Chamber and committees

With the support of stakeholders across industry, the Single Building Assessment programme started in June 2021. All other recommendations are progressing and will further develop based on evidence from the Single Building Assessment pilot. The update to parliament on the 12 May 2022 provided more detail on progress: https://www.gov.scot/publications/update-cladding-remediation-programme-cabinet-secretarys-statement/ .

The support shown by the people of Scotland to those fleeing the illegal war in Ukraine has been heart-warming and we appreciate those who have registered their interest in welcoming displaced people under the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.

All 32 of our local authorities are taking part in this programme, and hosts have offered up their homes under the Super Sponsor scheme in each area. We have contacted people who registered their interest, and continue to contact new prospective hosts, to find out if they want to make their offer of accommodation available to people with a Scottish super sponsor visa.

In line with guidance from the Office for Statistics Regulation we are obliged to ensure that data are of sufficient quality for publication and we are currently quality assuring this data before publication.

The bidding prospectus underlines the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Fair Work First approach, and also the commitment of all of Scotland’s local authorities. We would therefore hope and expect that all bids would reflect that. We have made clear that the Scottish Government will only support applications which include clear commitments on this front.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08668 on 10 June 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Cladding Stakeholder Group is operationally focused and so no expectation of ministerial attendance, however, I did attend the August meeting of the group to thank them for their on-going contributions to the evolving Cladding Programme.

The Scottish Government is actively looking at a number of ways to support homeowners affected by unsafe cladding, which may include property purchase schemes. We will work with stakeholders and homeowners to find solutions that work in the unique Scottish context, which does not include leaseholders.

A grant model was used to enable a quick start to the programme and to test the viability of an arm’s length delivery approach based on established principles behind Scotland’s property systems. Interim learning from this approach shows there is a need to move to a model based on directly procured contracts to speed and scale delivery and at lower overall risk. This change was announced to the Scottish Parliament by myself on 12 May 2022 - Update on cladding remediation programme: Cabinet Secretary's statement - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Government has, as part of the aforementioned 'active engagement' been taking this work forward within normal business channels with COSLA.

I have met with Julie James, MS, Minister for Climate Change on 4 occasions to share best practice and to cultivate collaboration on building safety.

Once operational Green Freeports will be subject to rigorous monitoring and reporting requirements. The Scottish Government will keep their performance under close review right across the fair work agenda. Provision of appropriate channels for effective voice, such as trade union recognition, is a key aspect of our Fair Work First approach.