Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-19679

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in private sector buildings, including those that were initially built for the public sector, and how it will raise awareness of any problems related to its presence.

The focus of our activity remains engagement with public sector organisations to seek reassurance of both their awareness and any action identified on this issue. Maintaining the safety of buildings is the responsibility of building owners, and this includes responsibility for any assessment of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in private sector buildings.

Authoritative guidance on identification and assessment of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is already published by organisations such as the Institution of Structural Engineers. We continue to engage with the UK government and such organisations to understand and support broader action being taken to raise awareness of this risk topic across all sectors.

Question reference: S6W-19668

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will make available to NHS boards that find reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete present in (a) hospital buildings and (b) other NHS board buildings, in order to (i) manage and (ii) remove it.

NHS Scotland Assure are conducting a survey programme which will confirm how many buildings in the NHS Estate contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Once the extent of the programme is determined, the condition will be assessed, thereafter it will be possible to establish the management and removal plans that may be necessary. This means however, that it is not currently possible to assess what these plans might cost until the survey work is complete.

Question reference: S6W-19671

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects (a) local authorities, (b) NHS boards and (c) other public sector bodies to (i) have identified reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in buildings, (ii) publish risk management plans and (iii) remove it entirely.

Question reference: S6W-19684

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings ministers have had about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and whether it will publish the minutes and any other documentation that accompanied these.

Question reference: S6W-19672

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which public sector organisations have notified it that they have found or suspect reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete to be in their buildings.

The following organisations have contacted The Scottish Government on the presence or suspected presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within their building estate:

NHS Scotland
Police Scotland
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
East Lothian Council
West Lothian Council

We are in the process of contacting other public bodies to seek reassurance of both their awareness and of any action identified on this issue.

Question reference: S6W-19673

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish a register of public sector buildings that have been found to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Maintaining the safety of buildings is the responsibility of building owners. Our focus remains on engagement with public sector organisations to gauge awareness and response to this issue. This will include receipt of information on the status of buildings in the public sector. A decision on whether there is a need to establish a register of buildings would be based upon the information received and subsequent input from our Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety.

Question reference: S6W-19677

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified whether reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is present in any Scottish Government buildings.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken an inspection for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the Core SG Estate since 2021 and as such has not identified any reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the core SG estate.

A specialist has been appointed to support the development of a scope to undertake building inspection surveys which will also assist in identifying the presence of Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the Core Estate. The Core Estate is defined as those sites/buildings where SG Directorates operate from.

Question reference: S6W-19680

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6F-02291 by Humza Yousaf on 29 June 2023, whether it will establish a national fund to assist (a) NHS boards, (b) local authorities and (c) other public sector bodies.

Question reference: S6W-19686

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any estimate of the number of public sector buildings currently (a) partially and (b) fully closed due to issues related to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, broken down by (i) building type and (ii) location.

As noted in the reply to S6W-19672, five organisations have contacted The Scottish Government on the presence or suspected presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within their building estate.

At this time, the following public sector buildings are reported to us as partially or fully closed:

Building type	No.	Location	Partially or fully closed?
School	1	East Lothian	Partially closed
School	5	West Lothian	4 partially closed, 1 fully closed
Police Scotland property	1	Edinburgh	Partially closed
Police Scotland property	1	Dundee	Partially closed

We will continue to work collaboratively with local authorities’ Scottish Heads of Property Services network and Scottish Futures Trust to better understand the presence of RAAC across the school estate.

Question reference: S6W-19674

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that every public sector body is aware of the risks and dangers of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.