Select statements included within a function cannot return data to a client: SQL server 2014

I am writing a scalar valued function in SQL Server which takes input from 3 tables (uses a left outer join) and returns 1 variable called response_string. Here's the function code:[quote]CREATE FUNCTION [hsip].[getTempResponseById](@cRegion CHAR(2) = '00',@cState_Code CHAR(2) = '00',@nFY NUMERIC(4,0) = 0,@nREPORT_ID NUMERIC(2,0) = 0,@nSECTION_ID NUMERIC(2,0) = 0,@nSUBSECTION_ID NUMERIC(2,0) = 0,@nQUESTION_NUMBER NUMERIC(38,0) = 0,@nDISPLAY_NUMBER NUMERIC(38,0) = 0,@nQUESTION_PART_NUMBER NUMERIC(38,0) = 0,@sUSER_ID VARCHAR(25) = NULL,@nROW_NUMBER AS INTEGER,@nCOLUMN_NUMBER AS INTEGER)RETURNS VARCHAR(MAX) ASBEGIN DECLARE @sRESPONSE_STRING VARCHAR set @sRESPONSE_STRING =(SELECT QD.FY_ST_QUESTION_DTL_TABLE_ID,qi.display_number,QI.QUESTION_NUMBER, qd.question_part_number from FY_ST_QUESTION_INFO qi, FY_ST_QUESTION_DETAIL qd where qi.region = @cRegion and qi.state_code = @cState_Code and qi.fy = @nFY and qi.report_id = @nREPORT_ID and qi.section_id = @nSECTION_ID and qi.subsection_id = @nSUBSECTION_ID and qi.display_number = @nDISPLAY_NUMBER and qi.QUESTION_NUMBER = @nQUESTION_NUMBER and ( QI.REPORTER_ID = @sUSER_ID or QI.DELEGATE_ID = @sUSER_ID or QI.SUB_DELEGATE_ID = @sUSER_ID ) and QD.FY_ST_QUESTION_INFO_TABLE_ID = QI.FY_ST_QUESTION_INFO_TABLE_ID)fq left outer join ( select distinct FY_ST_QUESTION_DTL_TABLE_ID, AD.RESPONSE_STRING from UPLOAD_TEMP_DATA ad where ad.region = @cRegion and ad.state_code = @cState_Code and ad.fy = @nFY and ad.report_id = @nREPORT_ID and ad.section_id = @nSECTION_ID and ad.subsection_id = @nSUBSECTION_ID and ad.display_number = @nDISPLAY_NUMBER and ad.QUESTION_NUMBER = @nQUESTION_NUMBER and ad.QUESTION_PART_NUMBER = @nQUESTION_PART_NUMBER and AD.ROW_NUMBER = @nROW_NUMBER and AD.COLUMN_NUMBER = @nCOLUMN_NUMBER )aq on fq.fy_st_question_dtl_table_id = aq.FY_ST_QUESTION_DTL_TABLE_ID RETURN @sRESPONSE_STRING;[/quote]Can someone suggest a workaround for this. I have researched online and tried inline function but,that didn't work as I am not returning a table here. It is just a single variable.Thanks