Chamber and committees

BS 8414 testing and BR 135 assessments were removed as an alternative compliance route for buildings covered by the combustible cladding ban in 2022. BS 8414 remains available for buildings outside the ban’s scope.

In response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report, a wider review of fire safety standards is underway, informed by recent evidence, UK Government research on BS 8414 and developments in fire performance testing.

As part of the Scottish Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report, a full review of Section 2 (Fire) of the building standards will strengthen, and not weaken, fire safety standards in Scotland. This review is being informed by a Call for Evidence, undertaken between 16 January and 10 April 2026, which will identify fire safety priorities for review. The review will be advised by an independent expert panel, and supported by targeted research and stakeholder engagement. These measures will ensure that future changes are evidence-based, technically robust and improve fire safety outcomes.

The latest data for the position to the end of March 2016 demonstrated that there were 16 Government funded SBAs completed and 1 developer led SBA completed.

The Scottish Government are seeking to accelerate progress in a number of ways.

Those in receipt of grant funding are required to initiate the SBA within a required time frame, and we will only provide final funding upon receipt of a completed SBA.

Since the SBA is a relatively new standard, we have run workshops with the industry on how the SBA works in practice and to identify any challenges in application. We have also engaged directly with factors to better understand barriers to commissioning assessments and to support a more consistent and timely approach across the private sector. This engagement is helping to identify practical solutions to issues affecting delivery and inform ongoing improvements to programme guidance and support.

We have commissioned Local Delivery Plans from Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords whose buildings currently comprise over 75% of the programme. These plans provide greater visibility of assessment timelines and key milestones enabling us to monitor progress more closely, engage where delays arise and hold delivery partners to account for delivery.

The same data release demonstrated that 149 Government-funded SBAs and 21 developer-led SBAs were underway. As SBAs involve detailed assessment of complex buildings, they can take time to complete; however, the significant number currently underway demonstrates progress. Importantly, where an SBA identifies urgent life-safety concerns, action to mitigate risk can be taken immediately and does not depend on the assessment being fully completed.

The next data release, covering the position to the end of June, will be published on 15 September. For the first time, this will include information on the number of completed SBAs that have been submitted to the Scottish Government for review and compliance checking against the published SBA standard, providing a more complete picture of assessment progress.

The Scottish Government is aware of recent decisions of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England concerning the application of PAS 9980 assessments and remediation obligations under the Building Safety Act 2022.

These decisions were made within the legal framework that applies in England and Wales and do not alter the legal framework for building safety in Scotland. Decisions on building assessment and remediation in Scotland continue to be taken in accordance with Scottish legislation, building standards and the evidence available for individual buildings.

The cases nevertheless highlight an important principle: a fire risk assessment is one source of professional evidence and does not, in itself, determine whether remedial works may ultimately be necessary. Decisions on remediation require consideration of the full range of evidence available, including the construction of the building, the nature and condition of materials present, fire safety measures and any additional information obtained through assessment and investigation.

That is why the Scottish Government's Single Building Assessment (SBA) takes a holistic approach to assessing cladding risk in buildings, and in doing so considering a broad range of factors. Where further investigation is identified as necessary to establish the nature and extent of any risk, this can form part of the evidence used in determining appropriate next steps.

We will continue to monitor developments in building safety policy, practice and case law across the UK and consider any relevant lessons that may support our objective of ensuring residents are safe and feel safe in their homes.

Since 2019, we have taken a range of actions to increase benefit take-up among older people. This includes promoting Pension Age Disability Payment through advertising campaigns and working with advice services, local authorities, health services and third sector organisations to raise awareness of entitlements through trusted local channels. Pension Age Winter Heating Payment is paid automatically to the vast majority of eligible people, reducing barriers to accessing support.

We also invest in free welfare, debt and income maximisation advice services, including support for Citizens Advice Scotland's Money Talk Team, which supported over 12,000 older people in 2025-26 and helped secure over £5.3 million in financial gains.

Reserved benefits, including Pension Credit remains the responsibility of the UK Government, and the Scottish Government has no formal role in the administration of these payments. While Scotland has the highest take-up rate of Pension Credit in Britain, through our next Benefit Take-Up Strategy, we will continue to tackle barriers to take-up and explore opportunities to raise awareness of this payment to people in Scotland. We continue to urge the UK Government to follow Scotland’s lead by introducing its own Benefit Take-Up Strategy.

As More Homes Scotland is currently being established, arrangements for monitoring and evaluating its performance remain under development. Appropriate governance, accountability and scrutiny arrangements will assess the agency’s effectiveness and impact, including its contribution to increasing housing supply, delivering affordable homes and addressing homelessness.

To meet the eligibility conditions relating to age for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, someone must have been born on or before 27 June 1960, for winter 2026-27. People born after this date but before 27 September 1960 would have been eligible under the previous State Pension age, by turning 66 before the end of the qualifying week which ends 27 September 2026. The Scottish Government does not hold details of the number of people who would previously have been eligible. However, National Records of Scotland publish forecasts of the number of people expected to be 66 years old at the mid-point of each year, which could help illustrate an approximate number of people turning 66 between the June and September time-period. These forecast scan be found here https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/projected-population-of-scotland-2024-based/.

At present, there are no plans to review the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP) eligibility rules. The delivery of PAWHP relies on data received annually from the Department for Work and Pensions and Ministry of Defence. The qualifying week is set out in regulations and supports the efficient delivery of automatic payments by ensuring eligible individuals can be identified ahead of winter period.

People who reach State Pension age after the qualifying week are not entitled to PAWHP for that winter and will become eligible from the following year. We recognise that the increase in State Pension age means some people will not reach pensionable age by the end of the qualifying week and therefore not qualify for a payment that year.

In 2025-2026 a total of £118.426 million was spent and a total of 1,683 affordable homes were delivered through acquisitions. The following table provides a breakdown of these figures by local authority area.

Table 1: Acquisition Funding

In 2024-25 the Scottish Government announced £40 million for acquisitions and voids, followed by a further £80 million in 2025-26, bringing the total funding commitment to £120 million. This funding is being delivered through local authority Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs). No separate allocation was made specifically for voids.

The following tables provides details on how much funding was spent on voids in each local authority area in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025-26.

Table 1: Voids 2024-2025