

The Scottish Government is in the process of establishing a stakeholder group on Employment Injury Assistance which will be comprised of organisations and experts with experience of Industrial Injuries Scheme benefits.

Invitations for the Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group will be issued in the coming weeks. The first meeting will take place early this year, subject to members’ availability.

This group will take forward considerations raised in the consultation and provide valuable input for our ongoing work on Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04261

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the uplift in the Scottish Prison Service budget for 2025-26 will be spent on improving the prison estate.

Question reference: S6W-33193

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its announcement that it will deliver 8,000 new affordable homes in 2025-26, how many of these properties will be (a) social new-builds, (b) acquisitions, (c) other affordable properties and (d) voids brought back into use.

Question reference: S6W-33194

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average grant rate was for a social new-build property delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) the first half of 2024-25, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) registered social landlord new builds.

The following table provides the average grant rates for Registered Social Landlord (RSL) and Local Authority social rent new build homes approved through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) between April 2022 and end September 2024.

Financial Year	RSL Social Rent New Build Homes Average Grant per Home (£ million)	Local Authority Social Rent New Build Homes Average Grant per Home (£ million)
2022-2023	0.120	0.095
2023-2024	0.140	0.113
2024-2025	0.134	0.104

Please note this table is based on management information and that RSL social rent new build homes approved using Charitable Bond Donations have been excluded from these figures.

Question reference: S6W-33196

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-catering (a) units on the non-domestic rates roll and (b) unit owners received Small Business Bonus Scheme rates relief in (i) 2022-23, (ii) 2023-24 and (iii) 2024-25 at (A) 100%, (B) 25% and (C) 0% where they were not eligible due to having a number of properties with a combined rateable value of £35,000, also broken down by (1) assessor and (2) local authority.

The following tables present the estimated number of self-catering properties receiving Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief as at 1 June 2024, broken down in Table 1 by assessor, and in Table 2 by local authority, for properties receiving 100% SBBS, 25% SBBS, other proportions of SBBS, and no SBBS relief. These tables include all self-catering properties on the valuation roll.

The occupier of a non-domestic property is statutorily liable for non-domestic rates (though in prescribed circumstances the council can transfer the liability to the owner of the property where the occupier and the owner are different). It is not possible from information held to determine whether the occupier is also the owner of a property and therefore who the beneficiary of any relief would be.

It is also not possible to provide the number of self-catering properties receiving SBBS relief for the financial year 2023-2024. This is due to data issues within the 2023 Billing System snapshot. Equivalent figures for 2022-2023 can be found in the response to question S6W-12631 on 12 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government cannot reliably estimate the cumulative rateable value of each ratepayer’s non-domestic properties and can therefore not state the number of self-catering units not in receipt of SBBS relief due to having a combined rateable value in excess of £35,000. From 1 April 2023, SBBS relief includes a taper from 100% for properties with a rateable value up to and including £12,000, to 25% where the rateable value is £15,000, and to 0% where the rateable value is £20,000 or higher. Eligibility for non-domestic rates reliefs, including SBBS, is set out in legislation and it is for local authorities to administer reliefs to eligible properties in accordance with that legislation.

Figures are rounded to the nearest ten, and those relating to more than zero but fewer than five units have been marked [low] to distinguish from actual zero values. The data sources for both tables are the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 June 2024, and local authority reliefs information as at 1 June 2024. Final outturn data for 2024-2025 may vary.

Table 1: Number of self-catering properties receiving SBBS relief as at 1 June 2024, by assessor and SBBS percentage

Assessor	100% SBBS	25% SBBS	Other SBBS awards	No SBBS
Ayrshire	620	60	10	100
Central	450	50	10	90
Dumfries & Galloway	1,060	90	20	150
Dunbartonshire, Argyll and Bute	1,460	190	20	330
Fife	620	40	10	170
Glasgow	40	10	10	30
Grampian	920	60	30	200
Highland & Western Isles	4,270	300	60	750
Lanarkshire	120	10	[low]	10
Lothian	810	150	140	390
Orkney & Shetland	510	10	[low]	110
Renfrewshire	90	10	[low]	10
Scottish Borders	670	50	10	100
Tayside	1,010	70	20	270
Scotland	12,650	1,110	350	2,700

Table 2: Number of self-catering properties receiving SBBS relief as at 1 June 2024, by local authority and SBBS percentage

Local authority	100% SBBS	25% SBBS	Other SBBS awards	No SBBS
Aberdeen City	110	10	[low]	50
Aberdeenshire	500	40	20	50
Angus	220	10	[low]	30
Argyll & Bute	1,400	190	10	320
Clackmannanshire	30	[low]	0	10
Dumfries & Galloway	1,060	90	20	150
Dundee City	100	10	[low]	20
East Ayrshire	30	[low]	[low]	10
East Dunbartonshire	10	0	0	0
East Lothian	190	20	10	30
East Renfrewshire	10	0	0	[low]
City of Edinburgh	540	120	130	340
Na h-Eileanan Siar	600	10	10	70
Falkirk	80	[low]	0	20
Fife	620	40	10	170
Glasgow City	40	10	10	30
Highland	3,670	290	50	680
Inverclyde	30	0	0	[low]
Midlothian	30	10	10	10
Moray	310	20	10	100
North Ayrshire	380	20	10	10
North Lanarkshire	70	0	[low]	[low]
Orkney Islands	340	10	0	50
Perth & Kinross	690	50	20	220
Renfrewshire	60	10	[low]	[low]
Scottish Borders	670	50	10	100
Shetland Islands	170	[low]	[low]	50
South Ayrshire	200	40	[low]	70
South Lanarkshire	60	10	0	10
Stirling	350	50	10	50
West Dunbartonshire	50	0	10	10
West Lothian	50	10	[low]	10
Scotland	12,650	1,110	350	2,700