Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05277 on 13 December 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 allows Scottish Ministers to appoint verifiers on such terms or limitations as they feel appropriate. They must have regard to qualifications; competency; accountability to the public; and impartiality before making an appointment.

I am currently reviewing the appointment process of verifiers from May 2017 onwards and propose to introduce an operating framework for verifiers. This will set out the key verification functions and cover integrity and operational resilience; building warrant and completion certificate processing; and maintaining records.

I welcomed the publication of the report in March 2016 and have noted its findings. The conclusions drawn from the report are presently being considered in relation to the next appointment of verifiers from May 2017 onwards.

The eDevelopment Programme finance model involves costs being shared, with the Scottish Government funding the capital investment in the technology and local authorities paying annual support and maintenance costs. Local authorities collectively will pay £71,000 during the current financial year for support and maintenance in relation to the eBuildingStandards.scot service.

The Scottish Government does not hold information about any other investment or costs to local authorities, in relation to their preparation for implementation of the service.

Local authorities are committed to the verification performance framework that was introduced in 2012 and are subject to regular monitoring by Scottish Government.

Scottish Government commissioned Pye Tait Consulting to undertake an ‘Evaluation of the performance of local authorities in their role as verifiers’ and their report was published in March 2016. The independent research concluded that:

“In summary, whilst there has been substantial progress and investment in delivering a high quality and customer-focused building standards service since the last re-appointment of local authorities in 2011, there is still work to do to create the conditions for strong performance across all 32 Councils.”

Scottish Government is aware that delays may be due to local authority processing, the quality of the submitted plans, or delays in applicants submitting revised details. A revised Performance Framework with agreed measurable targets will be introduced as part of the future appointment of verifiers. These targets will be regularly monitored and verifiers will be subject to periodic inspection and will be required to address any areas of concern.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-05274 and S5W-05275 on 12 December 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Through the Town Centre Housing Fund, £2.55 million was awarded to six projects, bringing vacant and derelict town centre buildings back into use and providing 75 units for affordable housing across six local authority areas – Angus, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, Fife, Clackmannanshire and Perth and Kinross.

Town Centre Housing Fund promotes town centre living, a key theme of our Town Centre Action Plan (TCAP) through the provision of quality, affordable housing. The measures set out in the TCAP set the conditions and support activity across the wider public, private and community sectors to tackle the key issues in town centres across Scotland.

The Town Centre First Principle agreed by the Scottish cabinet and all Council Leaders asks that all investment decisions consider the impact on the town centre as a starting point.

The Scottish Government is keen to encourage owners of empty properties to bring them back into use to increase the supply of housing in Scotland. We are tackling the problem through legislative changes, provision of funding, and practical advice and assistance.

We are providing £2.6 million through the Town Centre Housing Fund to bring vacant and derelict town centre buildings back into use as affordable housing. We have made up to £4 million available through the Town Centre Empty Homes Fund to bring empty properties back into use as affordable housing. In addition the
£4.5 million Empty Homes Loan Fund provides loans to owners to help them renovate empty homes and make them available as affordable housing.

We are also funding the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, which has been managed by Shelter Scotland since 2010. The Partnership provides practical assistance to councils and others to help owners bring their empty properties back into use.

At local authority level, the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc.) (Scotland) Act 2012 and its subsequent regulations allow councils to both remove the discount on certain types of unoccupied homes and to increase the level of council tax payable on these properties. 20 Councils are currently applying the vacant dwelling council tax powers with 17 applying the full 100% increase.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on police officer statistics at local authority level. Police Scotland publish sub-national officer numbers at divisional level on a quarterly basis. http://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/police-scotland/212598/