Chamber and committees

Minister, we are all aware of the tremendous challenges that every organisation faces because of the financial situation and tight budgets. Is there a danger that pressures on the public finances will dilute the importance of the quality aspects of procurement activity?

I hear what you say about the ideal approach, but the evidence that we have been getting is that some of the key contracting authorities in Scotland are struggling in relation to having the resources and the skills to do the work. We asked one panel whether the cheapest deal should be taken or the deal that would give savings over a period, consistently and sustainably. The problem for some of the authorities was that they do not have the resources to do the more complex calculations that are important for long-term investment. How can you support them in that?

In fact, insurance is the next thing that I will ask about, because the situation is quite serious. I understand that insurance has been kept in place for all the properties, but there is still a big question, because insurance is not intended to cover RAAC, so the replacement of RAAC will probably be for the owners to fund in some way. I imagine that RAAC is present mainly as cladding on blocks of flats and so on, as opposed to individual houses—is that correct?

Stakeholders were also keen to stress that a focus on social housing should not mean that we neglect retrofitting and building green homes. A couple of questions arise from that. First, how can we continue to pursue the goal of zero emissions from homes? Perhaps I can give you an example. Quite a number of my constituents live in conservation areas and are unable to install solar panels or anything else that would contribute to zero emissions. I know that other councils take the same view; apparently, the legislation does not permit them to allow that sort of development in conservation areas. You are never going to get zero emissions if people in conservation areas are not allowed to pursue those things.

Also, what progress has been made on the green heat finance task force?

A number of stakeholders have indicated that there should be a focus on increasing the availability of social housing in response to the numbers of people who are homeless or in temporary accommodation. Should there be a particular focus on investing in social housing above and beyond any other priorities?

Secondly, how do you respond to suggestions that what happens should be driven, in part, by a national acquisition strategy? I know that councils buy back former council houses, but not in massive volumes. We keep talking about avoiding housing voids. For the past 20 years I have been hearing about housing voids and how to manage them, but here we still are—it is déjà vu all over again. We do not seem to be making a significant impact. How can we change that? How can we take a different approach?

When will the review be completed? When will we see a report?

Thank you, convener. I simply direct members to my declarations in the register of members’ interests, where I have indicated that I am a registered landlord for one property.

Good morning, minister. I would like to explore one or two issues around RAAC. Your letter on 9 April was very helpful in the update that it gave on the continuing work with Aberdeen City Council. However, the Scottish Housing Regulator’s survey found that 13 social landlords, nine of which were councils, have now identified the presence of RAAC in some of the homes that they provide to tenants.

If I recall correctly, RAAC was originally brought in back in the 1940s. Equally, drawing on information that I have from other committees that I sit on, it was never intended to last more than 30 years. Since the 1980s, there has been a stream of alerts from professionals drawing attention to the fact that RAAC was coming to the end of its life. Of course, that predates the Parliament, so I am not clear what happened when those initial warnings were given. I do not know how the Scottish Office at the time dealt with that.

However, coming back to RAAC and the councils, the matter is quite serious—it is serious in my constituency of Midlothian North and Musselburgh—so I would like to know what steps you are taking to support the councils that are affected to deal with the risks arising from the historical use of those materials. We are going back decades here, so we do not really know the scope of the RAAC problem, and it might take years to find that out. What support are you giving the councils?

As far as East Lothian Council is concerned, I would appreciate the opportunity to develop that discussion with you.

The cost will not be insignificant. Private residents will obviously face massive costs and they are probably unlikely to get tremendous support from the Government or local authorities. Therefore, we are mainly looking at housing authority and council houses. We are going back to the late 1940s, so how do we identify them? How do we ensure that the houses are identified and that they are safe for the tenants who are in them? Given what I said about the original plan that RAAC would have only a 30-year lifespan, how valid is it to say that they are safe?

What are your views on a national acquisition strategy?