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 MSPs 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: S5W-27623

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how often its (a) directorates and (b) agencies are required to update their asset management plans.

Question reference: S5W-27627

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations ministers have met since November 2019 to discuss the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill.

Ministers engaged with organisations extensively throughout the consultation and Bill process. Since November 2019, Ministers have met with opposition party MSPs, COSLA and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, to discuss the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill. In addition, Scottish Government officials met with, and spoke to, a number of organisations including representatives from COSLA, the Institute of Revenue Rating and Valuation, the Scottish Assessors Association, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Scottish Retail Consortium, and the Scottish Property Federation.

Question reference: S5W-27625

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update its January 2008 asset management review.

Question reference: S5W-27633

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding will be made available for local authorities to enable them to process applications for short-term let licences following the introduction of a licensing scheme.

Question reference: S5W-27632

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details of the proposed licensing scheme for short-term lets.

Question reference: S5W-27629

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts it is making to ensure that tenants in the private-rented sector are made aware of the procedure that landlords must follow to commence eviction, including the function and rules of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

Under the new private residential tenancy (PRT) all landlords must provide a tenant with the written terms of their tenancy and either the ‘ Easy-read notes ’ which accompany the Scottish Government’s Model Tenancy Agreement , or the ‘ Private Residential Tenancy Statutory Terms Supporting Notes ’ – both of which set out the full eviction process a landlord must follow, along with guidance on accessing the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

If it is a new tenant, the landlord must give them these documents before the end of the day on which the tenancy starts. If the tenant already lives in the property under a different type of agreement, they must be given the documents within 28 days of the tenancy becoming a PRT.

A change has recently been made to the opening pages of the Scottish Government’s Model Tenancy Agreement which aims to provide tenants with a summary of their new rights under the PRT, including accessing the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

Question reference: S5W-27630

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures in The Juridical Review, which record a 95% tenant eviction rate by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

Whether a tenant is on a Short Assured, Assured or Private Residential Tenancy - there are clear legal processes that all private landlords must follow, when evicting a tenant.

The Scottish Government recognises that certain issues, such as rent arrears, can be a serious concern for landlords and agrees that a landlord must be able to recover possession of their property, when they follow the correct legal procedures for eviction.

The law states that a landlord cannot evict a tenant in the private rented sector in Scotland without an eviction order from the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber). If a tenant is reluctant to leave a let property, their landlord must follow the correct legal procedures to bring the tenancy to an end and remove the tenant from the property. In order to bring a tenancy to an end, a landlord must serve the correct notice(s) and obtain an eviction order before a property can be recovered and a tenant evicted. If a landlord tries to persuade or force their tenants to leave without following the correct legal process then they could be carrying out an illegal eviction.

It is important to note that the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) is an independent judicial body and is completely independent of the Scottish Government. Scottish Ministers have no powers to intervene in, or express a view on, any of its action or decisions.

Question reference: S5W-27373

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many discretionary reporting restrictions, which are not mandated by statute, have been placed on criminal proceedings in courts in the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-27372

Asked by: Andy Wightman, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many times a court has been closed to the public in the last five years, apart from those occasions where rules specifically require a court to sit in private, and for what reason.

Question reference: S5W-27626

Current Status: Withdrawn