Hansard

Actually, I want to indicate that our group would like to abstain on this motion. The reason why we want to abstain is that we believe that there should have been a two-year delay to the requirement for all homes to have improved fire safety equipment. The Scottish Government has delayed the requirement for a year, which we welcome, but we think that much more needs to be done and that action is required to make up for the lack of progress so far, the lack of clear information to householders, the lack of support to date, especially advice for older people, and the lack of financial support to those on low incomes; and to address the critical issue that we still do not have an answer to, which is support for older people to ensure that they are not exploited, which is an issue that Age Concern remains worried about.

The Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning gave the Local Government and Communities Committee a commitment on a communications strategy, which we welcome, but the concerns that were expressed by the committee about progress in 2019 and 2020 are on the record.

There are 600,000 homes in Scotland with no fire alarm. That needs to be addressed, as it is a matter of concern. Apparently, around 900,000 houses have one heat or fire alarm, but we do not have detailed statistics on that, because they are not collected, and neither we nor those households know whether they are compliant with the new regulations.

My conclusion is that we need a significant ramp-up of activity to ensure people’s safety, to give clarity on what is required and to make certain that there is capacity in the supply chain to ensure that those 600,000 households have the capacity to get those fire and heat alarms. One point to raise is that there must be fire safety visits, especially for older homes and households and low-income families, so that those people are supported through the process.

I hope that the minister will meet MSPs and other stakeholders to give us updates on progress, so that we do not simply end up in the same place in a year’s time, with all those houses still needing to be made compliant.