How SNP ministers hope to ramp up replacing dangerous cladding despite £700k funding cut

SNP ministers have insisted they will not be “complacent” amid concerns over a lack of progress to replace dangerous cladding on more than 100 buildings in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has confirmed it will progress a building safety levy through legislation in the next 12 months - in conjunction with similar laws from Westminster and devolutions of power.

Grenfell Tower. | Getty Images

The levy will provide revenues to support the funding of the Scottish Government’s cladding remediation programme which identified 105 buildings that require work. 

The latest statistics show that only £9 million of the almost £100m budget from the UK government for the cladding remediation programme have been spent.

Read more: Grenfell Tower Inquiry fire report: The key findings and figures criticised over 72 'devastating' deaths

The renewed fears come after SNP finance secretary Shona Robison announced £700,000 of cuts to the cladding remediations programme as part of her £500m of savings, insisting there will be “no reduction in forecast programme activity” by the decision. 

The concerns come as the report on the Grenfell Tower disaster was published - concluding that “decades of failure” led to the loss of 72 lives at the west London tower block in 2017.

Scottish Conservative shadow housing secretary, Miles Briggs, said: “Following the publication of this sobering report, it is clear that many lessons need to be learned by numerous organisations. Governments across the UK should work together to ensure that this tragedy is never repeated.

“In the wake of the Grenfell disaster, the UK government provided nearly £100m to remedy dangerous buildings in Scotland, and it is not good enough that in the three years since it was made available, the SNP have spent a meagre nine per cent of this fund.

“Those Scots living in homes with unsafe cladding are entitled to ask why the SNP have been so slow off the mark.”

SNP Housing Minister Paul McLennan confirmed the levy will be progressed to open up more funding for the programme.

 He said: “Scotland already has stringent safety regulations to keep people safe, but we are not complacent.

SNP Housing Minister ​Paul McLennan (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

“Where immediate action is needed to safeguard people we will ensure appropriate actions are taken to manage risks, pending longer-term remediation works.

“Subject to the devolution of the necessary powers, we will establish a building safety levy in Scotland, equivalent to a levy that will be introduced by the UK Government in England.

“The levy will provide vital revenues to support the funding of our cladding remediation programme.”

Mr McLennan welcomed the findings of the Grenfell report.

He said: “The tragic Grenfell Tower fire emphasised how important building and fire safety is.

“Keeping residents and homeowners safe is our priority and we are taking action to protect lives by ensuring the assessment and remediation of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding.

“We will carefully consider all of the recommendations in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s report.

“Yesterday, I met with UK government ministers to discuss how we can work collaboratively to take the appropriate actions to deliver the inquiry’s recommendations and ensure residents and homeowners in Scotland are kept safe.

“In the wake of the tragedy at Grenfell, the Scottish Government created a cladding remediation scheme aimed at ensuring such a fire never happened north of the Border.”

Asked specifically on progress in replacing dangerous cladding on buildings in Scotland, Mr McLennan added: “There is no change to planned activity on the Cladding Remediation Programme in this financial year. The proposed saving of £700,000 represents a modest adjustment to the total resources made available to the programme, and is in line with revised in-year forecasts of anticipated expenditure.

“Buildings will continue to be assessed and prioritised based on the findings of a single building assessment. The programme continues to take a risk-based approach and the safety of residents and homeowners remains our priority. We will take action to protect lives by ensuring the assessment and remediation of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding where necessary.”