Chamber and committees

We are obviously sympathetic to home owners and their situation. We are getting feedback from Aberdeen City Council and other local authorities on the feedback that they are getting. When I go up there to visit residents, I will probably hear that. We continue to push the UK Government for funding, but it has so far refused. The latest response from the UK Government makes it clear that it does not intend to provide any funding and that the issue is devolved.

There are a number of points to make. I know that the UK Government approach was very much based on hospitals and education buildings, but there was not an extensive look at the RAAC issue in the UK. We continue to push for that. As you know, the budget is set against continued and unprecedented pressures on the public finances, which is one of the issues. We will continue to push the UK Government on that point, and any support that we can get from the committee or from Mr Griffin’s Labour Party colleagues would be extremely helpful.

We have talked about IStructE, which does not define RAAC as a defective material, and it is still widely used. Again, it depends very much on whether we are talking about a repair, demolition and so on. We will continue to look at the issue, but we will need support from the UK Government for any such remediation programme going forward. We will continue to push the matter; the previous UK Government said that it would fund necessary improvements, but obviously there has been a change of Government. The current Government has not, so far, refused to provide funding to help us in that regard, but we will continue to look at the issue as we move forward.

That was one of the key things from Grenfell, and there have been close governmental discussions on that and on cladding.

I will bring in Stephen Garvin on that broader point and then Alan Johnston in relation to the discussions, because it is being discussed on a UK-wide basis.

The first issue comes back to the cladding assurance register, what happens once a building has been remediated and what we do going ahead. I will bring Alan Johnston in on that particular point. The second point is incredibly important, and it was one of the main issues—if not the main issue—that came through in the Grenfell inquiry. That is a reserved matter, and the UK Government has a green paper out on construction product regulation, but we are working very closely with it on that particular point.

I will bring in Alan Johnston on the cladding assurance register, which was set up and designed to pick up on the particular issue that you were talking about. I will bring in Stephen Garvin on the second point, which came out of the Grenfell inquiry and is really important.

I will bring Alan Johnston in, because he has been involved in the discussions. It is safe to say that those discussions have been very good and there are now minor things that we need to tie up. As discussed during previous committee sessions, the process, as with the SBA, has been about engaging with developers to ensure that their concerns were picked up uniformly. I have met developers individually and collectively as we developed the developer remediation contract and we are very close to getting it signed. Although there is some commercial confidentiality in the process, it is important to say that discussions have been collaborative and I thank the sector for its efforts so far.

I will bring in Stephen Garvin on that point, because there is broader building safety work that is being done around capacity.

I am happy to come back to the committee and Ms Gallacher on that point as it develops. We are working very closely with the UK Government on the actions following Grenfell, so there will be on-going discussions on that.

One issue is that each local authority is slightly different in terms of where the RAAC is in their areas. The situation is different in West Lothian, Clacks and Aberdeen. Our approach is based on what the local authorities’ approach would be, which has given them flexibility in their local approaches. Working collaboratively with local authorities is the key thing in that regard.

If members have specific concerns, I am happy to pick those up with local authorities. As I said, I have engaged with all local authorities that have issues with RAAC. If the committee or individual members have any specific concerns, I am happy to pick those up and take them forward. We expect the local authorities to take that approach.

I have engaged with local authorities and I think that they have been engaging with tenants and home owners on that point. If there are any specific issues and if members think that local authorities should be doing more or there is feedback from residents on that, I am happy to pick those issues up with Mr Griffin or with other committee members.

I do not know whether colleagues have anything to add on that. We continue to engage with all local authorities, and officials do so on a regular basis. Stephen Garvin might want to talk about that.

The issue has been raised with the committee before. There is a role for all of us as MSPs to ensure that the culture change that you have just asked about happens; indeed, we have probably all had cases of constituents being blamed by their landlords. I am also aware of an evidence session that you had with Tenants Together Scotland and various local authorities, and I think that guidance to local authorities will be incredibly important in this area. The issue is becoming more prevalent since the sad case of Awaab Ishak, because people are now aware of their rights. That is an incredibly important part of the issue, and it has been acknowledged in the amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Bill that we have lodged.

In my introductory remarks, I touched on the Scottish Housing Regulator’s new indicators for damp and mould, which I think will help here, and there is a role for the Government to disseminate that information, working with local authorities. After reading the evidence from Tenants Together Scotland and others, I think that there is a role for all of us, whether local authorities or whoever, to ensure that people are aware so that the sort of thing that you have highlighted does not happen and that tenants know that they have the right to have their property repaired in good time. The amendment and the indicators will set a direction of travel by which people will be made aware of their rights, and their behaviours will not be blamed.

There are a number of things to highlight. A key issue is that we were keen to discuss the matter with the United Kingdom Government, and to work very closely together on it. We have certainly had those discussions and have tried to follow what it has been looking at.

As you know, our amendment was lodged on 17 March, and it will be discussed formally at committee. It gives Scottish ministers the power to introduce, through secondary legislation, timescales for social landlords to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and to commence repairs in that respect. It will also allow us to consider additional health-related hazards that should be covered by regulations in Scotland and, again, we will be very much following examples in the rest of the UK.

We have committed to further engagement and consultation across the sector and with tenants prior to the introduction of secondary legislation, and I think that that will be really important. Obviously, we are working with the regulator on the issue, too.

Another key thing will be to set out clearer rules and responsibilities when it comes to investigating and commencing repairs of hazards, although that is probably a matter for the consultation.

A key issue at the moment is, as you have mentioned, enforcing the right. That will also be part of our further engagement, and I am happy to come back to the committee on the matter, either in person or in writing, as we progress our discussions. It is really important that we engage with local authorities and others on what that will actually look like.

Again, it comes back to working with the other stakeholders. We will be working closely with local authorities and other social landlords on that point. I am happy to come back to or to write to the committee on it, but it is part of the further consultation that is already happening.