Meeting of the Parliament 14 May 2024
I thank members for their efforts in successfully piloting the bill through Parliament. I also thank the staff, the clerks and the bill team. I am grateful to the minister for his constructive approach.
Whatever the precise mechanism, what people in homes who are affected by safety issues associated with cladding want to know is when something practical and tangible—when physical works—will be done.
There has been a huge amount of talk since Grenfell, but it is worth reminding ourselves that that is seven years’ worth of talk. It was also four years after Grenfell before the Scottish Government launched the single building assessment, which the minister at the time described as being “consistent and robust” and “fulfilling our commitment”. That was three years ago. Another year later, the Scottish Government said that the SBA was “the next big step”, and we have heard about this being the first step. There have been lots of steps but very few practical and tangible works that have made a difference. Later that year, we heard that tackling the issue was a “priority action”; the following year, it was an “absolute priority”.
Here we are today, with similar rhetoric about how important the bill is. However, if the process over the past few years was “consistent and robust” and such a big step, further legislation in the form of the bill perhaps should not have been required.
The reality is that around 1 per cent of the identified buildings in Scotland have had work completed, whereas the figure is 20 per cent in England, and 42 per cent of the buildings there have had work started on them. Therefore, the minister will forgive people who are affected by potentially dangerous cladding for being a tad sceptical of the hyperbole that has peppered the whole process.
This is not some idle anxiety, either. The delays have real-world consequences to people’s lives. Sales have been put on hold, house values have dropped and insurance premiums have gone up. These people’s lives have been left in limbo. I know some of them personally, and I know directly how much it has affected them—the stress that it has caused and the anxiety that has been felt day in, day out during quieter periods by them and by friends and relatives.
There are still many unanswered questions, and we have heard some of them this afternoon. I have still not heard a satisfactory answer as to why the Government did not identify much earlier that the tenure process and conditions in Scotland would be a factor. Why did it think that encouragement would be enough to get everybody in line in Scotland? Why was that felt to be the appropriate way, rather than using the degree of compulsion that comes with the bill?
We support the ability to identify and remediate risks through the responsible developers scheme, and we support the bill as a whole. However, there are other questions about whether councils, which will play a critical role in the process, will have sufficient funds to carry out the work. Will there be enough money at a time of great financial stress?
Ariane Burgess quite rightly talked about the shortage of qualified professionals to handle the significant demand for the work that will be required. I would be grateful if the minister would give an update on that in his summing up.
Will there be enough homes for people to decant to, if that is what is required? What update can the minister provide on that?
Finally, the most important aspect is timescales. When will the powers be commenced? When will the work be done? When does the minister envisage all homes being judged safe? I know that the minister is very good at co-operation and taking a constructive approach, but I do not want him to tell me that he has had lots of meetings, because meetings do not solve problems. What solves problems is the practical, tangible work that requires to be done. I hope that the minister will give us some deadlines that we can hold the Government and councils to account on, because that is what people want to hear. They have had enough of talk—they just want action.
16:31