Question reference: S6W-05917
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 27 January 2022
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 February 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support will be made available to households to help meet the new fire alarm standard, in light of the recent increase in energy prices and the extra pressure this puts on household budgets.
Answer
We know that some homeowners may not be able to meet the cost of fitting the necessary alarms which is why we provided £500,000 through Care and Repair Scotland to help elderly and disabled people. We have also made available a further £500,000 to Care and Repair to extend this support beyond 1 February 2022.
This is in addition to the £1m funding provided to SFRS for its Home Fire Safety Visit programme to owner occupied properties assessed to be at high risk from fire.
We also provided £15m loan funding to social landlords to support them to fit compliant alarms for all tenants.
Flexibility is built into the existing legislation through a provision setting out that the work should be done “within such period as is reasonable in all the circumstances”, allowing flexibility for home owners unable to install alarms by 1 February 2022.