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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 4 May 2021
  6. Current session: 13 May 2021 to 13 September 2025
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Displaying 2062 contributions

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Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Meeting date: 23 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

Amendment 55 is in a similar vein to my amendments in the previous group. The previous group was about a committee for all SBAs and having an independent reviewer. Amendment 55 specifically introduces a provision to make it mandatory for ministers to consult the occupiers and owners in a building before a single building assessment is undertaken on that building under the legislation. Again, that would add the owner/occupier voice to the process.

The amendment has been produced very much in response to a group of residents, of whom I know the minister is aware, who felt that their voice was not fully taken account of in the development of the single building assessment. In some cases, things such as a waking watch were put in place without much consideration for the residents and without giving them advance communication. Although it was necessary at the time, residents felt that that was particularly difficult and that they should have been a bit more involved. Amendment 55 seeks to guarantee that owners and occupiers will have a voice in the creation of single building assessments that are relevant to their building.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Meeting date: 23 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

On the basis of the minister’s commitment to discuss the issue at stage 3, I am minded not to move the amendment, although I will be looking for significant commitments allowing the committee to oversee the development of single building assessments. That also applies to other amendments in the same group, to which I will come in a moment.

Amendment 51 not moved.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Meeting date: 23 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

Amendment 58, which is in my name, builds very much on what we have just heard from my colleague Graham Simpson about the need to address other fire safety issues that may be identified in the development of a single building assessment. The minister will be aware that residents of buildings with flammable cladding have raised concerns with me about the fact that other issues have been picked up in assessments that have been made available by independent fire engineers. They fear that, as the bill stands, those other issues would not be considered or would not be part of an assessment. Amendment 58 would mean that any works that a single building assessment identified as having to be completed to mitigate the fire risk of dangerous cladding must be done in line with fire safety guidance, in the hope that broader safety and fire safety considerations might be taken into view.

Amendment 66, which is in my name, is specifically about disabled people. In the inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy, it was found that 41 per cent of disabled people who lived there died in the fire. I am determined that we ensure that that never happens again, and I think that there are mechanisms in the bill for us to do that.

In the event of a fire at a building with flammable cladding, there is presently a risk that no specific plans are in place to ensure that disabled people get to safety. I want to do everything that I can—I am sure that other committee members and the minister also want to do everything that they can—to mitigate that risk by ensuring that any works that are identified by a single building assessment under the legislation are followed up by having a specific assessment of the risk to disabled people in the building, including how they would be expected to escape.

The Grenfell tragedy taught us many lessons, and we all have to work to ensure that this never happens again. As I have said, one of the starkest lessons is how fatal it can be when disabled people’s particular issues are not necessarily provided for.

Amendment 66 seeks to give ministers the responsibility to ensure that, when a specific risk assessment is undertaken, disabled people in the particular building are considered so that they know that, in the event of a fire or an evacuation, there is specific support and a plan to help them to get out. The amendment seeks to revert to ordinary standard procedures once the building has been remediated, so as not to bring it outwith the scope of the legislation. Given what we have learned from Grenfell, the amendment is particularly important, and I encourage members and the minister to give it serious consideration.

Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee

Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Meeting date: 23 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

On the basis of what we have just heard, I will not move amendment 58, and I undertake to work with the minister on it.

Amendment 58 not moved.

Amendment 59 not moved.

Amendments 19 and 20 moved—[Paul McLennan]—and agreed to.

Section 6, as amended, agreed to.

Section 7—Power to arrange urgent remediation work

Amendments 60 and 61 not moved.

Amendments 21 and 22 moved—[Paul McLennan]—and agreed to.

Amendment 62 not moved.

Section 7, as amended, agreed to.

Section 8—Power to evacuate

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (Strategic Plan 2024-28)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

Did you say that the timescale for the education work is a couple of years?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (Strategic Plan 2024-28)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

Will the paper that you will publish in a couple of months include specific issues that you have highlighted relating to education, mental health and poverty?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (Strategic Plan 2024-28)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

That is helpful. As part of that work, will you differentiate and look at how certain policies might impact on specific groups, such as care-experienced groups or disabled people?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (Strategic Plan 2024-28)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

Have you been concerned about any decisions that you have seen in that particular space?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (Strategic Plan 2024-28)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

No problem at all, convener.

I thank Nicola Killean for everything that she has said so far and for the video, which I found really interesting—it was a nice way of putting across the points that young people have made.

I will stick with the theme of laws, policies and practice and focus on the broader picture. We have spoken about the Promise. The young people really were angry. Near the end of our session, one young person said, “They might as well name it something different.” That really struck me.

In the strategic plan, you highlight that your organisation’s aim is that

“Laws, policies and practice will fulfil children’s rights”.

In addition to the Promise, are you concerned about any other laws, policies and practices in relation to fulfilling children’s rights?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (Strategic Plan 2024-28)

Meeting date: 17 April 2024

Pam Duncan-Glancy

That is helpful. As well as the concerns that were highlighted earlier about the Promise, I am hearing that education is really up there when it comes to concerns about laws, policies and practices that would fulfil children’s rights.

My next question is about funding. What monitoring will your office undertake to understand the impact on children and young people of the tightening financial settlements for the Government and local authorities?