A study examined the health and well-being impacts of moving into new, general purpose, social housing provided by registered social landlords in Scotland. Moving to new social housing was associated with improvements reported in the quality of the home (particularly in terms of damp, and warmth) and in the quality of the local neighbourhood. There was some limited evidence that self-reported health had improved.
Source: Ade Kearns, Mark Petticrew, Caroline Hoy, Phil Mason and Catherine Ferrell, The Effects of Social Housing on Health and Wellbeing: Initial findings from the SHARP study, Communities Scotland (0131 313 0044)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
A report said that as many as 40 per cent of routine household planning applications in Scotland could be taken out of the system. 97 per cent of householder developments were approved, and most did not raise issues significant enough to warrant restrictive conditions.
Source: Alan Prior et al., Review of the General Permitted Development Order 1992: Householder Development, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Dec
The Scottish Executive published (following consultation) a long-term transport strategy, designed to improve journey times and connections; reduce emissions; and improve the quality, accessibility, and affordability of transport. It proposed road pricing to cut congestion by making city driving more expensive than rural routes. At the same time it published action plans for buses and railways.
Source: Scotland's National Transport Strategy, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283) | An Action Plan for Buses in Scotland, Scottish Executive | Scotland's Railways, Scottish Executive
Links: Strategy | Summary | SE press release | Bus plan | Railways plan | Consultation responses (1) | Consultation responses (2) | BBC report
Date: 2006-Dec
A paper examined the 2012 target in Scotland to eliminate homelessness - focusing on temporary accommodation provided for homeless people, and the variety of forms this shelter could take. There was little if any standardization of temporary accommodation, resulting in discrepancies between households and in some cases substandard accommodation.
Source: Temporary Accommodation for Homeless People: The need for standard guidelines, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (0131 225 4544)
Links: Discussion paper
Date: 2006-Dec
A report said that social rented housing in Scotland might accommodate only 8 per cent of households in Scotland by 2020 - a drop of nearly 70 per cent from the existing level of just over 26 per cent. The people living in social rented housing would be more likely to be young single adult households and people with some form of support need.
Source: The Future for Social Renting in Scotland, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (0131 225 4544)
Links: Report | CIH press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A report examined affordable housing need across Scotland. It said that there was a mixed pattern of shortages and surpluses (social rented as well as low-cost housing for ownership). It forecast an overall rise in need in the short term, and a fall in the longer term.
Source: Glen Bramley, Noah Kofi Karley and David Watkins, Local Housing Need and Affordability Model for Scotland: Update (2005 based), Communities Scotland (0131 313 0044)
Links: Report | Communities Scotland press release | Shelter press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A briefing paper summarized research into the experiences of local authorities in Scotland in delivering affordable housing. Most respondents said that quotas for affordable housing were better defined by the local housing strategy in response to local needs than through a policy standard.
Source: Lindsey Dyck, Review of Responses to CIH Scotland Survey on Planning for Affordable Housing, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (0131 225 4544)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2006-Nov
A report prepared for the Scottish Executive examined the links between transport and health at policy and practice levels.
Source: Steer Davies Gleave with Tom Rye and Dermot Gorman, Joined Up Policy and Practice in Health and Transport, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Date: 2006-Nov
The Scottish Parliament approved a Bill to reform the planning system in Scotland. The Bill provided for a hierarchy in the planning system, whereby planning applications would be dealt with differently, depending on whether they were developments of national, major, local, or minor significance.
Source: Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SE press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A report by a committee of MSPs gave support to the general principles of the Transport and Works Bill, designed to establish a new system for authorizing major transport projects.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill, 15th Report 2006, SP Paper 668, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Transport Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Nov
An article examined the delivery of housing association rented homes in rural Scotland, and whether deficiencies related to policy weakness or implementation problems.
Source: Madhu Satsangi, '"The best laid plans "? An assessment of housing association provision in rural Scotland', Policy & Politics, Volume 34 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Oct
A report examined the extent to which housing affordability had been a restraint on effective labour supply in Scotland. The evidence collected as part of the study did not support the view that there had been a general affordability problem in the owner-occupied sector in recent years. There had been affordability pressures for low-income, single-earner households since around the late 1990s: but these had moderated.
Source: Andrea Glass, Alan McGregor, Alex McTier, Tony O Sullivan and Gillian Young, Affordable Housing and the Labour Market in Scotland, Communities Scotland (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Oct
A report examined the growing problem of European migrant workers becoming homeless in Scotland. Migrant workers were making a significant contribution to the Scottish economy: but they were vulnerable to homelessness, and could have difficulty in accessing appropriate services. Their status as migrants could also make it complex for local authorities, and other service providers, to respond effectively to their needs.
Source: Homeless A8 Migrant Workers: The Scottish experience, Scottish Council for Single Homeless (0131 226 4382)
Links: Summary | SCSH press release
Date: 2006-Sep
Researchers examined the views and experiences of 'right to buy' among tenants, purchasers, and purchasers of former 'right to buy' properties. For individuals exercising the right to buy, impacts included changes in attitude and expectations towards home ownership, an increased sense of freedom, ability to undertake home improvements, and a sense of financial stability. For some communities, the right to buy had improved their neighbourhood socially and structurally: but negative impacts included reduced rental housing stock, and declines in other neighbourhoods.
Source: Jenny Holt Brook, Andrea Kinver and Valerie Strachan, Views and Experiences of the Right to Buy Amongst Tenants and Purchasers, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283) | The Right to Buy in Scotland: Pulling Together the Evidence, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop
Links: Report | Summary | Statutory report | SE press release | Shelter press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report examined a range of support service models intended to help prevent homelessness, or to resolve homelessness when it did occur, in rural and remote rural areas in Scotland.
Source: Mark Bevan and Julie Rugg, Providing Homelessness Support Services in Rural and Remote Rural Areas: Exploring models for providing more effective local support, Communities Scotland (0131 313 0044)
Date: 2006-Sep
An audit report said that the Scottish Executive had performed well against most of its transport policy targets. But more action was needed to tackle traffic congestion, reduce a backlog in local road repairs, and strengthen financial support for concessionary travel.
Source: Scottish Executive: An Overview of the Performance of Transport in Scotland, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Sep
The Scottish Executive published (following consultation) new planning guidelines designed to promote a wider social and economic role for Scotland's town centres. The guidelines said that town centres should be the first choice for shopping and related developments: out-of-centre and out-of-town sites should only be acceptable if central options were unsuitable.
Source: Scottish Planning Policy SPP 8: Town Centres and Retailing, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Guidelines | SE press release
Date: 2006-Aug
The Scottish Executive began consultation on measures designed to protect open spaces. All local authorities would, for the first time, have to carry out an audit of, and prepare a strategy for, open space in their area. There would be a presumption against development on existing valued open space.
Source: Consultation on Scottish Planning Policy 11: Physical Activity and Open Space, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Consultation document | SE press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Aug
A literature review examined housing for older people, in order to help identify the future requirements, and provision, of older people's housing and housing support in Scotland.
Source: Francesca Richards, Gill Walker and Lorelei Jarvis, Time to Move? A literature review of housing for older people, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A paper examined whether improving the quality of housing in Scotland was sufficient to meet community needs and expectations, or whether there was also a need to consider the environment in which houses were located. It assessed the idea of some form of community environment standard.
Source: Improving the Neighbourhood: A community environment standard for Scotland?, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (0131 225 4544)
Links: Discussion paper
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined travel plan activity throughout Scotland, with a particular focus on local authorities, regional transport partnerships, and large employers. Experience of travel plans was still relatively limited, and few plans had developed fully to implementation of measures and monitoring.
Source: Halcrow Group Limited, The Provision of Travel Plans: Mapping activity in Scotland, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Date: 2006-Jun
A study examined the knowledge, views, and understanding of homelessness by service providers in Scotland. Just over half (55 per cent) of respondents did not feel that the abolition of the criterion of priority need was fair, and 59 per cent felt that the plan to suspend the criterion of local connection was not fair.
Source: Lyn Jardine and Kate Bilton, Knowledge, Understanding and Views of Homelessness amongst Service Providers, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Summary | CIH press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report explored and assessed a wide range of potential improvements to public transport for disabled people in Scotland. Greater equality of travel opportunity would require a range of co-ordinated schemes and initiatives tailored to both the local physical environment, the needs of specific people in any local area, and dovetailing with existing transport opportunities. All modes of transport needed to be included, as did longer journeys that spanned more than one local area.
Source: Pat MacLeod, Anna Dudleston, Philip Barham and Tom Rye, Improved Public Transport for Disabled People, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Date: 2006-May
A report by a committee of MSPs said that it welcomed the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill (designed to modernize the planning system, make it more efficient, and give local people better opportunities to influence decisions).
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill, 5th Report 2006, SP Paper 552, Scottish Parliament Communities Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-May
An article drew on a study of registered social landlords in Scotland to explore the role and impact of housing organizations in developing social capital in deprived communities.
Source: John Flint and Ade Kearns, 'Housing, neighbourhood renewal and social capital: the case of registered social landlords in Scotland', European Journal of Housing Policy, Volume 6 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
Campaigners said that the increased attention being paid in Scotland to the prevention of homelessness was welcome: but there was a danger that an over-emphasis on this type of activity could lead to people being denied their rights under homelessness legislation.
Source: Homelessness Prevention in Scotland, Shelter Scotland (0131 473 7170)
Links: Report | Shelter Scotland press release
Date: 2006-Apr
The Scottish Executive began consultation on the key strategic issues for transport in Scotland.
Source: Scotland s National Transport Strategy: A consultation, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2006-Apr
An article examined housing reform in Scotland since devolution in 1999. In respect of some goals, especially achieving greater social justice, the reforms were likely to make considerable inroads: but the goals opened up areas of conflict that were not fully acknowledged or resolved.
Source: Keith Kintrea, 'Having it all? Housing reform under devolution', Housing Studies, Volume 21 Number 2
Links: Abstract
>Date: 2006-Mar
The Scottish Executive announced that it was setting a target of reducing carbon emissions by 2.7 million tonnes by 2010 - compared to the 1.7 million tonnes required as its part of a United Kingdom commitment to cut greenhouse gases.
Source: Changing Our Ways: Scotland's climate change programme, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
An audit report said that the transfer of council housing ownership in Scotland was bringing benefits for tenants. There had been more investment in properties, and greater tenant control. It was facilitating increased repairs and maintenance and the building of new homes, and was keeping rent increases down.
Source: Council Housing Transfers, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Summary | Audit Scotland press release | SE press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report said that the Scottish Executive's target to have 40 per cent of electricity generated in Scotland from renewable sources was achievable.
Source: Thomas Boehme, Jamie Taylor, Robin Wallace and Janusz Bialek, Matching Renewable Electricity Generation With Demand, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Summary | SE press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A report examined English regional transport strategies, and drew lessons for Scotland. It said that the strategies were generally strong on identifying how the strategy varied across the region, with a distinction made between policies for rural areas, key urban areas, and other urban settlements.
Source: Atkins, Review of Regional Transport Strategies in the UK, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Feb
An Act was passed in Scotland to address problems of the condition and quality in private sector housing.
Source: Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes
Date: 2006-Jan