Hansard

PE2105, which was lodged by Lydia Franklin on behalf of Save Britain’s Heritage, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to set a minimum evidence requirement to prevent unnecessary use of emergency public safety powers to demolish listed buildings. We are joined this morning by two of our parliamentary colleagues, Carol Mochan and Paul Sweeney, who are both former members of this committee. Welcome back to you both. The SPICe briefing explains that local authorities are required by law to intervene where a building presents a danger to people in or about that building, to the public generally or to adjacent buildings or places. Where the local authority considers the required action to be urgent, it can carry out that action without first obtaining the usual statutory consents. That includes where demolition is considered the required action. The Scottish Government’s response to the petition states that works undertaken on listed buildings without prior consultation should be limited to the minimum necessary requirement to protect the public until proper consultations can take place. It also states that it is for the local authority to determine the most appropriate course of action, taking into account the particular circumstances of each case, and that it is not possible for guidance to be specific about the approach required when the instances of dangerous buildings are unique and require a risk-based approach to determining the appropriate action. The petitioner’s written submission states that in order to adhere to the legislative requirements and good practice, enhanced guidance is needed to set out the minimum structural evidence and processes that are required before demolition works to listed buildings is undertaken. She recognises that the approach to managing dangerous listed buildings is unique and requires a risk-based approach. However, it is her view that that does not prevent the creation of additional guidance to ensure the appropriate expertise is sought when assessing what action should be taken. Before we consider what we might do, we will hear from Carol Mochan and Paul Sweeney. Carol Mochan, what would you like to say?