Question reference: S6W-26932
- Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 19 April 2024
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to pursue the devolution of powers for a Building Safety Levy in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Programme for Government announced that we would be seeking the devolution of powers to introduce a levy equivalent to the UK Government’s Building Safety Levy for England, the revenues from which will be used to provide funding for the Scottish Government’s Cladding Remediation Programme.
As the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate for a new national tax in Scotland without devolution of powers from the UK Parliament, the Scottish Government has formally requested the transfer of powers from the UK Government under Section 80B of the Scotland Act 1998.
To inform the UK Government’s decision on this request, the Scottish and UK Governments launched a joint consultation on 8 January. The consultation ran for eight weeks, from 8 January 2024 to 19 February 2024. Respondents were asked to provide evidence that devolving the power may impose a disproportionate negative impact on UK macroeconomic policy or impede the single UK market in housebuilding. They were also asked whether the powers for a Building Safety Levy in Scotland should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish and UK Governments agree that the consultation has surfaced no evidence to prevent the transfer of powers from proceeding. As such, the UK Government has confirmed that it will proceed to legislate for the transfer of powers. An Order in Council will now be subject to scrutiny in both the UK and Scottish Parliaments.
The Scottish Government has been clear that it will do what is right and necessary to fix the issue of unsafe cladding fully and from the outset. This is a significant step towards ensuring that the appropriate funding is in place to meet the associated costs of doing this.
In line with our New Deal for Business, the Scottish Government will now proceed to engage with the residential property development sector and wider stakeholders to ensure that the design and delivery of the Levy is informed by the widest possible range of views. Our approach to design and delivery of tax policy will also be guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Tax.