Thank you for declaring your interest.

I thank both of you for your attendance today. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, both Professor Doherty and Dr Sudmant were unable to participate in the committee’s inquiry this morning, but I am assured that they have been watching the questions and that they will write to the committee with evidence on their areas of expertise where they feel that they can add value to our inquiry.

At our next meeting, we will continue to take evidence on the draft climate change plan, hearing from a second panel of witnesses on implications of the plan for the NHS in Scotland.

That concludes the public part of our meeting.

10:32

Meeting continued in private until 11:31.

Good morning, and welcome to the second meeting in 2026 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received apologies from Elena Whitham MSP for today’s meeting.

Agenda item 1 is for the committee to agree on whether to take items 3, 4 and 6 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

I call Sandesh Gulhane.

We will need to move on, Ms Harper, as there is a request for a brief supplementary.

No—on you go.

I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I hold a bank nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Last week, welcome figures were published that showed that, through action from the SNP Government, long waits in the NHS have decreased for six months in a row, with significant year-on-year increases in activity. How will the budget assist in the on-going recovery of Scotland’s NHS?

I must ask Mr Hoy to let me make a wee bit of progress.

I thank members of the Finance and Public Administration Committee for their careful and detailed consideration, which has brought us to this point today. The committee has had to consider a multitude of complex, interwoven and sometimes competing factors, and to do so in what remains a very challenging context, given the clear need to increase housing supply in light of Scotland’s housing emergency and the on-going challenges facing the sector, which were exacerbated by Brexit, the pandemic and other UK-wide and global events affecting its bottom lines and supply chains.

It is important that we acknowledge the impact of the situation on many people’s lives. It has been a stressful and concerning time for home owners and residents across Scotland who are living in buildings with potentially unsafe cladding.

I am sure that many of my colleagues will have heard about the difficulties that their constituents have been facing. In my Rutherglen constituency, I have been supporting constituents who have faced a variety of issues with their properties. I will give just a few examples. People have been seeking information and support about external wall system fire review forms—known as EWS1 forms—and single building assessments. Others have come to me with issues that they have experienced in communicating with their building’s original developer or their factor. I have heard from landlords who are worried about the on-going affordability of maintaining their properties as insurance costs have spiralled and from tenants who are worried about the safety of their homes and the sustainability of their tenancies.

Other people have related issues with properties being unmortgageable, which causes problems if circumstances lead to their home having to be put up for sale, including in cases of probate. Some of my constituents have had to seek letters of comfort to move forward, because they have been caught in that period in which assessments have been completed but the work has not yet been scheduled or completed, and their life circumstances have meant that they have had to move on.

Based on current contact, and my contact with the previous housing minister and other bodies on behalf of my constituents, it has always been clear to me that the Scottish Government is committed to acting to protect home owners and residents, and it has been clear to me that the safety of residents and home owners is the ultimate and utmost priority of the Scottish Government, as it absolutely must be.

However, I completely understand and appreciate the frustrations that have been expressed to me about how long people have been living with stress, worry and uncertainty surrounding the issue. There is a clear need for legislation so that we can do what is right and necessary to address the challenge of fixing buildings that are affected by unsafe cladding.

The cost of cladding remediation has, completely understandably, always been a cause of concern for the residents who have been in touch with me, so it is imperative that we put in place funding arrangements that ensure that those costs do not fall directly on affected home owners—and, indeed, are not passed on indirectly to their tenants, if applicable. The costs of remediation are considerable, with the latest estimates indicating that we could be looking at a cost of £1.7 billion over a 15-year period.

Craig Hoy has raised an important point. As I have mentioned, some remediation has taken place in my constituency, but at this point in time, for the people who are affected, we have to move forward, get remediation and make those homes safe.

The scale of the challenge is significant, and so is the progress that has been made so far through the collective efforts of developers, local authorities, social landlords and Government. Colleagues will have received correspondence and briefings from stakeholders, including developers, over the past weeks and months.

The continued co-operation of developers, who have accepted responsibility for the assessment of their buildings and any required mitigation and remediation, has been very welcome. They share our determination to keep people safe, and the levy outlined in the general principles of the bill will ensure that they make a fair contribution towards doing so, just as they will in England.

As the bill has been developed, it has been crucial to remain mindful of the need for new housing in Scotland, the importance of avoiding any unintended or disproportionate impacts on the new-housing sector and the viability of much-needed new developments. With the addition of exemptions for areas where there are more acute housing pressures and the levy-free allowance to protect small and medium-sized developers, I am pleased that the Scottish Government has reached a point at which it shares the UK Government’s assessment of its equivalent legislation—that the levy is not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impacts and that any negative impacts on the housing supply will be small.

Today, we are being asked to agree to the general principles of the bill at stage 1, and there will naturally be further discussions, refinements and amendments as it continues to move through Parliament. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will listen very carefully to the points that members make today.

I am pleased to support the general principles of the bill today. I look forward to its further development and the reassurance and peace of mind that it will provide to my constituents and to everyone else who has been affected by this issue.

The SNP Government is increasing teacher numbers, attainment and attendance. How is the record funding for education, which I note that the member who asked the original question did not vote for, ensuring that the pupil to teacher ratio continues to improve and is comparatively better than elsewhere in the United Kingdom?

I know that colleagues across the chamber are united in our understanding and our resolve with regard to the reason for this bill being before Parliament today. The tragic series of events at Grenfell in 2017 must never be forgotten and must never be witnessed again.

In the years since then, the Scottish Government has been unwavering in its commitment to do what is necessary and right to fully assess and address the remediation of buildings across Scotland that are fitted with unsafe cladding.