Hansard

The Convener Green

The third item on our agenda is to take evidence on building safety and maintenance and the housing to 2040 strategy from the Minister for Housing. The minis...

The Minister for Housing (Paul McLennan) SNP

Good morning, convener. It is always good to be back in the room with the committee. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this important discussion. I...

The Convener Green

Thank you for that update. Our first session will be on building safety and maintenance; after that, we will take a short break and then focus on the housing...

Paul McLennan SNP

In general, the Government would consider that. At the moment, it is looking at the issues in two or three different ways. We talked about the role of the ho...

The Convener Green

Just to come back to the question, can we start to move forward on a database?

Paul McLennan SNP

We would consider that. At the moment, we are engaging on where the damp and mould work, the RAAC work and the cladding work sit. We moved forward with the c...

The Convener Green

Thanks. I will continue on a connected theme. The first time that I heard about it was in a session on cladding. It is the idea of a building MOT, which woul...

Paul McLennan SNP

Again, to come back to the issue of cladding—I am sure that this will come up next week—discussions are continuing with developers about the single building ...

The Convener Green

It is good to hear that that is being considered.

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Good morning, minister. While we are on the subject of maintenance—in particular, the maintenance of existing flats—we have heard from witnesses that the cur...

Paul McLennan SNP

There is obviously the work by the tenement maintenance working group, and I know that there have been discussions on that. Graham Simpson discussed the issu...

Mark Griffin Lab

I look forward to seeing that update. Have there been any interim updates?

Paul McLennan SNP

Not as yet, but we hope that we will get some kind of report, as I said, post the summer recess. We have had an indication that there will be an update in th...

The Convener Green

I will bring in Stephanie Callaghan next.

Stephanie Callaghan (Uddingston and Bellshill) (SNP) SNP

Good morning, minister. There is, understandably, a backlog in essential maintenance across housing tenures. I have two questions. First, how can that mainte...

Paul McLennan SNP

With regard to local government, I have tried to get round to as many local authorities as I possibly can—I have about three to go, and then I will have been...

Stephanie Callaghan SNP

I have one more question, for clarity. It sounds very much like you are talking about local authorities taking quite a joined-up approach, as well as getting...

Paul McLennan SNP

I will be honest: the picture is mixed. One of the key points with regard to local housing is the housing needs and demand assessment process, which looks at...

Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con) Con

The committee has heard concerns that the efforts to cut emissions from existing homes might lead to unintended issues, such as more mould and damp. What mea...

Paul McLennan SNP

Do you mean what actions have we taken in terms of emissions? Pam Gosal indicated agreement.

Paul McLennan SNP

Obviously, new-build standards have come in, which is an important step in relation to where we are with new houses. We are now starting to see those, and I ...

Pam Gosal Con

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland reports a rise in hospitalisations due to damp and mould in Scottish homes and emphasises that the current ...

Paul McLennan SNP

That goes back to what I was saying previously. I mentioned the briefing note that was sent out, and the Scottish Housing Regulator plays its part. A real fo...

Pam Gosal Con

You talk about the guidance, but I have mentioned that the current guidance is insufficient and that it is poorly understood. Where do you see the work of th...

Paul McLennan SNP

That involves working with the housing organisations. We have mentioned the work of the Scottish Association of Landlords, and I will raise that issue with i...

The Convener Green

I return to the issue of the action to reduce emissions in existing homes resulting in negative consequences. Specifically, the situation in my region is tha...

Paul McLennan SNP

That is a really important point. I was in my constituency a couple of weeks ago at a project called insulate Innerwick. The village consists of around 400 h...

The Convener Green

Thank you for that. Your example was about people in a community space who got together, and who pulled together to catalyse an event with Changeworks. We ca...

Paul McLennan SNP

Very much so. If people can do that in a small village with 400 or 500 houses, how do we move towards that? How do we do that in urban Glasgow or in the High...

The Convener Green

Great; thank you very much. All communities should be on alert and should get together.