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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: S6W-35894

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of whether the target for all (a) properties of private landlords reaching a minimum standard equivalent to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least band C by the end of 2028, (b) properties of homeowners reaching a minimum standard equivalent to an EPC rating of at least band C by the end of 2033, (c) building owners ending their use of polluting heating by 2045 and (d) buildings owned by a public authority using clean heating systems by the end of 2038, remains achievable.

Question reference: S6W-35895

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing regulations that would require people purchasing a property to comply with a prohibition on polluting heating in a specified amount of time following the completion of the sale.

Question reference: S6W-35896

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to cap the installation costs of clean heating systems.

Question reference: S6W-35897

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on legislating to give (a) it and (b) local authorities the power to require buildings in a heat network zone to end their use of polluting heating systems by a certain date, with a minimum notice period.

Question reference: S6W-35898

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on requiring (a) occupiers of non-domestic properties to provide information about unused heat on the premises and (b) buildings with unused heat to provide this to a heat network zone.

Question reference: S6W-35893

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid in total to date on staff costs for officials who have worked on the (a) proposed Heat in Buildings Bill and (b) Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-35592

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 19 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations in the Shelter Scotland report, In Their Own Words: Children’s Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, what immediate steps it is taking to guarantee that all temporary accommodation meets basic standards of safety, cleanliness and suitability for households with children, and what enforcement measures it will put in place to hold (a) landlords and (b) providers accountable.

Scottish local authorities use a diverse portfolio of temporary accommodation and there is a wide variety of legislation that caters for physical standards across these types of accommodation. These include the tolerable standard, which is a basic level of repair that applies to all property to make it habitable; the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, which applies to social rented sector properties; Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing for bed and breakfast accommodation and hostels; and the repairing standard in the private rented sector.

All local authorities should ensure that the temporary accommodation they provide to fulfil their duty to accommodate homeless households meets the temporary accommodation standards framework, published by the Scottish Government in 2023. The framework sets out the physical, location, service and management standards to ensure that temporary accommodation is of good quality and is safe, warm and affordable. Although consultation is required before the framework can be legally enforced, the framework was developed to ensure consistency in standards across all local authority areas.

The Scottish Housing Regulator assesses the compliance of all social landlords in meeting the tolerable standard and Scottish Housing Quality Standard, and would be obliged to assess landlords’ performance on meeting the temporary accommodation standards framework once it is enforced. Work is required to develop indicators to enable the Scottish Housing Regulator to assess local authority performance against the framework. In the meantime, social landlords should ensure that their temporary accommodation meets these standards.

Question reference: S6T-02395

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people live in safe, warm homes, in light of reports that the number of properties falling below the "tolerable standard" in order to be fit for habitation has increased from an estimated 54,000 in 2018 to 729,000 in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-34529

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 28 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what the average time is for a deposit to be returned to a tenant following the end of their tenancy agreement.

Question reference: S6W-34531

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 28 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the maximum time period a tenant has to claim the return of a deposit following the end of their tenancy agreement.

A tenant can start the reclaim process for a deposit return at any point on or past the date on which their tenancy ends. In cases where a landlord has commenced the reclaim process first, a tenant has 30 working days to advise whether or not they agree to the proposed return amount. In either situation, where a tenant or landlord does not agree with the proposed return by the other party, there is a dispute resolution system in place.

If neither the tenant or landlord commences the repayment process, the tenant can log on to their deposit account and request a reclaim at any point. There is no statutory time limit on a tenant being able reclaim their deposit and currently any funds that are considered to be unclaimed are held indefinitely by the tenancy deposit schemes in a designated account.