Hansard

I am delighted to open the stage 3 debate on the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill. I am sure that we all recall the events of 14 June 2017. The Grenfell tower tragedy provided absolute clarity as to why building safety is so important, and we must not forget that. Our responsibility now, and the primary driver of the bill and the wider cladding remediation programme, is to safeguard home owners in and residents of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding and to ensure that a similar event is never allowed to happen again.

Colleagues from across the chamber have worked hard on the bill for that very purpose—to make buildings with potentially unsafe cladding safer and to ensure that our approach to cladding remediation is informed by those who will be affected by the cladding remediation process. I thank Ariane Burgess, who is the convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, and all the members of that committee for their thorough consideration of the complex issues involved. I have engaged with the committee, and, even though we are discussing the bill today, I will continue to engage with members as we move through the programme.

The bill has benefited greatly from the positive engagement of Opposition spokespeople and other members. The engagement that I have had with members from across the chamber has been open and constructive, and I very much welcome that. It is my strong belief that the bill and other key elements of the programme, including the finalisation of the single building assessment specification and the development of the Scottish safer buildings developer remediation contract, lay the foundations that are needed to drive forward our remediation programme at pace.

I want to remind members about the key points of the bill. Centrally, the bill creates powers for ministers to arrange for single building assessments to be undertaken to assess risks in buildings that are within the scope of the cladding remediation programme. The bill also defines the legal meaning of a single building assessment, or SBA, and allows ministers to specify the standards to which such an assessment should be undertaken.

A number of weeks ago, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Kaukab Stewart and I met residents of Lancefield Quay, and it was important to hear about what they have gone through. Those people are having to live with the issue every single day.

Focusing on the crucial aspect of the SBA process, I have already confirmed to the Parliament that the fire risk appraisal of external walls, which is a central element of each SBA, will be based on PAS 9980, tailored to a Scottish context. That is a critical enabler in setting the standard and propelling the pace of the programme, and it is in line with recommendations from the committee’s consideration of the bill.

On remediation, the bill creates powers for ministers to arrange for necessary remediation work, identified through an SBA, that is to be undertaken, including urgent cases where the risk is immediate, as well as the power to require occupants to evacuate buildings should the level of risk necessitate that.

Both the power to carry out a single building assessment and the powers of remediation in the bill can be utilised without the consent of owners when appropriate notice has been given, or, if the work is urgent, when notice has been given and as permitted by the circumstances. That is not a step to be taken lightly, but real-life experience from the pilot phase of our remediation programme leaves no doubt that it is an essential provision if progress is to be made.

On the cladding assurance register, as I have mentioned, the safeguarding of owners and residents must remain our primary driver. I am, however, alert to the consequential negative impacts that can arise in relation to the buying, selling, remortgaging and insuring of properties with potentially unsafe cladding. The bill requires ministers to establish a cladding assurance register that contains information on buildings that might have been through a single building assessment and any required remediation. The register will be key to ensuring that an accurate record of remediation works that has been undertaken is maintained, so that those with an interest, such as lenders and insurers, can understand and take assurance from the scope of works that have been undertaken in each building.

Finally, the bill will give ministers the powers to establish a responsible developers scheme through secondary legislation. That will enable developers to participate fully in the remediation of any of their buildings. I have been pleased to work closely with Homes for Scotland and developers and I look forward to continuing to do so, as well as taking forward a consultation ahead of any regulations being introduced to establish the scheme.

I reiterate my thanks to all those who have contributed to the development of the housing cladding remediation scheme and have engaged so constructively in consideration of it in Parliament. I pay special tribute to my colleague Kaukab Stewart for the work that she and other members have carried out. The scheme does not impact on every MSP’s constituency or region, but when it does impact, it does so on a large-scale basis. I thank the members who I have worked with over a number of months on the bill.

The bill is one part of the process and we know that we have lots to do with the remediation programme. I have talked about the bill enabling faster delivery of the cladding remediation programme, addressing the barriers that have been experienced to date and allowing us to deliver the step change in pace that is required to best serve those home owners and residents who are affected by potentially unsafe cladding.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill be passed.