Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to participate in this discussion. I thought that it might be useful and helpful to provide a short update on the progress that has been made on some of the issues that the committee has been considering lately, which we will probably move on to.

The overall condition of housing in Scotland has been steadily improving over the years, and that has been driven by existing standards. However, there is still more to do to make sure that everyone lives in a healthy and secure home.

The witnesses at the committee’s evidence sessions in March highlighted some of the devastating impacts of living with damp and mould in homes. I am pleased that we are bringing forward an amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Bill to provide for Awaab’s law, which will introduce timescales and expectations for repairs to reported hazards. I am sure that we will discuss that shortly and I look forward to hearing your views and questions on the amendment. The bill already contains proposals to improve tenants’ rights, but these measures will strengthen them further to make sure that tenants’ homes are safe for them and their families.

I also welcome the news that the Scottish Housing Regulator will introduce three new indicators, which landlords started collecting data on from 1 April, specifically on damp and mould. That new data, along with the findings of the thematic review on preparing annual assurance statements, will provide a more comprehensive picture of damp and mould issues in social housing.

I also know that this is a worrying time for home owners who are affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. You will be aware of the UK RAAC campaign group petition, which asks for funding and a national register of affected homes. I am fully engaging with the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee on the matters that are raised in the petition and in May I hope to meet with local residents in Aberdeen who have been affected by RAAC.

Local authorities continue to support home owners in their areas, and the 2025-26 local government settlement of more than £15 billion ensures that local authorities can make the best decisions for their residents. The Government cannot deliver all those ambitions alone and we look forward to continuing to work with the committee as well as with stakeholders to ensure better living conditions for people in Scotland.

I hope that you found that update useful, convener.

In my statement, I made the point that the works are all in slightly different positions. I am happy to come back to you on that, and I will bring in Alan Johnston on where we are with individual cases. It depends on where things are with the SBA process and the remediation process. I think that I indicated where things are with the pathways at the moment, but we can provide more information on that to you, Ms Gallacher, and the committee. I cannot give an indication of the timescale, because it depends on the work that is required in the remediation and SBA processes. Every building is different, but I am happy to come back with more detail on that point.

I will bring in Alan Johnston.

A key issue is the need to look at the barriers and the challenges, some of which Alan Johnston has mentioned. One challenge related to whether the process should be Government led or developer led. We have sought to move through the process as quickly as possible, but there were a number of issues. A couple of developers had different ownership issues that had to be looked into, on which we engaged. Some developers had previous ownership structures in place when the cladding was looked at, so there was some legal work that needed to be carried out with a few of them.

We have also talked about the ability to pay, because the last thing that we wanted to happen was for developers’ liability to carry out repairs to impact on their ability to continue to trade. That was a very relevant issue, which we discussed with various other parties.

The Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill was important in addressing the specific issues to do with obtaining the necessary consent to move forward the process.

Another key issue was the fact that we are dealing with UK-wide companies, which needs to be considered in the context of the SBA process. Scotland has a slightly different tenure system, and we need to consider how that works with what is being done in the rest of the UK. We wanted to make sure that we engaged with UK-wide companies on that point. My officials and I had meetings about that with nine or 10 of the biggest developers in the UK that operate in Scotland. The developer remediation programme, which we have just about concluded with developers, is very similar.

It has been a case of getting the right structure in place to enable us to move forward. I think that we are now at that stage, and we are trying to progress that through the open call.

We have done a lot of the groundwork, but I acknowledge that it has been slow to get to where we are. The budget that we have set aside for this year gives confidence that we will spend much more money on that. We have put in place all those bases, removed as many of the barriers as possible and got agreement from the developers on how we progress to make sure that we do it in a way that is not divergent from the rest of the UK. We will get the properties remediated as soon as possible, because this impacts people, and that is the most important thing.

We are trying to progress the pace as quickly as possible. All the stepping stones that we have put in place will allow us to do that, as well as the single open call, which I have progressed. As I have said before, progress has been far too slow, but I am confident that the pace will now increase.

The important point is that it has to be sustainable.

I will bring in Ruth Whatling on that point.

There are a number of points to make. Before I became a minister, I remember meeting Solar Energy Scotland and speaking in a debate about the work that it was doing. There have been changes in technology in relation to payback times, for example—I think that there was a members’ business debate on that.

Solar thermal heating will be an important part of the energy strategy that the Government will produce. It will be a useful addition for some home owners, but it will depend on their location and their needs. Heat pump systems generally make a better solution across Scotland, and there will be investment in that way. There might be opportunities for householders to look at solar thermal heating, and Home Energy Scotland interest-free loans can help home owners at that point. Constituents in my area have taken that approach over a number of months and years. Dunbar is meant to be the sunniest place in Scotland, so we often push and promote that. We have all seen the increase in the use of solar panels and solar heating, and Home Energy Scotland interest-free loans provide opportunities to develop that.

A key point relates to the information that is available to householders and home owners. That is really important as we go forward with the LHEES. It comes back to the point that I made about Wester Hailes—it is important that the consultation and discussions with home owners result in the best approach for them. Solar will certainly have a part to play as we go forward.

I have read that, but not the actual specifics about where it is and so on. I am happy to pick that up.

I am aware of the petition on that, and I am sure that I will be asked to speak to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee at the appropriate stage.

There are a couple of things to say about the remit of the Scottish Housing Regulator. The regulator was created by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010, and it is an independent regulator for all landlords. One of its statutory objectives is to safeguard and promote the interests of current and future tenants of social landlords and other users of social landlord services.

The regulator regulates the performance of housing services, and a key aspect involves picking up issues with RAAC. When we were first made aware of that issue, which affects buildings across the UK, the regulator had a key part to play in engaging with social landlords. The approach that we took was much more extensive than the one that was taken in the rest of the UK, and that was the correct approach. We looked at housing across all sectors, as well as NHS and education buildings. The regulator played an important part in that. It comes back to the point that there was no further obligation for homes that were sold under the right-to-buy scheme, but local authorities have the role of ensuring that the housing in their area meets the relevant standards.

I am sure that the petition will continue to go through the parliamentary process and, depending on what is raised by the petitioner, we will respond accordingly. I will not pre-empt what that committee or the petitioner will say, but I am sure that I will be asked to speak to that committee at an appropriate stage. I am happy to come back to this committee at that point.

On the open call for residents, one key thing that I mentioned in my statement to the Parliament was increasing the pace and the breadth of the work. We have discussed that with local authorities, and I spoke to all the housing conveners at that point to talk about our approach.

That sits alongside the work that we are already doing. We are doing work with assessments. We are leading that, but developers are also involved. The main thing—I think that I have previously mentioned this—is to empower and enable home owners and their representatives or social landlords to take a lead role in the assessment and remediation of their buildings, with support from the Scottish Government grant fund. We have also had discussions with factors on that point.

Since the open call was launched just four weeks ago, there have been 32 expressions of interest in getting support for an SBA. That is quite positive, and the number is rising daily.

You mentioned identifying buildings following the Grenfell tower fire in June 2017. Those have been identified through a number of measures. We carried out a data collection exercise—the high-rise inventory—in 2021. There was also a high-pressure laminate cladding exercise. Those identified a number of buildings with potentially flammable cladding. Our call for participants in our pilot programme also identified a number of buildings with potentially flammable cladding. A number of other buildings have been identified as owners have come forward through the single open-call process.

We have written to local authorities, and I have engaged with local authorities’ heads of housing on that point. That was part of the statement that we made last month. We continue to engage with local authorities as we progress that work. The initial feedback that we have had about the expressions of interest has been positive since the open call was launched about four weeks ago.

I will say a couple of things on that. I have said on a number of occasions that the process of identifying cladding-related issues across Scotland has been far too slow, and I will touch on the actions that we are taking in that regard. Work to assess, mitigate and remediate is already under way through a number of avenues. We have published information via the high-rise inventory that shows that work is now under way on just under half—11 out of 23—of high-rise buildings that are owned by a local authority and have been identified as having combustible cladding. We are surveying local authorities to validate the data and confirm the status of buildings where remediation has not previously been reported. That is key.

We have also confirmed that all 107 entries in the Scottish Government pilot programme are progressing on an appropriate pathway of assessment, which will lead to mitigation or remediation works. We received the fire engineer outturn report immediately before Easter weekend, and officials are currently rapidly considering it.

Scottish Government-led assessment is progressing on 13 works. Urgent interim measures, such as waking watches, are taking place for six entries, and one entry has had external wall cladding removed. When we have been made aware of the need to take immediate action, we have done so. For instance, we have invested more than £6.7 million in mitigation works for one entry that was cited.

As I have said, I have no doubt that the length of time that it took to identify such issues was disappointing, hence why we are taking action to move things forward. We have been very sensitive to the concerns of affected home owners and residents, and I have met people from across Scotland on a number of occasions.

The statutory framework that we lacked previously, which includes a robust SBA process, has been in place since January. We must now greatly increase the pace. I have previously spoken in a statement to the Parliament about the open call and the breadth of our work on cladding. I am sure that that will come up later.

That is what we have resolved to do. I have said previously in the Parliament and to the committee that the pace was far too slow, but we are now taking action. We have passed the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill and put in place the SBA process. We also have the developer remediation programme. That is all in place. We have an indicative budget of £52 million for this year, which is a big increase in spending. We have in place everything that is needed to increase the pace in tackling the issue.